Check systemd Version on Linux

The systemd is the init system and service manager used by many modern Linux distributions, including Ubuntu and Debian. Identifying the installed version can be useful for debugging issues or confirming feature availability. This tutorial shows how to check systemd version on Linux.

The most direct approach is to use the systemctl command with the --version option. This displays the installed version along with build features.

systemctl --version

Example output:

systemd 259 (259.5-0ubuntu3)
+PAM +AUDIT +SELINUX +APPARMOR +IMA ...

The first line reveals the version number, while the remaining lines list compiled features and capabilities.

For situations where only the version number is required, command output can be filtered using awk:

systemctl --version | awk 'NR==1 {print $2}'

Example output:

259

This command isolates the version field, making it suitable for scripts or quick checks.