cat /etc/os-release

Examples

• cat /etc/os-release | grep PRETTYOne-line OS nameCopy
• grep -E '^(ID|ID_LIKE|VERSION_ID)=' /etc/os-releaseShow only the family and version number (for branching in runbooks)Copy
• . /etc/os-release && echo "$ID $VERSION_ID"Load the values as shell variablesCopy
• hostnamectlOS name, kernel and virtualisation type in one view (systemd hosts)Copy
• uname -rKernel version onlyCopy

Syntax

cat /etc/os-release / lsb_release -a

Key points

• /etc/os-release exists on practically every current distribution: RHEL 7 and later, Ubuntu, Debian, SUSE and more.
• ID_LIKE tells you the family: rhel or fedora means dnf/yum, debian means apt.
• Inside a container it reports the container image's OS, not the host's.

When it does not work

• If the file is missing, the host is old (CentOS 6 and similar). Check /etc/redhat-release or /etc/issue instead.
• lsb_release: command not found means the package (redhat-lsb-core or lsb-release) is not installed. cat /etc/os-release gives the same answer.