How to check your Linux version: easy ways to view the dis­tri­bu­tion and version number

When most people think of Linux, an open source operating system that serves as an al­tern­at­ive to Microsoft and Apple comes to mind. But unlike these market leaders that offer com­mer­cial operating systems, there is no single Linux operating system.

Instead, there is a whole series of free, open-source operating systems (referred to as 'dis­tri­bu­tion­s') that are built based on the Linux kernel. This means that Linux merely serves as the basis for potential operating systems, which are then built from the kernel and other pro­gram­ming elements. While Microsoft and Apple release closed-source, pro­pri­et­ary software products, the Linux kernel is open-source code that any member of the Linux community can use or modify to make their own ap­plic­a­tions and operating systems.

Since there exist countless Linux versions, it’s of utmost im­port­ance to know which version you’re running, es­pe­cially when you run into technical problems, have questions, or want to do an update. Luckily, it’s very easy to find out. Keep reading for in­struc­tions on how to check your Linux version.

As of June 2020, there are now over 500 unique Linux dis­tri­bu­tions. The best-known are Ubuntu, Debian, Fedora, SUSE, Manjaro, and Linux Mint.

The family tree for Ubuntu alone contains over 65 software ap­plic­a­tions built on the basis of Ubuntu. The current dis­tri­bu­tion was released in 2020 with the version number 20.04. The first version of Ubuntu came out in 2004 and was based on the Debian operating system.

The various Linux dis­tri­bu­tions can be roughly divided into three basic family trees as well as countless other smaller branches and in­de­pend­ent versions. For example, the entire Ubuntu family is based on Debian, the dis­tri­bu­tion Fedora is based on Red Hat Linux, and SUSE used Slackware.

Even though they’re all based on the Linux kernel, the various dis­tri­bu­tions serve as their own operating systems with different GNU tool­chains and graphic in­ter­faces. In order to find your way in the busy Linux landscape, it’s important to know which version of the Linux kernel and which dis­tri­bu­tion you’re using.

Whether you’re using Linux privately or pro­fes­sion­ally, it’s always important to know which Linux version and dis­tri­bu­tion you’re working with. That way you’ll know which package manager you’ll need for down­load­ing new tools and updates, and which Linux forum you should turn to when you have questions or ex­per­i­ence problems.

If you’re looking for details about your Linux version, there are two words which will be of par­tic­u­lar sig­ni­fic­ance:

1. The version number of the dis­tri­bu­tion
2. The version of the Linux kernel

To find out these two values, you’ll need to use Linux commands. In general, when working in Linux, user input is entered into so-called 'shells', which are in­ter­faces between systems and users. Shells run using a graphic terminal that processes the commands in the relevant pro­gram­ming language. This will serve as your starting point in checking your Linux version.

Open the Linux terminal with the keys [Ctrl] + [Alt] + [T] or by using the search function. Type the following command into the terminal and then press enter:

The asterisk in the code ensures that the command will apply to all dis­tri­bu­tions and shows you the installed version. The data that you see now may look a bit messy, with some lines appearing twice or several ending in 'release'. The most important line here is 'PRETTY_NAME=', which contains the name of the dis­tri­bu­tion and version number that you’re currently using.

Another command that works on all dis­tri­bu­tions without the need for a special tool is the following:

If you only need the name and version number of your current dis­tri­bu­tion, the following command will suffice:

The following command lists more com­pre­hens­ive in­form­a­tion about the version:

This command should work on every Linux dis­tri­bu­tion, as long as you’ve installed the lsb-release package or it’s part of your Ubuntu version. If you haven’t already installed it, you can easily do so with the following command for Debian and Ubuntu:

If you’d like to know which version of the Linux kernel you’re using, type the following command into the terminal and press enter:

You’ll now see which Linux kernel you’re using. In the above example, the Linux kernel is 5.4.0-26.

If you’d like to see more in­form­a­tion (about computer ar­chi­tec­ture for example), you can enter the following command:

With the tool Inxi, you can easily view all the in­form­a­tion about your hardware, host, Linux kernel, desktop en­vir­on­ment, and dis­tri­bu­tion. To install the program in Debian/Ubuntu, enter the following command into the terminal:

Once installed, you can view the above-mentioned data with this simple command: