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<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><title>os-release</title><meta name="generator" content="DocBook XSL Stylesheets V1.76.1"/></head><body><div class="refentry" title="os-release"><a id="os-release"/><div class="titlepage"/><div class="refnamediv"><h2>Name</h2><p>os-release — Operating system identification</p></div><div class="refsynopsisdiv" title="Synopsis"><h2>Synopsis</h2><p><code class="filename">/etc/os-release</code></p></div><div class="refsect1" title="Description"><a id="id525702"/><h2>Description</h2><p>The <code class="filename">/etc/os-release</code> file
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<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8"><title>os-release</title><meta name="generator" content="DocBook XSL Stylesheets V1.76.1"></head><body bgcolor="white" text="black" link="#0000FF" vlink="#840084" alink="#0000FF"><div class="refentry" title="os-release"><a name="os-release"></a><div class="titlepage"></div><div class="refnamediv"><h2>Name</h2><p>os-release — Operating system identification</p></div><div class="refsynopsisdiv" title="Synopsis"><h2>Synopsis</h2><p><code class="filename">/etc/os-release</code></p></div><div class="refsect1" title="Description"><a name="id488605"></a><h2>Description</h2><p>The <code class="filename">/etc/os-release</code> file
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contains operating system identification data.</p><p>The basic file format of
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<code class="filename">os-release</code> is a
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newline-separated list of environment-like
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shell-compatible variable assignments. It is possible
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to source the configuration from shell scripts,
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however, beyond mere variable assignments no shell
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features are supported, allowing applications to read
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the file without implementing a shell compatible
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execution engine.</p><p><code class="filename">/etc/os-release</code> contains
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<code class="filename">os-release</code> is a newline-separated
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list of environment-like shell-compatible variable
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assignments. It is possible to source the
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configuration from shell scripts, however, beyond mere
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variable assignments no shell features are supported
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(this means variable expansion is explicitly not
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supported), allowing applications to read the file
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without implementing a shell compatible execution
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engine. Variable assignment values should be enclosed
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in double or single quotes if they include spaces,
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semicolons or other special characters outside of A-Z,
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a-z, 0-9. All strings should be in UTF-8 format, and
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non-printable characters should not be used. If double
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or single quotes or backslashes are to be used within
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variable assignments they should be escaped with
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backslashes, following shell style. It is not
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supported to concatenate multiple individually quoted
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strings. Lines beginning with "#" shall be ignored as
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comments.</p><p><code class="filename">/etc/os-release</code> contains
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data that is defined by the operating system vendor
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and should not be changed by the administrator.</p><p>Depending on the operating system other
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configuration files might be checked for OS
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identification as well, however only as
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fallback.</p></div><div class="refsect1" title="Options"><a id="id525743"/><h2>Options</h2><p>The following OS identifications parameters may be set using
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and should not be changed by the administrator.</p><p>As this file only encodes names and identifiers
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it should not be localized.</p><p>The file <code class="filename">/etc/os-release</code> might
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be a symlink to another file, but it is important that
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the file is available from earliest boot on, and hence
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must be located on the root file system.</p><p>For a longer rationale for
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<code class="filename">/etc/os-release</code> please refer to
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the <a class="ulink" href="http://0pointer.de/blog/projects/os-release" target="_top">Announcement of <code class="filename">/etc/os-release</code></a>.</p></div><div class="refsect1" title="Options"><a name="id488683"></a><h2>Options</h2><p>The following OS identifications parameters may be set using
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<code class="filename">/etc/os-release</code>:</p><div class="variablelist"><dl><dt><span class="term"><code class="varname">NAME=</code></span></dt><dd><p>A string identifying
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the operating system, without a
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version string, and not necessarily
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suitable for presentation to the
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user. If not set defaults to
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<code class="literal">Linux</code>. Example:
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version component, and suitable for
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presentation to the user. If not set
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<code class="literal">NAME=Linux</code>. Example:
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<code class="literal">NAME=Fedora</code> or
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<code class="literal">NAME="Debian
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GNU/Linux"</code>.</p></dd><dt><span class="term"><code class="varname">VERSION=</code></span></dt><dd><p>A string identifying
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the operating system version,
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excluding any name information and
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suitable for presentation to the
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<code class="literal">VERSION=15</code> or
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<code class="literal">VERSION="15
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(Rawhide)"</code>.</p></dd><dt><span class="term"><code class="varname">ID=</code></span></dt><dd><p>A lower-case string
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(no spaces) identifying the operating
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system, excluding any version
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information and suitable for
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processing by scripts or usage in
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generated file names. If not set
