The latest CentOS version is CentOS7 (version 7.7.1511)
However, here are the others CentOS version under support:
CentOS 6 (version 6.6.8) End Of Life (EOL) CentOS
CentOS 5 — version 5.5.11 –> 31st March 2017
CentOS 4 — version 4.4.9 –> 29th February 2012
8 Ways to Check CentOS Version
You should be aware that the CentOS version is made up of three components before learning how to check it:
- Major Version: Major release version number
- Minor Version: Minor release version number
- Monthstamp: codebase month and year timestamp
1. /etc/centos-release file
The file specifically for CentOS contains information on the release and version of CentOS.
[root@centos ~]# cat /etc/centos-releaseCentOS Linux release 8.1.1911 (Core)[root@centos ~]# |
- Major Version: 8
- Minor Version: 1
- Monthstamp: 1911 i.e. November 2019.
2. /etc/system-release file
This file also contains the same information as the centos-release file.
[root@centos ~]# cat /etc/system-releaseCentOS Linux release 8.1.1911 (Core)[root@centos ~]# |
3. /etc/os-release file
This file contains the Linux OS information. So, this file contains the major version number.
[root@centos ~]# cat /etc/os-releaseNAME="CentOS Linux"VERSION="8 (Core)"ID="centos"ID_LIKE="rhel fedora"VERSION_ID="8"PLATFORM_ID="platform:el8"PRETTY_NAME="CentOS Linux 8 (Core)"ANSI_COLOR="0;31"CPE_NAME="cpe:/o:centos:centos:8"HOME_URL="https://www.centos.org/"BUG_REPORT_URL="https://bugs.centos.org/"CENTOS_MANTISBT_PROJECT="CentOS-8"CENTOS_MANTISBT_PROJECT_VERSION="8"REDHAT_SUPPORT_PRODUCT="centos"REDHAT_SUPPORT_PRODUCT_VERSION="8"[root@centos ~]# |
4. /etc/redhat-release file
CentOS is built on top of RedHat Linux distribution. Besides, this file contains the same information as the centos-release file.
[root@centos ~]# cat /etc/redhat-releaseCentOS Linux release 8.1.1911 (Core)[root@centos ~]# |
5. lsb_release command
This command doesn’t come pre-installed with the CentOS server. However, you can install it using the following command.
[root@centos ~]# yum install redhat-lsb |
Then, check the CentOS version using the following command.
[root@centos ~]# lsb_release -dDescription: CentOS Linux release 8.1.1911 (Core)[root@centos ~]# |
6. rpm query
Besides using the command above, we can query the rpm package manager to get the CentOS version information.
[root@centos ~]# rpm -q centos-releasecentos-release-8.1-1.1911.0.8.el8.x86_64[root@centos ~]# |
7. rpm macro
Here is a simple rpm macro evaluation to get the CentOS major version.
[root@centos ~]# rpm -E %{rhel}8[root@centos ~]# |
8. hostnamectl command
Next, the hostnamectl command can be used to get the system information. Also, it reveals the Operating System version.
[root@centos ~]# hostnamectl Static hostname: localhost.localdomainTransient hostname: li1176-240.members.linode.com Icon name: computer-vm Chassis: vm Machine ID: c2a4bfa7e0c74457b3a978656ab959e8 Boot ID: c89bae2d3ec7493987a455bfa15e4818 Virtualization: kvm Operating System: CentOS Linux 7 (Core) CPE OS Name: cpe:/o:centos:centos:7 Kernel: Linux 3.10.0-1062.12.1.el7.x86_64 Architecture: x86-64[root@centos ~]#[root@centos ~]#[root@centos ~]# hostnamectl | grep "Operating System" Operating System: CentOS Linux 7 (Core)[root@centos ~]# |
In Docker containers, the hostnamectl command is inoperable. My personal VPS machine produced this command output. The other scripts’ output comes from a CentOS 8 Docker container that is local to me.
