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01-29-2010, 02:26 PM
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#1
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LQ Newbie
Registered: Dec 2009
Posts: 29
Rep:
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how to find out what distro is on PC
Hi Guys
So I start up a Server and it ends at the console.I enter the username/password.How can I find out what Linux distro this is
version etc from the command line
Thanks
Dev
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01-29-2010, 02:33 PM
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#2
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Member
Registered: Feb 2009
Distribution: Debian, CentOS 5, Gentoo, FreeBSD, Fedora, Mint, Slackware64
Posts: 208
Rep:
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That works on CentOS and Mint, for certain. So, it might work on all distros.
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01-29-2010, 02:38 PM
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#3
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Member
Registered: Dec 2009
Distribution: Slackware
Posts: 140
Rep:
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This has been covered in other threads. Search is your friend.
/etc/issue is not reliable.
Look for /etc/*release* and/or /etc/*version*.
--ET
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01-29-2010, 02:39 PM
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#4
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LQ Veteran
Registered: Sep 2003
Posts: 10,532
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Hi,
/etc/issue is a good place to start.
If that doesn't help look for a file with release in its name (/etc/redhat-release for example). The distro is in the name, specifics are in the file.
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01-29-2010, 02:47 PM
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#5
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Member
Registered: Sep 2009
Location: Maryland
Distribution: Slackware
Posts: 68
Rep:
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Quote:
Originally Posted by nuwen52
That works on CentOS and Mint, for certain. So, it might work on all distros.
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If that doesn't work you could try either of:
It depends on the distro. Kind of ironic, huh.
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01-29-2010, 02:49 PM
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#6
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Member
Registered: Oct 2004
Location: Atlanta
Distribution: CentOS, RHEL, HP-UX, OS X
Posts: 567
Rep:
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on Debian based disributions you can simply run lsb_release -a. It will give you an output like so.
Code:
jared@Sarah:~$ lsb_release -a
No LSB modules are available.
Distributor ID: Debian
Description: Debian GNU/Linux 5.0.3 (lenny)
Release: 5.0.3
Codename: lenny
jared@Sarah:~$
From that I know this machine is Debian 5.0.3 which is known as Debian Lenny. If you need to know more information you can use uname -a to find out what kernel version is running. This should tell you if you are 32-bit or 64-bit or if you are running a kernel design for a specfic CPU or a custom built kernel . I personally have an AMD 64-bit processor so I ahve a 64-bit version of Linux. if I run uname -a I get the following output
Code:
jared@Sarah:~$ uname -a
Linux Sarah 2.6.26-2-amd64 #1 SMP Thu Nov 5 02:23:12 UTC 2009 x86_64 GNU/Linux
jared@Sarah:~$
Hope that helps
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01-29-2010, 02:51 PM
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#7
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Member
Registered: Oct 2004
Location: Atlanta
Distribution: CentOS, RHEL, HP-UX, OS X
Posts: 567
Rep:
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I also have a 32-bit version of Debian Lenny that I use for a file server. If I run uname -a on that server I get the following output
Code:
jared@S-FSXX01:~$ uname -a
Linux S-FSXX01 2.6.26-2-686 #1 SMP Wed Aug 19 06:06:52 UTC 2009 i686 GNU/Linux
jared@S-FSXX01:~$
686 is an indicator of a 32-bit system. i386 is as well
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01-29-2010, 03:33 PM
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#8
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LQ Newbie
Registered: Dec 2009
Posts: 29
Original Poster
Rep:
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Hi Guys
Please check this.This is from a Xubuntu live CD,What does it mean
when it says that the version is 4.0
THanks
Dev
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01-29-2010, 03:58 PM
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#9
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LQ Guru
Registered: May 2009
Location: Gibraltar, Gibraltar
Distribution: Fedora 20 with Awesome WM
Posts: 6,805
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The 4 from version means that it's based on Debian version 4 (etch) if I'm not mistaking, which is the current oldstable release. Current stable release is 5 (lenny) on which *buntu 9 are build.
Kind regards,
Eric
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