man/os-release.xml

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   2 <!DOCTYPE refentry PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook XML V4.2//EN"
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   4
   5 <!--
   6   SPDX-License-Identifier: LGPL-2.1+
   7
   8   This file is part of systemd.
   9
  10   Copyright 2010 Lennart Poettering
  11 -->
  12
  13 <refentry id="os-release">
  14   <refentryinfo>
  15     <title>os-release</title>
  16     <productname>systemd</productname>
  17
  18     <authorgroup>
  19       <author>
  20         <contrib>Developer</contrib>
  21         <firstname>Lennart</firstname>
  22         <surname>Poettering</surname>
  23         <email>lennart@poettering.net</email>
  24       </author>
  25     </authorgroup>
  26   </refentryinfo>
  27
  28   <refmeta>
  29     <refentrytitle>os-release</refentrytitle>
  30     <manvolnum>5</manvolnum>
  31   </refmeta>
  32
  33   <refnamediv>
  34     <refname>os-release</refname>
  35     <refpurpose>Operating system identification</refpurpose>
  36   </refnamediv>
  37
  38   <refsynopsisdiv>
  39     <para><filename>/etc/os-release</filename></para>
  40     <para><filename>/usr/lib/os-release</filename></para>
  41   </refsynopsisdiv>
  42
  43   <refsect1>
  44     <title>Description</title>
  45
  46     <para>The <filename>/etc/os-release</filename> and
  47     <filename>/usr/lib/os-release</filename> files contain operating
  48     system identification data.</para>
  49
  50     <para>The basic file format of <filename>os-release</filename> is
  51     a newline-separated list of environment-like shell-compatible
  52     variable assignments. It is possible to source the configuration
  53     from shell scripts, however, beyond mere variable assignments, no
  54     shell features are supported (this means variable expansion is
  55     explicitly not supported), allowing applications to read the file
  56     without implementing a shell compatible execution engine. Variable
  57     assignment values must be enclosed in double or single quotes if
  58     they include spaces, semicolons or other special characters
  59     outside of A–Z, a–z, 0–9. Shell special characters ("$", quotes,
  60     backslash, backtick) must be escaped with backslashes, following
  61     shell style. All strings should be in UTF-8 format, and
  62     non-printable characters should not be used. It is not supported
  63     to concatenate multiple individually quoted strings. Lines
  64     beginning with "#" shall be ignored as comments.</para>
  65
  66     <para>The file <filename>/etc/os-release</filename> takes
  67     precedence over <filename>/usr/lib/os-release</filename>.
  68     Applications should check for the former, and exclusively use its
  69     data if it exists, and only fall back to
  70     <filename>/usr/lib/os-release</filename> if it is missing.
  71     Applications should not read data from both files at the same
  72     time. <filename>/usr/lib/os-release</filename> is the recommended
  73     place to store OS release information as part of vendor trees.
  74     <filename>/etc/os-release</filename> should be a relative symlink
  75     to <filename>/usr/lib/os-release</filename>, to provide
  76     compatibility with applications only looking at
  77     <filename>/etc</filename>. A relative symlink instead of an
  78     absolute symlink is necessary to avoid breaking the link in a
  79     chroot or initrd environment such as dracut.</para>
  80
  81     <para><filename>os-release</filename> contains data that is
  82     defined by the operating system vendor and should generally not be
  83     changed by the administrator.</para>
  84
  85     <para>As this file only encodes names and identifiers it should
  86     not be localized.</para>
  87
  88     <para>The <filename>/etc/os-release</filename> and
  89     <filename>/usr/lib/os-release</filename> files might be symlinks
  90     to other files, but it is important that the file is available
  91     from earliest boot on, and hence must be located on the root file
  92     system.</para>
  93
  94     <para>For a longer rationale for <filename>os-release</filename>
  95     please refer to the <ulink
  96     url="http://0pointer.de/blog/projects/os-release">Announcement of <filename>/etc/os-release</filename></ulink>.</para>
  97   </refsect1>
  98
  99   <refsect1>
 100     <title>Options</title>
 101
 102     <para>The following OS identifications parameters may be set using
 103     <filename>os-release</filename>:</para>
 104
 105     <variablelist>
 106
 107       <varlistentry>
 108         <term><varname>NAME=</varname></term>
 109
 110         <listitem><para>A string identifying the operating system,
 111         without a version component, and suitable for presentation to
 112         the user. If not set, defaults to
 113         <literal>NAME=Linux</literal>. Example:
 114         <literal>NAME=Fedora</literal> or <literal>NAME="Debian
 115         GNU/Linux"</literal>.</para></listitem>
 116       </varlistentry>
 117
 118       <varlistentry>
 119         <term><varname>VERSION=</varname></term>
 120
 121         <listitem><para>A string identifying the operating system
 122         version, excluding any OS name information, possibly including
 123         a release code name, and suitable for presentation to the
 124         user. This field is optional. Example:
 125         <literal>VERSION=17</literal> or <literal>VERSION="17 (Beefy
 126         Miracle)"</literal>.</para></listitem>
 127       </varlistentry>
 128
 129       <varlistentry>
 130         <term><varname>ID=</varname></term>
 131
 132         <listitem><para>A lower-case string (no spaces or other
 133         characters outside of 0–9, a–z, ".", "_" and "-") identifying
 134         the operating system, excluding any version information and
 135         suitable for processing by scripts or usage in generated
 136         filenames. If not set, defaults to
 137         <literal>ID=linux</literal>. Example:
 138         <literal>ID=fedora</literal> or
 139         <literal>ID=debian</literal>.</para></listitem>
 140       </varlistentry>
 141
 142       <varlistentry>
 143         <term><varname>ID_LIKE=</varname></term>
 144
 145         <listitem><para>A space-separated list of operating system
 146         identifiers in the same syntax as the <varname>ID=</varname>
 147         setting. It should list identifiers of operating systems that
 148         are closely related to the local operating system in regards
 149         to packaging and programming interfaces, for example listing
 150         one or more OS identifiers the local OS is a derivative from.
