LKBEN11169: Howto find the version of kubuntu, ubuntu or debian you are running

Symptom

You need to know which version you are running right now

Cause

none

Solution

There are more than one possibilities to identify which version of Linux you are running

In Kubuntu, Ubuntu and derivates you can have a look at /etc/issue

cat /etc/issue

In my case the output looks like this:

Ubuntu 9.04 \n \l

For a debian system you can have a look at /etc/debian_version. This exists on Kubuntu and Ubuntu to and tells you on wich debian version it is based.

cat /etc/debian_version

The output will show you just a number. In my case:

5.0

Another way to find out is to use the lsb_release command. (a python script)

lsb_release -a

Output:

No LSB modules are available.
Distributor ID: Ubuntu
Description:    Ubuntu 9.04
Release:        9.04
Codename:       jaunty

or you can look at het file /etc/lsb-release:

cat /etc/lsb-release

e.g.
DISTRIB_ID=Ubuntu
DISTRIB_RELEASE=9.04
DISTRIB_CODENAME=jaunty
DISTRIB_DESCRIPTION="Ubuntu 9.04"

For a lost resort, you can have a look at your /etc/apt/sources.list which will give you most of the information.

About the Author

Wim Peeters is electronics engineer with an additional master in IT and over 30 years of experience, including time spent in support, development, consulting, training and database administration. Wim has worked with SQL Server since version 6.5. He has developed in C/C++, Java and C# on Windows and Linux. He writes knowledge base articles to solve IT problems and publishes them on the Lubby Knowledge Platform.

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