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Aug 05, 2019 In this article, we are discussing how to check the kernel version in both Ubuntu and CentOS Linux. The following command works with all Linux distributions, such as Red Hat, CentOS, Debian, and Ubuntu. It also works on other UNIX-like operating systems such as HPUX, FreeBSD, OpenBSD, Solaris. Aug 12, 2019 Once you do that, you’ll get the newer kernel releases provided by Ubuntu to the LTS version. To install HWE kernel in Ubuntu desktop along with newer xorg, you can use this command in the terminal: sudo apt install -install-recommends linux-generic-hwe-18.04 xserver-xorg-hwe-18.04.
Brief: Wondering which Linux kernel version your system uses? Here are several ways to check kernel version in Linux terminal.
You may find yourself in a situation when you need to know the exact Linux kernel version being used on your system. Thanks to the powerful Linux command line, you can easily find that out.
In this article, I’ll show you various methods to know kernel version along with what those numbers actually mean. If you prefer videos, here’s a quick one. Don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel for more Linux tips.
How to find Linux kernel version
I am using Ubuntu 16.04 while writing this article. But these commands are generic and can be used on Fedora, Debian, CentOS, SUSE Linux or any other Linux distribution.
1. Find Linux kernel using uname command
uname is the Linux command to get system information. You can also use it to know if you are using a 32-bit or 64-bit system.
Open a terminal and use the following command:
The output will be something similar to this:
This means that you are running Linux kernel 4.4.0-97 or in more generic terms, you are running Linux kernel version 4.4. Civilization 3 download.
But what do other digits mean here? Let me explain it to you:
- 4 – Kernel version
- 4 – Major revision
- 0 – Minor revision
- 97 – Bug fix
- generic – distribution specific string. For Ubuntu, it means I am using the desktop version. For Ubuntu server edition, it should be server.
You can also use uname command with option -a. This will provide more system information if you want that.
The output of the command should like this:
Let me explain the output and give it a meaning:
- Linux – Kernel name. If you run the same command on BSD or macOS, the result will be different.
- itsfoss – hostname
- 4.4.0-97-generic – Kernel release (we just saw that)
- #120-Ubuntu SMP Tue Sep 19 17:28:18 UTC 2017 – This means that Ubuntu compiled 4.4.0-97-generic 120 time. Last compilation timestamp is also there.
- x86_64 – Machine architecture
- x86_64 – Processor architecture
- x86_64 – Operating system architecture (You can run a 32 bit OS on a 64-bit processor)
- GNU/Linux – Operating system (and no it won’t show the distribution name)
I’ll save you from information overload. So let’s see other commands to find Linux kernel version.
2. Find Linux kernel using /proc/version file
In Linux, you can also find the Linux kernel information in the file /proc/version. Just look at the content of this file:
You’ll see an output similar to what we saw with uname.
If your distribution does not provide binary drivers for Windows, you can use the package from the Fedora Project. These drivers are digitally signed, and will work on 64-bit versions of Windows: Latest VirtIO drivers for Windows from Fedora. Code signing drivers for the Windows 64bit platforms. Drivers should be signed for Windows 64bit. Red hat virtio drivers windows 10.
You can see the kernel version 4.4.0-97-generic here.
3. Find Linux kernel version using dmesg commad
dmesg is a powerful command used to write the kernel messages. It is also very useful in getting system information.
Ubuntu Kernel Versioning
Since dmesg provides quite an awful lot of information, you should use a command like less to read it. But since you are here just to check Linux kernel version, grepping on Linux should give the desired output.
The output will have a few lines but you should be able to identify the Linux kernel version there easily.
How do you check Linux kernel version and other information?
Among the three ways discussed here, I use uname all the time. It is more convenient.
Ubuntu Kernel Version List
What about you? Which command do you prefer to get Linux kernel information?