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Linux OS: CentOS Version

Last modified: June 28, 2022
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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:

  1. Major Version: Major release version number
  2. Minor Version: Minor release version number
  3. 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-release
CentOS 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-release
CentOS 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-release
NAME="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-release
CentOS 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 -d
Description:    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-release
centos-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.localdomain
Transient 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.

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