Es gibt verschiedene Methoden, um herauszufinden, welche Linux-Distribution und Version auf einem System installiert ist. Diese Seite zeigt die gängigsten Wege zur Identifikation.

# Einfachste Methode - funktioniert auf allen modernen Distributionen
cat /etc/os-release
 
# Alternative mit hostnamectl (systemd-Systeme)
hostnamectl
 
# LSB-Informationen (falls installiert)
lsb_release -a
 
# Kernel-Version
uname -a

Die Datei /etc/os-release ist der moderne Standard und funktioniert auf nahezu allen aktuellen Distributionen.

cat /etc/os-release

cat /etc/os-release

PRETTY_NAME="Debian GNU/Linux 12 (bookworm)"
NAME="Debian GNU/Linux"
VERSION_ID="12"
VERSION="12 (bookworm)"
VERSION_CODENAME=bookworm
ID=debian
HOME_URL="https://www.debian.org/"
SUPPORT_URL="https://www.debian.org/support"
BUG_REPORT_URL="https://bugs.debian.org/"

Ubuntu:

PRETTY_NAME="Ubuntu 22.04.3 LTS"
NAME="Ubuntu"
VERSION_ID="22.04"
VERSION="22.04.3 LTS (Jammy Jellyfish)"
VERSION_CODENAME=jammy
ID=ubuntu
ID_LIKE=debian
HOME_URL="https://www.ubuntu.com/"
SUPPORT_URL="https://help.ubuntu.com/"
BUG_REPORT_URL="https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/"

Linux Mint:

NAME="Linux Mint"
VERSION="21.2 (Victoria)"
ID=linuxmint
ID_LIKE=ubuntu
PRETTY_NAME="Linux Mint 21.2"
VERSION_ID="21.2"
HOME_URL="https://www.linuxmint.com/"
SUPPORT_URL="https://forums.linuxmint.com/"
BUG_REPORT_URL="http://linuxmint-troubleshooting-guide.readthedocs.io/en/latest/"
VERSION_CODENAME=victoria
UBUNTU_CODENAME=jammy

NAME="Fedora Linux"
VERSION="39 (Workstation Edition)"
ID=fedora
VERSION_ID=39
VERSION_CODENAME=""
PLATFORM_ID="platform:f39"
PRETTY_NAME="Fedora Linux 39 (Workstation Edition)"
LOGO=fedora-logo-icon
CPE_NAME="cpe:/o:fedoraproject:fedora:39"
HOME_URL="https://fedoraproject.org/"
DOCUMENTATION_URL="https://docs.fedoraproject.org/en-US/fedora/f39/system-administrators-guide/"
SUPPORT_URL="https://ask.fedoraproject.org/"
BUG_REPORT_URL="https://bugzilla.redhat.com/"
REDHAT_BUGZILLA_PRODUCT="Fedora"

openSUSE Leap:

NAME="openSUSE Leap"
VERSION="15.5"
ID="opensuse-leap"
ID_LIKE="suse opensuse"
VERSION_ID="15.5"
PRETTY_NAME="openSUSE Leap 15.5"
CPE_NAME="cpe:/o:opensuse:leap:15.5"
BUG_REPORT_URL="https://bugs.opensuse.org"
HOME_URL="https://www.opensuse.org/"

openSUSE Tumbleweed:

NAME="openSUSE Tumbleweed"
ID="opensuse-tumbleweed"
ID_LIKE="opensuse suse"
VERSION_ID="20231224"
PRETTY_NAME="openSUSE Tumbleweed"
CPE_NAME="cpe:/o:opensuse:tumbleweed:20231224"
BUG_REPORT_URL="https://bugzilla.opensuse.org"
HOME_URL="https://www.opensuse.org/"

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server:

NAME="SLES"
VERSION="15-SP5"
VERSION_ID="15.5"
PRETTY_NAME="SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP5"
ID="sles"
ID_LIKE="suse"
CPE_NAME="cpe:/o:suse:sles:15:sp5"

# Nur den Namen anzeigen
grep ^NAME= /etc/os-release
grep ^PRETTY_NAME= /etc/os-release
 
# Wert extrahieren (ohne Anführungszeichen)
source /etc/os-release && echo $NAME
source /etc/os-release && echo $VERSION_ID
 
# Mit sed
sed -n 's/^PRETTY_NAME="\(.*\)"/\1/p' /etc/os-release

Auf Systemen mit systemd liefert hostnamectl übersichtliche Systeminformationen.

hostnamectl

   Static hostname: debian-server
         Icon name: computer-vm
           Chassis: vm
        Machine ID: a1b2c3d4e5f6g7h8i9j0k1l2m3n4o5p6
           Boot ID: 1234567890abcdef1234567890abcdef
    Virtualization: kvm
  Operating System: Debian GNU/Linux 12 (bookworm)
            Kernel: Linux 6.1.0-13-amd64
      Architecture: x86-64

