lsb_release - Man Page

• Print all available information: lsb_release -a
• Print a description (usually the full name) of the operating system: lsb_release -d
• Print only the operating system name (ID), suppressing the field name: lsb_release -i -s
• Print the release number and codename of the distribution, suppressing the field names: lsb_release -rcs

tldr.sh

lsb_release [OPTION]...

FSG lsb_release v2.0 prints certain LSB (Linux Standard Base) and Distribution information.

With no OPTION specified defaults to -v.

-v,  --version

Display the version of the LSB specification against which the distribution is compliant.

-i,  --id

Display the string id of the distributor.

-d,  --description

Display the single line text description of the distribution.

-r,  --release

Display the release number of the distribution.

-c,  --codename

Display the codename according to the distribution release.

-a,  --all

Display all of the above information.

-s,  --short

Use short output format for information requested by other options (or version if none).

-h,  --help

Display this message.

If the installation is LSB compliant, the "/etc/lsb-release" file should contain the LSB_VERSION field. The value of the field should be a colon separated list of supported module versions indicating the LSB specification modules to which the installation is compliant. If the installation is not compliant, the above field should not be present.

Optional fields are DISTRIB_ID, DISTRIB_RELEASE, DISTRIB_CODENAME, DISTRIB_DESCRIPTION and can be used to override information which is parsed from the "/etc/os-release" file. Since "/etc/os-release" is the new standard, there is no need anymore to add any of the optional fields to "/etc/lsb-release".

If the "/etc/lsb-release.d" directory exists, it is searched for filenames which are taken as additional module-version strings to add to LSB_VERSION.

The required line style is:
"Distributor release x.x (Codename)"

Where Distributor can be a couple of words, but then concatenated (i.e. Linux Foo BarLinux Linux -> FooBarLinux),
x.x starts with a digit followed by any non-blank characters, Codename will also be concatenated (blanks cleanup only).

If the "/etc/lsb-release" file contains:

LSB_VERSION="core-2.0-ia64:core-2.0-noarch"
DISTRIB_DESCRIPTION="I enjoy using my distrib"

and the "/etc/lsb-release.d" directory contains:

graphics-2.0-ia64    graphics-2.0-noarch

and the "/etc/os-release" file contains:

NAME="SLES"
VERSION="12-SP2"
VERSION_ID="12.2"
PRETTY_NAME="SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP2"
ID="sles"

Then the results of various options will be:

$ ./lsb_release --all
LSB Version:    core-2.0-ia64:core-2.0-noarch:graphics-2.0-ia64:graphics-2.0-noarch
Distributor ID: SUSE
Description:    I enjoy using my distrib
Release:        12.2
Codename:       n/a

$ ./lsb_release -a -s
1.0 SUSE "I enjoy using my distrib" 12.2 n/a

If the "/etc/lsb-release" file is absent (indicating this is not an LSB compliant distribution), the result will be:

$ ./lsb_release -a
LSB Version:    n/a
Distributor ID: SUSE
Description:    SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP2
Release:        12.2
Codename:       n/a

Report bugs at http://bugs.linuxbase.org. Please include a complete, self-contained example that will allow the bug to be reproduced, and say which version of lsb_release you are using.

Copyright © 2000, 2002, 2004 Free Standards Group, Inc.
This is free software; see the source for copying conditions.  There is NO warranty; not even for MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

Originally written by Dominique MASSONIE.

byobu(1), os-release(5).