How to check your Ubuntu version

Need to know which Ubuntu version your server is running? Maybe you're troubleshooting a compatibility issue, verifying an OS upgrade, or checking whether you're on an LTS release before installing software. Here are the three standard methods that work on every Ubuntu installation — plus a shortcut that skips the terminal entirely.

Method 1: lsb_release (the cleanest output)

The lsb_release command is part of the Linux Standard Base package and gives you the cleanest, most readable version info:

lsb_release -a

Output looks like this:

No LSB modules are available.
Distributor ID: Ubuntu
Description:    Ubuntu 22.04.5 LTS
Release:        22.04
Codename:       jammy

If you just want the version number without the extra info, use -d for description or -r for release number:

lsb_release -d
# Description: Ubuntu 22.04.5 LTS

lsb_release -r
# Release: 22.04

If lsb_release isn't installed (rare, but possible on minimal installations), you can install it with: sudo apt install lsb-release. Or use Method 2 instead.

Method 2: /etc/os-release (works on every Linux)

Every modern Linux distribution has the /etc/os-release file. This method works even on minimal containers and embedded systems where lsb_release isn't available:

cat /etc/os-release

Output:

PRETTY_NAME="Ubuntu 22.04.5 LTS"
NAME="Ubuntu"
VERSION_ID="22.04"
VERSION="22.04.5 LTS (Jammy Jellyfish)"
VERSION_CODENAME=jammy
ID=ubuntu
ID_LIKE=debian
HOME_URL="https://www.ubuntu.com/"
UBUNTU_CODENAME=jammy

To grab just the version, you can pipe it through grep:

grep VERSION_ID /etc/os-release
# VERSION_ID="22.04"

Method 3: hostnamectl (systemd-based)

The hostnamectl command is part of systemd and shows you system information including the OS version, kernel, and architecture:

hostnamectl

Output:

Static hostname: my-server
      Icon name: computer-vm
        Chassis: vm
     Machine ID: ba73ef45...
        Boot ID: 8f2a3c1d...
 Virtualization: kvm
Operating System: Ubuntu 22.04.5 LTS
         Kernel: Linux 5.15.0-119-generic
   Architecture: x86-64

This is my favorite when I need both the Ubuntu version AND the kernel version at the same time.

Bonus: Check from the kernel itself

If you only have uname available (on very minimal systems), you can at least get the kernel version:

uname -a
# Linux my-server 5.15.0-119-generic #129-Ubuntu SMP...

This won't tell you the Ubuntu release version, but it tells you the kernel, which is often enough to narrow things down.

Which method should you use?

• lsb_release -a — Best for readability when troubleshooting
• cat /etc/os-release — Best for scripts (always available)
• hostnamectl — Best when you want kernel info too

All three work identically on Ubuntu 20.04, 22.04, 24.04, and every modern release. On BareMetalServer.ai, every Ubuntu deployment ships with lsb_release pre-installed, so Method 1 always works out of the box.