   Static hostname: ubuntu-desktop
         Icon name: computer-laptop
           Chassis: laptop
        Machine ID: a1b2c3d4e5f6g7h8i9j0k1l2m3n4o5p6
           Boot ID: 1234567890abcdef1234567890abcdef
  Operating System: Ubuntu 22.04.3 LTS
            Kernel: Linux 5.15.0-91-generic
      Architecture: x86-64
   Hardware Vendor: Dell Inc.
    Hardware Model: XPS 15 9520

   Static hostname: fedora-workstation
         Icon name: computer-laptop
           Chassis: laptop
        Machine ID: a1b2c3d4e5f6g7h8i9j0k1l2m3n4o5p6
           Boot ID: 1234567890abcdef1234567890abcdef
  Operating System: Fedora Linux 39 (Workstation Edition)
       CPE OS Name: cpe:/o:fedoraproject:fedora:39
            Kernel: Linux 6.6.7-200.fc39.x86_64
      Architecture: x86-64
   Hardware Vendor: Lenovo
    Hardware Model: ThinkPad T14 Gen 3

   Static hostname: opensuse-leap
         Icon name: computer-desktop
           Chassis: desktop
        Machine ID: a1b2c3d4e5f6g7h8i9j0k1l2m3n4o5p6
           Boot ID: 1234567890abcdef1234567890abcdef
  Operating System: openSUSE Leap 15.5
       CPE OS Name: cpe:/o:opensuse:leap:15.5
            Kernel: Linux 5.14.21-150500.55.39-default
      Architecture: x86-64

Das lsb_release-Kommando zeigt LSB (Linux Standard Base) Informationen an. Muss oft erst installiert werden.

# Debian / Ubuntu / Linux Mint
sudo apt install lsb-release
 
# Fedora
sudo dnf install redhat-lsb-core
 
# openSUSE / SUSE
sudo zypper install lsb-release

lsb_release -a           # Alle Informationen
lsb_release -d           # Nur Beschreibung
lsb_release -i           # Nur Distributor ID
lsb_release -r           # Nur Release-Nummer
lsb_release -c           # Nur Codename

No LSB modules are available.
Distributor ID: Debian
Description:    Debian GNU/Linux 12 (bookworm)
Release:        12
Codename:       bookworm

Distributor ID: Ubuntu
Description:    Ubuntu 22.04.3 LTS
Release:        22.04
Codename:       jammy

Distributor ID: Linuxmint
Description:    Linux Mint 21.2 Victoria
Release:        21.2
Codename:       victoria

LSB Version:    :core-4.1-amd64:core-4.1-noarch
Distributor ID: Fedora
Description:    Fedora release 39 (Thirty Nine)
Release:        39
Codename:       ThirtyNine

Ältere Methode - verschiedene Distributionen nutzen unterschiedliche Dateien.

cat /etc/*release
# oder
cat /etc/*-release
 
# Liste aller Release-Dateien
ls -la /etc/*release /etc/*-release /etc/*_version 2>/dev/null

cat /etc/debian_version
# Ausgabe: 12.4

cat /etc/lsb-release

DISTRIB_ID=Ubuntu
DISTRIB_RELEASE=22.04
DISTRIB_CODENAME=jammy
DISTRIB_DESCRIPTION="Ubuntu 22.04.3 LTS"

cat /etc/fedora-release
# Ausgabe: Fedora release 39 (Thirty Nine)
 
cat /etc/redhat-release
# Ausgabe: Fedora release 39 (Thirty Nine)

cat /etc/redhat-release
# RHEL:   Red Hat Enterprise Linux release 9.3 (Plow)
# CentOS: CentOS Stream release 9
# Rocky:  Rocky Linux release 9.3 (Blue Onyx)
# Alma:   AlmaLinux release 9.3 (Shamrock Pampas Cat)

uname -a                 # Alle Informationen
uname -r                 # Kernel-Version
uname -m                 # Architektur
uname -o                 # Betriebssystem

Beispiel-Ausgaben:

# Debian
Linux debian 6.1.0-13-amd64 #1 SMP PREEMPT_DYNAMIC Debian 6.1.55-1 (2023-09-29) x86_64 GNU/Linux

# Ubuntu
Linux ubuntu 5.15.0-91-generic #101-Ubuntu SMP Tue Nov 14 13:30:08 UTC 2023 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

# Fedora
Linux fedora 6.6.7-200.fc39.x86_64 #1 SMP PREEMPT_DYNAMIC Thu Dec 14 19:04:11 UTC 2023 x86_64 GNU/Linux

# openSUSE
Linux opensuse 5.14.21-150500.55.39-default #1 SMP PREEMPT_DYNAMIC Mon Dec 4 10:38:00 UTC 2023 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

# Detaillierte Hardware-Infos
hostnamectl
 
# Prozessor
cat /proc/cpuinfo | grep "model name" | head -1
 
# Speicher
free -h
 
# Festplatten
lsblk
df -h

Die Art des Paketmanagers gibt Hinweise auf die Distribution.