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<code class="literal">linux</code>. Example:
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<code class="literal">ID=fedora</code>.</p></dd><dt><span class="term"><code class="varname">VERSION_ID=</code></span></dt><dd><p>A lower-case string
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(mostly numeric, no spaces) identifying the
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operating system version, excluding
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any name information and suitable for
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processing by scripts or usage in generated file names. Example:
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<code class="literal">VERSION_ID=15</code>.</p></dd><dt><span class="term"><code class="varname">PRETTY_NAME=</code></span></dt><dd><p>A pretty operating
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excluding any OS name information,
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possibly including a release code
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name, and suitable for presentation to
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the user. This field is
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<code class="literal">VERSION=17</code> or
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<code class="literal">VERSION="17 (Beefy
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Miracle)"</code>.</p></dd><dt><span class="term"><code class="varname">ID=</code></span></dt><dd><p>A lower-case string
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(no spaces or other characters outside
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of 0-9, a-z, ".", "_" and "-")
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identifying the operating system,
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excluding any version information and
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suitable for processing by scripts or
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usage in generated file names. If not
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<code class="literal">ID=linux</code>. Example:
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<code class="literal">ID=fedora</code> or
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<code class="literal">ID=debian</code>.</p></dd><dt><span class="term"><code class="varname">ID_LIKE=</code></span></dt><dd><p>A space-separated list
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of operating system identifiers in the
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<code class="varname">ID=</code> setting. Should
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list identifiers of operating systems
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that are closely related to the local
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operating system in regards to
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packaging and programming interfaces,
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for example listing one or more
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OS identifiers the local
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OS is a derivative from. An
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OS should generally only list other OS
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identifiers it itself is a derivative
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from, and not any OSes that
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are derived from it, but symmetric
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relationships are possible. Build
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scripts and similar should check this
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variable if they need to identify the
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local operating system and the value
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of <code class="varname">ID=</code> is not
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recognized. Operating systems should
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be listed in order of how closely the
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local operating system relates to the
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listed ones, starting with the
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closest. This field is
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optional. Example: for an operating
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<code class="literal">ID=centos</code> an
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assignment of <code class="literal">ID_LIKE="rhel
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fedora"</code> would be
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appropriate. For an operating system
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with <code class="literal">ID=ubuntu</code> an
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<code class="literal">ID_LIKE=debian</code> is
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appropriate.</p></dd><dt><span class="term"><code class="varname">VERSION_ID=</code></span></dt><dd><p>A lower-case string
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(mostly numeric, no spaces or other
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characters outside of 0-9, a-z, ".",
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"_" and "-") identifying the operating
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system version, excluding any OS name
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information or release code name, and
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suitable for processing by scripts or
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usage in generated file names. This
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field is optional. Example:
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<code class="literal">VERSION_ID=17</code> or
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<code class="literal">VERSION_ID=11.04</code>.</p></dd><dt><span class="term"><code class="varname">PRETTY_NAME=</code></span></dt><dd><p>A pretty operating
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system name in a format suitable for
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presentation to the user. May or may
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not contain an OS version of some
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kind, as suitable. If not set defaults
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to <code class="literal">Linux</code>. Example:
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<code class="literal">PRETTY_NAME=Fedora 15
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(Rawhide)</code>.</p></dd><dt><span class="term"><code class="varname">ANSI_COLOR=</code></span></dt><dd><p>A suggested
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not contain a release code name or OS
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version of some kind, as suitable. If
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<code class="literal">PRETTY_NAME="Linux"</code>. Example:
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<code class="literal">PRETTY_NAME="Fedora 17 (Beefy
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Miracle)"</code>.</p></dd><dt><span class="term"><code class="varname">ANSI_COLOR=</code></span></dt><dd><p>A suggested
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presentation color when showing the
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distribution name on the console. This
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OS name on the console. This
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should be specified as string suitable
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for inclusion in the ESC [ m
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ANSI/ECMA-48 escape code for setting
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graphical rendition. Example:
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<code class="literal">ANSI_COLOR=0;31</code> for
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<code class="literal">ANSI_COLOR=1;34</code> for
