How To – Find Out Your Ubuntu Version Name

Nicole on January 18th, 2007

This is just a quick tip, and something I tend to need to do because I’m a bit absentminded and have one of the worst short-term memories out there. The version names for Ubuntu sometimes escape me. Maybe it’s because they are referred to by cute little ‘codenames’ instead of version numbers. The difference between Dapper and Breezy and Edgy and Feisty isn’t exactly obvious. Which of those is newest?

Feisty will be released around the end of Spring 2007 (April I believe). So at the time of this writing, Edgy is the most current stable version to have. For many things in Ubuntu, particularly any time you are tinkering with adding repositories, you need to know your version. If nothing else, it can make you feel a little bit more like you know what’s going on if someone asks you and you actually know what your computer is running

It’s easy enough to do.

1) Applications -> Accessories -> Terminal
2) Type the following at the prompt:
cat /etc/lsb-release
3) It should output something similar to mine, which looks like this:
DISTRIB_ID=Ubuntu DISTRIB_RELEASE=6.10 DISTRIB_CODENAME=edgy DISTRIB_DESCRIPTION="Ubuntu 6.10"

Not too hard to figure out that the line that says ‘DISTRIB_CODENAME’ is the one that tells you the name of your version. Fairly painless.

~Nicole

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20 Responses to “How To – Find Out Your Ubuntu Version Name”

gp_antMarch 28th, 2007 at 1:22 am

good info, thanks
dehmmyMarch 30th, 2007 at 1:28 pm

A better way of doing that that I found posted on a blog would be issuing the command, “lsb_release -a” because files can lie.. I had people posting to cat their /etc/issue when In my case I had already changed it. Hope this helps the greater good…

Below is a real life example from my box..

Peace…….

$ lsb_release -a
No LSB modules are available.
Distributor ID: Ubuntu
Description: Ubuntu feisty (development branch)
Release: 7.04
Codename: feisty
sumanthApril 5th, 2007 at 1:35 pm

Thanks a bunch
pakkuJanuary 16th, 2008 at 10:38 am

wouldn’t it be simpler to click on System/About Ubuntu?
fuller9boxJanuary 20th, 2008 at 4:52 pm

Thank you very much. Appreciated.
zueFebruary 4th, 2008 at 1:46 pm

cat /etc/issue
or
cat /etc/issue.net
Marnen Laibow-KoserFebruary 17th, 2008 at 11:23 pm

You wrote:

The difference between Dapper and Breezy and Edgy and Feisty isnâ€™t exactly obvious. Which of those is newest?

Feisty, of course. Since Dapper, the Ubuntu names seem to have been going in alphabetical sequence: Dapper Drake, Edgy Eft, Feisty Fawn, Gutsy Gibbon (current as of this writing), Hardy Heron (next), and so on. I agree that it’s hard to keep the unalphabetized names straight, though.
cantyMarch 16th, 2008 at 10:50 pm

wouldnâ€™t it be simpler to click on System/About Ubuntu?
i think this is very simple to know it
AndyMay 21st, 2008 at 7:45 pm

wouldnâ€™t it be simpler to click on System/About Ubuntu?

Not everyone is in a position to do so. If you are remotely connected via SSH or using a default ubuntu-server installation, you don’t have the option of System/About Ubuntu.
trellis2November 11th, 2008 at 7:09 am

” Wouldn’t it be simpler to click System/About Ubuntu?”

I upgraded to Intrepid, guess what, no version info! Look at the last line.

System/About Ubuntu

” 5. Version and Release Numbers
The Ubuntu version numbering scheme is based on the date we release a
version of the distribution. The version number comes from the year and
month of the release rather than reflecting the actual version of the
software.
Our first release (Warty Warthog) was in October 2004 so its version was
4.10. This version () was released in so its version number is .”

Always better to have more than one way of doing things.
PeterNovember 23rd, 2008 at 2:33 pm

I upgraded/downgraded (depends on program version) from Debian/lenny to Ubuntu/intrepid (replaced /etc/apt/sources.lst and used aptitude update; aptitude dist-upgrade) (a lot I had to do by hand after that).
There was still a wrong /etc/debian_version but no /etc/lsb_version but

System/Info zu Ubuntu

“Versions- und Freigabenummern
* Ubuntu – Linux für Menschen!
Die Nummerierung der Ubuntu-Versionen richtet sich nach dem Datum, an dem eine Version veröffentlicht wird. Die Nummer der Version entspricht dem Jahr und dem Monat der Veröffentlichung und sagt nichts über die tatsächliche Version der Software aus.
Unsere erste Version (»Warty Warthog«) wurde im Oktober 2004 veröffentlicht, daher war die Versionsnummer 4.10. Diese Version (»Intrepid Ibex«) wurde im Oktober 2008 veröffentlicht und trägt somit die Versionsnummer 8.10.”

did the job!
TDecember 17th, 2008 at 12:53 am

thanks!
BloodSugarJanuary 2nd, 2009 at 4:24 pm

Thank you!! Mine is intrepid, apparently. I wonder if that’s cool. lol (Apparently new to Linux)
watermoleJune 12th, 2009 at 5:21 pm

I was trying to update from 8.04 to 8.10 and I’m not sure that my update is complete (though the update manager says that it is complete) because when I check via the system-> about Ubuntu I get:

“Our first release (Warty Warthog) was in October 2004 so its version was 4.10. This version () was released in so its version number is .”

but when I check via the terminal it says that I do have 8.10. Is it possible that I don’t have a complete update or that just the help file doesn’t recognize the version that I have?
KellyJuly 20th, 2009 at 9:07 am

This was very helpful. I thought their was a version file in /etc/ but it must have been on a diff version / distro.

Great
mikeSeptember 1st, 2009 at 6:16 am

Thanks !
JoelOctober 6th, 2009 at 8:45 pm

Sorry for the late reply…

From the terminal: uname -a
SeedOctober 24th, 2009 at 1:34 pm

Thanks, needed this today
aXeManDecember 20th, 2009 at 2:30 am

Thanks Dude..