# Debian/Ubuntu/Mint verwenden apt/dpkg
which apt
which dpkg
 
# Fedora/RHEL/CentOS verwenden dnf/yum/rpm
which dnf
which yum
which rpm
 
# SUSE/openSUSE verwenden zypper/rpm
which zypper
 
# Arch Linux verwendet pacman
which pacman

Schnelltest:

if [ -f /etc/debian_version ]; then
    echo "Debian-basiert"
elif [ -f /etc/fedora-release ]; then
    echo "Fedora"
elif [ -f /etc/redhat-release ]; then
    echo "Red Hat basiert"
elif [ -f /etc/SuSE-release ] || [ -f /etc/SUSE-brand ]; then
    echo "SUSE-basiert"
elif [ -f /etc/arch-release ]; then
    echo "Arch Linux"
fi

#!/bin/bash
# Distribution und Version anzeigen
 
echo "=== /etc/os-release ==="
if [ -f /etc/os-release ]; then
    source /etc/os-release
    echo "Name: $NAME"
    echo "Version: $VERSION"
    echo "ID: $ID"
    echo "Pretty Name: $PRETTY_NAME"
fi
 
echo ""
echo "=== hostnamectl ==="
if command -v hostnamectl >/dev/null 2>&1; then
    hostnamectl | grep "Operating System"
fi
 
echo ""
echo "=== lsb_release ==="
if command -v lsb_release >/dev/null 2>&1; then
    lsb_release -d
fi
 
echo ""
echo "=== uname ==="
uname -a
 
echo ""
echo "=== Kernel ==="
uname -r

#!/bin/bash
# Distribution ermitteln und speichern
 
if [ -f /etc/os-release ]; then
    source /etc/os-release
    DISTRO=$ID
    DISTRO_VERSION=$VERSION_ID
    echo "Distribution: $DISTRO"
    echo "Version: $DISTRO_VERSION"
 
    # Distributionsspezifische Aktionen
    case $DISTRO in
        debian|ubuntu|linuxmint)
            echo "Debian-basiertes System erkannt"
            PKG_MANAGER="apt"
            ;;
        fedora|rhel|centos|rocky|almalinux)
            echo "Red Hat-basiertes System erkannt"
            PKG_MANAGER="dnf"
            ;;
        opensuse*|sles)
            echo "SUSE-basiertes System erkannt"
            PKG_MANAGER="zypper"
            ;;
        arch|manjaro)
            echo "Arch-basiertes System erkannt"
            PKG_MANAGER="pacman"
            ;;
        *)
            echo "Unbekannte Distribution"
            ;;
    esac
 
    echo "Paketmanager: $PKG_MANAGER"
fi

• Ältere Systeme haben oft nicht /etc/os-release
• Verschiedene Tools für verschiedene Zwecke
• Kompatibilität mit Skripten und Automatisierung
• Unterschiedliche Detailstufen

Empfehlung:

1. Modern: cat /etc/os-release oder hostnamectl
2. Universell: cat /etc/os-release funktioniert fast überall
3. Detailliert: hostnamectl auf systemd-Systemen
4. Skripte: /etc/os-release parsen

source /etc/os-release
echo "ID: $ID"           # Spezifische Distribution (z.B. "ubuntu")
echo "ID_LIKE: $ID_LIKE" # Basis-Distribution (z.B. "debian")

ID_LIKE ist nützlich für Skripte, die mehrere verwandte Distributionen unterstützen sollen.

# Sehr alte Distribution - alternative Methoden nutzen:
cat /etc/*-release
cat /etc/*_version
lsb_release -a
uname -a

# Installieren:
sudo apt install lsb-release       # Debian/Ubuntu
sudo dnf install redhat-lsb-core   # Fedora/RHEL
sudo zypper install lsb-release    # openSUSE/SUSE

System nutzt kein systemd - verwenden Sie andere Methoden:

cat /etc/os-release
lsb_release -a

• hostnamectl - Hostname verwalten
• Betriebssystem-Informationen
• Linux-Distributionen Übersicht
• Paketverwaltung
• System-Informationen mit Bordmitteln

man os-release
man hostnamectl
man lsb_release
man uname

Online-Ressourcen:

• Debian
• Ubuntu
• Linux Mint
• Fedora
• openSUSE
• SUSE