lsb_release

Additional Notes

lsb_release prints detailed information about the Linux distribution, including the distributor ID, release version, codename, and description. It implements the Linux Standard Base (LSB) specification for reporting distribution metadata.

It is useful in scripts for detecting the current distribution and version to make platform-specific decisions. It reads data from the /etc/lsb-release file or the /usr/lib/os-release file.

Syntax

lsb_release [options]

Parameters

• options: Flags that change how lsb_release behaves.
• target: Optional file, device, interface, user, service, or command target when the command supports one.

Common Options

• -a, --all: Show all available information.
• -d, --description: Print the distribution description string.
• -r, --release: Print the release version number.
• -c, --codename: Print the distribution code name.
• -i, --id: Print the distributor ID.
• -s, --short: Short output format, one value per line.
• -h, --help: Show help message.

Examples

lsb_release -a

Show all distribution information.

lsb_release -d

Output: Description: Ubuntu 22.04.3 LTS

lsb_release -r -s

Output: 22.04 (short release number).

lsb_release -c -s

Output: jammy (short codename).

if [ "$(lsb_release -is)" = "Ubuntu" ]; then
  echo "This is Ubuntu"
fi

Check the distribution in a script.

Practical Notes

• Not all distributions install lsb_release by default. On Debian/Ubuntu, install it with apt install lsb-release.
• On distributions without LSB tools, use cat /etc/os-release or hostnamectl as alternatives.
• The -s flag is useful when capturing output in scripts for comparison.