How do I determine the version of a CentOS server without access to any graphical interface? I've tried several commands:
# cat /proc/version
Linux version 2.6.18-128.el5 ([email protected])
(gcc version 4.1.2 20080704 (Red Hat 4.1.2-44)) …
# cat /etc/issue
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server release 5.3 (Tikanga)
but which one is correct: 4.1.2-4 from /proc/version or 5.3 from /etc/issue?
In cases like CentOS the actual version is usually placed in /etc/*elease.
cat /etc/*elease
granted this file usually holds the version of the entire OS minus the kernel (since you can choose which to load). This file will have the same information as /etc/issue but with CentOS instead of RedHat
* can be nothing, all, one or more items at time. Thank you, i always forgot the way to get the release version.
ls /etc/*elease on my system gives /etc/centos-release /etc/redhat-release /etc/system-release. So I'm guessing from all this that the release files tend to be in /etc/*-release - but possibly with some capitalisation.
Aug 7, 2015 at 12:35
/etc/issue has been overwritten with an MOTD or security disclaimer for use with the Banner option in sshd_config
Oct 6, 2015 at 14:20
cat /etc/*os-release should yield more targetted results for CentOS and still work on Ubuntu and others.
Apr 15, 2019 at 19:59
As you can see in /etc/issue, you're using CentOS 5.3. (It says Red Hat because CentOS is based upon the RH sources, and some software checks /etc/issue to identify the distro in use; thus, they'd fail if this was changed to CentOS).
The 4.1.2-4 in /proc/version refers to the version of the gcc C compiler used to build the kernel.
\S Kernel \r on an \m
Jul 8, 2015 at 16:09
cat /etc/*elease. /etc/issue is often replaced by an organisation's MOTD/disclaimer
Oct 7, 2015 at 12:52
The most reliable way of finding MAJOR version of CentOS (5 or 6 etc) is:
# rpm -q --queryformat '%{VERSION}' centos-release
6
For RHEL do this:
# rpm -q --queryformat '%{RELEASE}' redhat-release-server | awk -F. '{print $1}'
7
The only portable way of finding out a version without lsb_release or other tools is:
# grep -oE '[0-9]+\.[0-9]+' /etc/redhat-release
6.5
cat /etc/redhat-release | grep -o '[0-9]\.[0-9]'
Jul 31, 2015 at 23:22
rpm -q centos-release is the only way I have yet found to get the minor version on older CentOS5 releases where /etc/redhat-release only contains the major version. Thanks for the hint.
Nov 19, 2015 at 6:54
cat /etc/redhat-release | grep -oP '(?<= )[0-9]+(?=\.)'
Feb 8, 2017 at 7:16
You can determine it by just calling the following command:
hostnamectl
Which will return as the following:
Static hostname: mgbcctli01
Icon name: computer-vm
Chassis: vm
Machine ID: de14d80a0900427894dbcf6137e058e7
Boot ID: 6865f9839c064bc9be32281d0f262cc8
Virtualization: vmware
Operating System: CentOS Linux 7 (Core)
CPE OS Name: cpe:/o:centos:centos:7
Kernel: Linux 3.10.0-514.2.2.el7.x86_64
Architecture: x86-64
You can also use rpm to find details about CentOS version:
rpm --query centos-release
Which will return in my case:
centos-release-7-3.1611.el7.centos.x86_64
Correct way is lsb_release -d.
The most truly reliable (and short) way to get MAJOR version of either CentOS or RHEL is:
rpm -E %{rhel}
Will give you a value of e.g. 6, 7, or 8 (now that RHEL 8 is out).
# echo "I am running: `cat /etc/redhat-release` (`arch`)"
Outputs the following:
I am running: CentOS release 6.7 (Final) (x86_64)
It can be found at the location /etc, inside the file os-release. So type in:
cat /etc/os-release
Run rpm --eval '%{centos_ver}' to get MAJOR version of centos.
Here is some command I collected through google, may help someone:
https://forum.directadmin.com/showthread.php?t=15878
cat /etc/*release*
cat /etc/centos-release
http://www.liquidweb.com/kb/how-to-check-your-centos-version/
cat /etc/redhat-release
https://linuxconfig.org/how-to-check-centos-version
# the later two may need some package to install
rpm --query centos-release
hostnamectl
lsb_release -d
I created a gist to record this, too.
