Finding out which Ubuntu version is running on the machine can be useful when troubleshooting problems or installing software.
This tutorial shows how to check Ubuntu version.
1. lsb_release command
The lsb_release
command displays LSB (Linux Standard Base) and distribution information. This command can be used to determine Ubuntu version.
lsb_release -a
The output of the command will look like this:
No LSB modules are available.
Distributor ID: Ubuntu
Description: Ubuntu 20.04.2 LTS
Release: 20.04
Codename: focal
The -a
option prints all information. Ubuntu version can be determined only from description. It can be displayed with -d
option. The following command prints only Ubuntu version:
lsb_release -d | grep -Po "[0-9.]+"
Output:
20.04.2
2. /etc/lsb-release file
The /etc/lsb-release
file holds information about distribution. It can be used to determine Ubuntu version.
cat /etc/lsb-release
Output:
DISTRIB_ID=Ubuntu
DISTRIB_RELEASE=20.04
DISTRIB_CODENAME=focal
DISTRIB_DESCRIPTION="Ubuntu 20.04.2 LTS"
Command to get only Ubuntu version:
cat /etc/lsb-release | grep DESCRIPTION | grep -Po "[0-9.]+"
3. /etc/os-release file
The /etc/os-release
file contains operating system identification data. This file allows to determine Ubuntu version.
cat /etc/os-release
Output:
NAME="Ubuntu"
VERSION="20.04.2 LTS (Focal Fossa)"
ID=ubuntu
ID_LIKE=debian
PRETTY_NAME="Ubuntu 20.04.2 LTS"
VERSION_ID="20.04"
HOME_URL="https://www.ubuntu.com/"
SUPPORT_URL="https://help.ubuntu.com/"
BUG_REPORT_URL="https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/"
PRIVACY_POLICY_URL="https://www.ubuntu.com/legal/terms-and-policies/privacy-policy"
VERSION_CODENAME=focal
UBUNTU_CODENAME=focal
The following command displays only Ubuntu version:
cat /etc/os-release | grep PRETTY_NAME | grep -Po "[0-9.]+"
4. /etc/issue file
The /etc/issue
file stores a system identification text which is printed after log in to the system.
cat /etc/issue
Output:
Ubuntu 20.04.2 LTS \n \l
Extract only Ubuntu version:
cat /etc/issue | grep -Po "[0-9.]+"
5. hostnamectl command
The hostnamectl
command allows to get or set the system hostname. This command also can be used to determine Ubuntu version.
hostnamectl
Output:
Static hostname: ubuntu
Icon name: computer-vm
Chassis: vm
Machine ID: 089a75bffe4b4921b2f971cc7f94f47f
Boot ID: 5872113106b841b7b9ef6a003f2f9dc0
Virtualization: vmware
Operating System: Ubuntu 20.04.2 LTS
Kernel: Linux 5.4.0-72-generic
Architecture: x86-64
Run the following command to get only Ubuntu version:
hostnamectl | grep System | grep -Po "[0-9.]+"
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