Where Is the Linux OS Version Stored?
Linux os-release file in /etc with distro name, version and IDs for scripts.
Last updated
Linux distributions identify themselves in /etc/os-release with name, version, IDs and URLs in shell-parseable format. Scripts source it to branch per distro instead of parsing lsb output.
Containers inherit the image's file, which is how you tell a Debian container on a Fedora host. Older releases symlink it for compatibility.
Where Linux stores this, by platform
/etc/os-release
Holds NAME, VERSION_ID, ID and variant fields every distro fills. Source it in scripts as . /etc/os-release for reliable distro detection. /usr/lib/os-release is the vendor original with /etc as the admin override.
Frequently asked questions
How do I check my Linux distro version?
Read the file above or run hostnamectl, which prints the same fields. Scripts should source the file rather than parse command output.
Why does a container report the wrong distro?
It reports its image's os-release, not the host's. That is correct behavior for the workload inside.
Notice an outdated path? Let us know.