Distributions often use it to provide additional information like where to get support or file bugs etc.įor example, the /etc/os-release provides more lines for CentOS Linux. The content of the /etc/os-release is usually different for different distributions.

handbook:~# cat /etc/os-releaseĪs you can see, the name of Linux distribution is Alpine Linux and the distribution version is 3.12. Here's what it displays for Alpine Linux server running on Linode infrastructure. You can use cat command to view the content of the file in Linux terminal: cat /etc/os-release It gives you the distribution name, distribution version, release name or ID. The os-release file in the /etc directory keeps the information about the Linux distribution. If you are familiar with the Linux directory structure, you probably already know that /etc directory contains the core configuration files of the system. Find Linux distribution details Method 1: Use /etc/os-release file In this beginner's tip, I'll show you different ways to check which Linux you are running. However, that's not the only way to know the Linux distribution details. It will show an output similar to this: NAME='Ubuntu'Īs you can see, the Linux name is Ubuntu and the version is 20.04.1.

The simplest way to check Linux version is to see the content of the /etc/os-release file: cat /etc/os-release When you install a Linux distribution on your own, you know which distribution and version it is.īut if you use SSH to log in to a remote Linux server provided by an enterprise or client, you may wonder which Linux distribution and version it is.

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