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<refentry id="os-release">

<refentryinfo>

<title>os-release</title>

<productname>systemd</productname>

<authorgroup>

<author>

<contrib>Developer</contrib>

<firstname>Lennart</firstname>

<surname>Poettering</surname>

<email>lennart@poettering.net</email>

</author>

</authorgroup>

</refentryinfo>

<refmeta>

<refentrytitle>os-release</refentrytitle>

<manvolnum>5</manvolnum>

</refmeta>

<refnamediv>

<refname>os-release</refname>

<refpurpose>Operating system identification</refpurpose>

</refnamediv>

<refsynopsisdiv>

<para><filename>/etc/os-release</filename></para>

</refsynopsisdiv>

<refsect1>

<title>Description</title>

<para>The <filename>/etc/os-release</filename> file

contains operating system identification data.</para>

<para>The basic file format of

<filename>os-release</filename> is a

newline-separated list of environment-like

shell-compatible variable assignments. It is possible

to source the configuration from shell scripts,

however, beyond mere variable assignments no shell

features are supported, allowing applications to read

the file without implementing a shell compatible

execution engine.</para>

<para><filename>/etc/os-release</filename> contains

data that is defined by the operating system vendor

and should not be changed by the administrator.</para>

<para>Depending on the operating system other

configuration files might be checked for OS

identification as well, however only as

fallback.</para>

</refsect1>

<refsect1>

<title>Options</title>

<para>The following OS identifications parameters may be set using

<filename>/etc/os-release</filename>:</para>

<variablelist>

<varlistentry>

<term><varname>NAME=</varname></term>

<listitem><para>A string identifying

the operating system, without a

version string, and not necessarily

suitable for presentation to the

user. If not set defaults to

<literal>Linux</literal>. Example:

<literal>NAME=Fedora</literal> or

<literal>NAME="Debian

GNU/Linux"</literal>.</para></listitem>

</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>

<term><varname>VERSION=</varname></term>

<listitem><para>A string identifying

the operating system version,

excluding any name information and

suitable for presentation to the

user. Example:

<literal>VERSION=15</literal> or

<literal>VERSION="15

(Rawhide)"</literal>.</para></listitem>

</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>

<term><varname>ID=</varname></term>

<listitem><para>A lower-case string

identifying the operating system,

excluding any version information and

suitable for processing by scripts. If

not set defaults to

<literal>linux</literal>. Example:

<literal>ID=fedora</literal>.</para></listitem>

</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>

<term><varname>VERSION_ID=</varname></term>

<listitem><para>A lower-case string

(mostly numeric) identifying the

operating system version, excluding

any name information and suitable for

processing by scripts. Example:

<literal>VERSION_ID=15</literal>.</para></listitem>

</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>

<term><varname>PRETTY_NAME=</varname></term>

<listitem><para>A pretty operating

system name in a format suitable for

presentation to the user. May or may

not contain an OS version of some

kind, as suitable. If not set defaults

to <literal>Linux</literal>. Example:

<literal>PRETTY_NAME=Fedora 15

(Rawhide)</literal>.</para></listitem>

</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>

<term><varname>ANSI_COLOR=</varname></term>

<listitem><para>A suggested

presentation color when showing the

distribution name on the console. This

should be specified as string suitable

for inclusion in the ESC [ m

ANSI/ECMA-48 escape code for setting

graphical rendition. Example:

<literal>ANSI_COLOR=0;31</literal> for

red, or

<literal>ANSI_COLOR=1;34</literal> for

light blue.</para></listitem>

</varlistentry>

</variablelist>

<para>If you are reading this file from code or a

shell script to determine the OS or a specific version

of it, use the ID and VERSION_ID fields. When looking

for an OS identification string for presentation to

the user use the PRETTY_NAME field.</para>

<para>Note that operating system vendors may choose

not to provide version information, for example to

accommodate for rolling releases. In this case VERSION

and VERSION_ID may be unset. Applications should not

rely on these fields to be set.</para>

</refsect1>

<refsect1>

<title>Example</title>

<programlisting>NAME=Fedora

VERSION="15 (Rawhide)"

ID=fedora

VERSION_ID=15

PRETTY_NAME="Fedora 15 (Rawhide)"

ANSI_COLOR=0;34</programlisting>

</refsect1>

<refsect1>

<title>See Also</title>

<para>

<citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>,

<citerefentry><refentrytitle>lsb_release</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>,

<citerefentry><refentrytitle>hostname</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>,

<citerefentry><refentrytitle>machine-id</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>,

<citerefentry><refentrytitle>machine-info</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>

</para>

</refsect1>

</refentry>