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light blue.</p></dd></dl></div><p>If you are reading this file from code or a
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graphical rendition. This field is
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<code class="literal">ANSI_COLOR="0;31"</code>
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<code class="literal">ANSI_COLOR="1;34"</code>
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for light blue.</p></dd><dt><span class="term"><code class="varname">CPE_NAME=</code></span></dt><dd><p>A CPE name for the
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operating system, following the <a class="ulink" href="http://cpe.mitre.org/specification/" target="_top">Common
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Specification</a> as proposed by
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the MITRE Corporation. This field
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is optional. Example:
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<code class="literal">CPE_NAME="cpe:/o:fedoraproject:fedora:17"</code>
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</p></dd><dt><span class="term"><code class="varname">HOME_URL=</code>, </span><span class="term"><code class="varname">SUPPORT_URL=</code>, </span><span class="term"><code class="varname">BUG_REPORT_URL=</code></span></dt><dd><p>Links to resources on
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the Internet related the operating
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system. <code class="varname">HOME_URL=</code>
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should refer to the homepage of the of
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operating system, or alternatively
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some homepage of the specific version
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system. <code class="varname">SUPPORT_URL=</code>
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should refer to the main support page
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for the operating system, if there is
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any. This is primarily intended for
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operating systems which vendors
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for. <code class="varname">BUG_REPORT_URL=</code>
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should refer to the main bug reporting
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page for the operating system, if
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there is any. This is primarily
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intended for operating systems that
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rely on community QA. These settings
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are optional, and providing only some
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of these settings is common. These
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URLs are intended to be exposed in
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"About this system" UIs behind links
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with captions such as "About this
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Operating System", "Obtain Support"
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resp. "Report a Bug". The values should
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be in <a class="ulink" href="https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3986" target="_top">RFC3986
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format</a>, and should be
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<code class="literal">http:</code> or
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<code class="literal">https:</code> URLs, and
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possibly <code class="literal">mailto:</code> or
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<code class="literal">tel:</code>. Only one URL
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shall be listed in each setting. If
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multiple resources need to be
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referenced it is recommended to
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provide an online landing page linking
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all available resources. Examples:
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<code class="literal">HOME_URL="https://fedoraproject.org/"</code>
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<code class="literal">BUG_REPORT_URL="https://bugzilla.redhat.com/"</code></p></dd></dl></div><p>If you are reading this file from C code or a
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shell script to determine the OS or a specific version
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of it, use the ID and VERSION_ID fields. When looking
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for an OS identification string for presentation to
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the user use the PRETTY_NAME field.</p><p>Note that operating system vendors may choose
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of it, use the ID and VERSION_ID fields, possibly with
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ID_LIKE as fallback for ID. When looking for an OS
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identification string for presentation to the user use
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the PRETTY_NAME field.</p><p>Note that operating system vendors may choose
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not to provide version information, for example to
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accommodate for rolling releases. In this case VERSION
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and VERSION_ID may be unset. Applications should not
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rely on these fields to be set.</p></div><div class="refsect1" title="Example"><a id="id493290"/><h2>Example</h2><pre class="programlisting">NAME=Fedora
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VERSION="15 (Rawhide)"
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rely on these fields to be set.</p><p>Operating system vendors may extend the file
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format and introduce new fields. It is highly
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recommended to prefix new fields with an OS specific
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name in order to avoid name clashes. Applications
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reading this file must ignore unknown fields. Example:
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<code class="literal">DEBIAN_BTS="debbugs://bugs.debian.org/"</code></p></div><div class="refsect1" title="Example"><a name="id529833"></a><h2>Example</h2><pre class="programlisting">NAME=Fedora
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VERSION="17 (Beefy Miracle)"
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PRETTY_NAME="Fedora 15 (Rawhide)"
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ANSI_COLOR=0;34</pre></div><div class="refsect1" title="See Also"><a id="id493304"/><h2>See Also</h2><p>
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PRETTY_NAME="Fedora 17 (Beefy Miracle)"
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CPE_NAME="cpe:/o:fedoraproject:fedora:17"
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HOME_URL="https://fedoraproject.org/"
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BUG_REPORT_URL="https://bugzilla.redhat.com/"</pre></div><div class="refsect1" title="See Also"><a name="id529847"></a><h2>See Also</h2><p>
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<span class="citerefentry"><span class="refentrytitle">systemd</span>(1)</span>,
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<span class="citerefentry"><span class="refentrytitle">lsb_release</span>(1)</span>,
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<span class="citerefentry"><span class="refentrytitle">hostname</span>(5)</span>,
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man/os-release.html