 151         An OS should generally only list other OS identifiers it
 152         itself is a derivative of, and not any OSes that are derived
 153         from it, though symmetric relationships are possible. Build
 154         scripts and similar should check this variable if they need to
 155         identify the local operating system and the value of
 156         <varname>ID=</varname> is not recognized. Operating systems
 157         should be listed in order of how closely the local operating
 158         system relates to the listed ones, starting with the closest.
 159         This field is optional. Example: for an operating system with
 160         <literal>ID=centos</literal>, an assignment of
 161         <literal>ID_LIKE="rhel fedora"</literal> would be appropriate.
 162         For an operating system with <literal>ID=ubuntu</literal>, an
 163         assignment of <literal>ID_LIKE=debian</literal> is
 164         appropriate.</para></listitem>
 165       </varlistentry>
 166
 167       <varlistentry>
 168         <term><varname>VERSION_CODENAME=</varname></term>
 169
 170         <listitem><para>
 171         A lower-case string (no spaces or other characters outside of
 172         0–9, a–z, ".", "_" and "-") identifying the operating system
 173         release code name, excluding any OS name information or
 174         release version, and suitable for processing by scripts or
 175         usage in generated filenames. This field is optional and may
 176         not be implemented on all systems.
 177         Examples:
 178         <literal>VERSION_CODENAME=buster</literal>,
 179         <literal>VERSION_CODENAME=xenial</literal>
 180         </para></listitem>
 181       </varlistentry>
 182
 183       <varlistentry>
 184         <term><varname>VERSION_ID=</varname></term>
 185
 186         <listitem><para>A lower-case string (mostly numeric, no spaces
 187         or other characters outside of 0–9, a–z, ".", "_" and "-")
 188         identifying the operating system version, excluding any OS
 189         name information or release code name, and suitable for
 190         processing by scripts or usage in generated filenames. This
 191         field is optional. Example: <literal>VERSION_ID=17</literal>
 192         or <literal>VERSION_ID=11.04</literal>.</para></listitem>
 193       </varlistentry>
 194
 195       <varlistentry>
 196         <term><varname>PRETTY_NAME=</varname></term>
 197
 198         <listitem><para>A pretty operating system name in a format
 199         suitable for presentation to the user. May or may not contain
 200         a release code name or OS version of some kind, as suitable.
 201         If not set, defaults to
 202         <literal>PRETTY_NAME="Linux"</literal>. Example:
 203         <literal>PRETTY_NAME="Fedora 17 (Beefy
 204         Miracle)"</literal>.</para></listitem>
 205       </varlistentry>
 206
 207       <varlistentry>
 208         <term><varname>ANSI_COLOR=</varname></term>
 209
 210         <listitem><para>A suggested presentation color when showing
 211         the OS name on the console. This should be specified as string
 212         suitable for inclusion in the ESC [ m ANSI/ECMA-48 escape code
 213         for setting graphical rendition. This field is optional.
 214         Example: <literal>ANSI_COLOR="0;31"</literal> for red, or
 215         <literal>ANSI_COLOR="1;34"</literal> for light
 216         blue.</para></listitem>
 217       </varlistentry>
 218
 219       <varlistentry>
 220         <term><varname>CPE_NAME=</varname></term>
 221
 222         <listitem><para>A CPE name for the operating system, in URI
 223         binding syntax, following the
 224         <ulink url="http://scap.nist.gov/specifications/cpe/">Common
 225         Platform Enumeration Specification</ulink> as proposed by the
 226         NIST. This field is optional. Example:
 227         <literal>CPE_NAME="cpe:/o:fedoraproject:fedora:17"</literal>
 228         </para></listitem>
 229       </varlistentry>
 230
 231       <varlistentry>
 232         <term><varname>HOME_URL=</varname></term>
 233         <term><varname>SUPPORT_URL=</varname></term>
 234         <term><varname>BUG_REPORT_URL=</varname></term>
 235         <term><varname>PRIVACY_POLICY_URL=</varname></term>
 236
 237         <listitem><para>Links to resources on the Internet related the
 238         operating system. <varname>HOME_URL=</varname> should refer to
 239         the homepage of the operating system, or alternatively some
 240         homepage of the specific version of the operating system.
