Pretty basic, to get the version of Ubuntu from a command-line terminal, run the command:
grep -wi version /etc/*release
The command grepped for the word version (ignoring case) in the release text file (/etc/os-release file in case of Ubuntu) of your OS distribution. This will output the exact short VERSION string, one line.
![](https://codetryout.com/wp-content/uploads/check-the-version-of-ubuntu-linix-from-terminal.png)
This command is the same across all major Linux, GNU/Linux, Debian and their docker images or containers, and should work on:
- Ubuntu 22.04
- Ubuntu older versions
- RedHat Linux
- CentOS
- Kali Linux
- Linux or Debian-based Docker containers etc.
For example, running the same command in Kali Linux (to check the release version of Kali Linux)
![](https://codetryout.com/wp-content/uploads/check-the-version-of-kali-linux-from-terminal.png)
How to check complete OS version details in Ubuntu and other Linux distribution?
Detailed information about your distro version is available if you read the full os-release file, as shown below.
Let’s read the release file for the long release version and related information.
cat /etc/*release
Full version detail of Ubuntu 20.04 – Example:
dev@codetryout:~$ cat /etc/*release
DISTRIB_ID=Ubuntu
DISTRIB_RELEASE=20.04
DISTRIB_CODENAME=focal
DISTRIB_DESCRIPTION="Ubuntu 20.04.5 LTS"
NAME="Ubuntu"
VERSION="20.04.5 LTS (Focal Fossa)"
ID=ubuntu
ID_LIKE=debian
PRETTY_NAME="Ubuntu 20.04.5 LTS"
VERSION_ID="20.04"
HOME_URL="https://www.ubuntu.com/"
SUPPORT_URL="https://help.ubuntu.com/"
BUG_REPORT_URL="https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/"
PRIVACY_POLICY_URL="https://www.ubuntu.com/legal/terms-and-policies/privacy-policy"
VERSION_CODENAME=focal
UBUNTU_CODENAME=focal
If you have more questions on Ubuntu or VirtualBox, Docker, or Shell Scripting – please refer to these sections, also feel free to ask us.