In the next article we are going to take a look at different ways with which users can know what version of Ubuntu we have installed on our computer. Users who have switched to Ubuntu should know that a new version of the OS is released every few months, so the version we use may change as updates arrive. A lot of pre-installed software is included in this operating system. It will also allow users to install external programs, but to do this, on many occasions it is necessary to know if the software that interests us is compatible with our operating system. We will achieve this by being clear about the version of Ubuntu that we have installed.
Know the version that we have installed on our computer as well It can be of great help to us when it comes to finding solutions to problems.Well, if we look for the problem related to our version, we will find other users who have suffered the same problem related to our version of Ubuntu. For this reason, in the following lines we are going to see different ways of knowing the version that our team occupies. We will see that we have different possibilities to do this, all of them being simple to use.
Ubuntu can give us a lot of information about what we have installed on our computer. Among the most important aspects that we can know, we we will find the version of the distro and the Kernel that we have installed. In this way we can make sure that we are using versions that are supported, and not run the risk of using obsolete software. In addition to this information, it will also allow us to know other aspects of the system such as the type of desktop, the type of terminal we use, etc. It must also be said that most of the tools designed to obtain information about our system will provide us with information about the available hardware.
Knowing how to check the version of Ubuntu we are working with is simple, but essential. Not knowing the characteristics of the tools with which we work can complicate the work quite a bit.. To verify the version of our operating system, we can do it through the graphical interface or from the terminal, and both methods are fast and simple.
How can I find out what version of Ubuntu I have installed?
As we said, to find out what version of Ubuntu we have installed on our computer, users can find it through different tools in the terminal, using the tools that Ubuntu brings with it in its graphical environment, or using some third-party programs.
From the terminal
We can find out what version of Ubuntu we have installed on our computer using the terminal and any of the following options. In all cases, just enter a simple command.
lsb_release command
To get started, all you need to do is open a terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T). once in it just need to type the command:
lsb_release -a
This command us it will show the version of Ubuntu installed in the fields “Description"And"Release".
If we want to see only the version of Ubuntu, we can use the above command with the -d option:
lsb_release -d
In case we are only interested view only the information related to the release number, we can use the -r option as follows:
lsb_release -r
hostnamectl Command
The hostnamectl command provides an API that is used to control the hostname of the Gnu/Linux system and change its related settings. The command also helps to change the hostname without locating and editing the file / etc / hostname in a given system. But besides all this, also It will show us the version of the system that we are using in the label “Operating System".
hostnamectl
Read the contents of the /etc/lsb-release file
The lsb-release command is a simple tool to help identify the Gnu/Linux distribution you are using. And as in the previous example, we will only have to open a terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) and run command:
cat /etc/lsb-release
With this option, the terminal will show the version of Ubuntu in “DISTRIB_RELEASE"And"DISTRIB_DESCRIPTION".
For the system to show us more detailed information about the system, we can run the command:
cat /etc/*release
This command will offer us the version of Ubuntu that we are using in the fields shown in the previous screenshot.
Read issue file
Many people want their system to display some information in the input message. This can be achieved using the file /etc/issue. It usually shows the name of the system or distribution, as well as its version. The content of this file, in my case is:
cat /etc/issue
Read os-release file
In addition to everything seen so far, we can also read the content of the os-release file. East contains the identification data of the operating system, so there we will also find the version of Ubuntu that we are using, in addition to other information.
cat /etc/os-release
From the graphical environment
All distros that have a graphical interface will have a panel with information about the distribution in one place or another. In the case of Ubuntu, This panel can be found inside the panel of System settings.
Once open, you will see the eyelash "About” at the bottom of the left menu. If you click on it, a window with information about the system will appear. There we will be able to see basic information about our PC (hardware, memory, processor, graphics, etc.), as well as the version of Ubuntu used, version of the desktop, etc.
Programs to find out information about the distribution
In addition to all the above commands, users can also use other programs, which will allow us to obtain more information about our Ubuntu system.
neofetch
This is one of the favorite programs by users. When you run it, it shows us on the screen a summary with everything related to the software of our system, from the version of the distro, the Kernel, the desktop, theme and icons… everything we may need. We will also see a summary of the hardware of our PC.
Since the program is not installed by default, we will have to to install neofetch to be able to use it. It is only necessary to type in a terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T):
sudo apt install neofetch
Once installed, there is nothing more than run:
neofetch
uninstall
For remove this program, just type in a terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T):
sudo apt remove neofetch; sudo apt autoremove
archey4
This is another program quite similar to the previous one. It will offer us the same data, but with the peculiarity that it can read the sensors of our PC, so it will also allow us to obtain the temperature of the PC.
This program is not in the repositories, so it will be necessary to download it manually from your releases page on GitHub. We can also use wget in a terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) to download the latest version of the program released today.
wget https://github.com/HorlogeSkynet/archey4/releases/download/v4.13.3/archey4_4.13.3-1_all.deb
After downloading, there is nothing more than install the package with the command:
sudo apt install ./archey4_4.13.3-1_all.deb
When the installation is complete, there is only start the program typing in the same terminal:
archey4
uninstall
To remove this software from our computer, in a terminal (Ctrl + Alt + T) you just have to execute:
sudo apt remove archey4; sudo apt autoremove
screen fetch
This program is similar to Neofetch. The purpose is the same, and the information that it returns to us is practically identical to that offered by the other program. Even though the main difference it adds screen fetch it is how they use the ASCII to show the type of Gnu/Linux distro that we have installed.
Must install this program executing in the terminal (Ctrl + Alt + T) the command:
sudo apt install screenfetch
After installation, we can start it with the command:
screenfetch
uninstall
Delete this program It is as simple as in the previous cases. It is only necessary to open a terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) and execute in it:
sudo apt remove screenfetch; sudo apt autoremove
inxi
If we want detailed information, including the version of Ubuntu we are using, we can install inxi. It will only be necessary to open a terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) and execute the command:
sudo apt install inxi
After installation, to see a detailed report of the components of our equipment, simply write in the same terminal:
inxi -F
uninstall
Now if we want remove the program from our system, in a terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) it is only necessary to write:
sudo apt remove inxi; sudo apt autoremove
hard info
In case of wanting use a program with a graphical interface, we can use a tool like hard info, which is free and open source. It will allow us to obtain a complete and easy to interpret report of the characteristics of our PC.
This program also must be installed, so all you have to do is open a terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) and run the command:
sudo apt install hardinfo
To start this program, just search and select the launcher that we will find available in our system.
uninstall
If you want remove this program, you just have to open a terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) and run:
sudo apt remove hardinfo
These are just some of the possibilities that users have to find out what version of Ubuntu we are using. To obtain information about published versions, users can also visit the ubuntu releases page.