How to find the kernel or distro of Linux

Using the uname command, you can identify the kernel version you're using.

Examples of using the uname command and the output from the command are shown below.

uname -arv

SunOS hope 5.7 Generic_106541-08 sun4m sparc SUNW,SPARCstation-10

uname -r

2.6.24-19-generic

Using the cat command, you can examine the contents of specific files to identify specific configuration used on the system. Below are these files. Note that every Linux operating system is configured differently. The following are the location of configuration files to edit, on the corresponding Linux operating system listed.

CentOS Linux distro

cat /proc/version

Debian Linux distro

cat /etc/debian_version

Red Hat Linux distro

cat /etc/redhat-release

Ubuntu Linux distro

cat /etc/issue

or

cat /etc/lsb-release