 241         <varname>SUPPORT_URL=</varname> should refer to the main
 242         support page for the operating system, if there is any. This
 243         is primarily intended for operating systems which vendors
 244         provide support for. <varname>BUG_REPORT_URL=</varname> should
 245         refer to the main bug reporting page for the operating system,
 246         if there is any. This is primarily intended for operating
 247         systems that rely on community QA.
 248         <varname>PRIVACY_POLICY_URL=</varname> should refer to the
 249         main privacy policy page for the operation system, if there is
 250         any. These settings are optional, and providing only some of
 251         these settings is common. These URLs are intended to be
 252         exposed in "About this system" UIs behind links with captions
 253         such as "About this Operating System", "Obtain Support",
 254         "Report a Bug", or "Privacy Policy". The values should be in
 255         <ulink url="https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3986">RFC3986
 256         format</ulink>, and should be <literal>http:</literal> or
 257         <literal>https:</literal> URLs, and possibly
 258         <literal>mailto:</literal> or <literal>tel:</literal>. Only
 259         one URL shall be listed in each setting. If multiple resources
 260         need to be referenced, it is recommended to provide an online
 261         landing page linking all available resources. Examples:
 262         <literal>HOME_URL="https://fedoraproject.org/"</literal> and
 263         <literal>BUG_REPORT_URL="https://bugzilla.redhat.com/"</literal></para></listitem>
 264       </varlistentry>
 265
 266       <varlistentry>
 267         <term><varname>BUILD_ID=</varname></term>
 268
 269         <listitem><para>A string uniquely identifying the system image
 270         used as the origin for a distribution (it is not updated with
 271         system updates). The field can be identical between different
 272         VERSION_IDs as BUILD_ID is an only a unique identifier to a
 273         specific version. Distributions that release each update as a
 274         new version would only need to use VERSION_ID as each build is
 275         already distinct based on the VERSION_ID. This field is
 276         optional. Example: <literal>BUILD_ID="2013-03-20.3"</literal>
 277         or <literal>BUILD_ID=201303203</literal>.
 278
 279         </para></listitem>
 280       </varlistentry>
 281
 282       <varlistentry>
 283         <term><varname>VARIANT=</varname></term>
 284
 285         <listitem><para>
 286         A string identifying a specific variant or edition of the
 287         operating system suitable for presentation to the user. This
 288         field may be used to inform the user that the configuration of
 289         this system is subject to a specific divergent set of rules or
 290         default configuration settings. This field is optional and may
 291         not be implemented on all systems.
 292         Examples:
 293         <literal>VARIANT="Server Edition"</literal>,
 294         <literal>VARIANT="Smart Refrigerator Edition"</literal>
 295         Note: this field is for display purposes only. The
 296         <varname>VARIANT_ID</varname> field should be used for making
 297         programmatic decisions.
 298         </para></listitem>
 299       </varlistentry>
 300
 301       <varlistentry>
 302         <term><varname>VARIANT_ID=</varname></term>
 303
 304         <listitem><para>
 305         A lower-case string (no spaces or other characters outside of
 306         0–9, a–z, ".", "_" and "-"), identifying a specific variant or
 307         edition of the operating system. This may be interpreted by
 308         other packages in order to determine a divergent default
 309         configuration. This field is optional and may not be
 310         implemented on all systems.
 311         Examples:
 312         <literal>VARIANT_ID=server</literal>,
 313         <literal>VARIANT_ID=embedded</literal>
 314         </para></listitem>
 315       </varlistentry>
 316
 317     </variablelist>
 318
 319     <para>If you are reading this file from C code or a shell script
 320     to determine the OS or a specific version of it, use the
 321     <varname>ID</varname> and <varname>VERSION_ID</varname> fields,
 322     possibly with <varname>ID_LIKE</varname> as fallback for
 323     <varname>ID</varname>. When looking for an OS identification
 324     string for presentation to the user use the
 325     <varname>PRETTY_NAME</varname> field.</para>
 326
 327     <para>Note that operating system vendors may choose not to provide
 328     version information, for example to accommodate for rolling
 329     releases. In this case, <varname>VERSION</varname> and
 330     <varname>VERSION_ID</varname> may be unset. Applications should
 331     not rely on these fields to be set.</para>
 332
 333     <para>Operating system vendors may extend the file
 334     format and introduce new fields. It is highly
 335     recommended to prefix new fields with an OS specific
 336     name in order to avoid name clashes. Applications
 337     reading this file must ignore unknown fields. Example:
 338     <literal>DEBIAN_BTS="debbugs://bugs.debian.org/"</literal></para>
 339   </refsect1>
 340
 341   <refsect1>
 342     <title>Example</title>
 343
 344     <programlisting>NAME=Fedora
 345 VERSION="17 (Beefy Miracle)"
 346 ID=fedora
 347 VERSION_ID=17
 348 PRETTY_NAME="Fedora 17 (Beefy Miracle)"
 349 ANSI_COLOR="0;34"
 350 CPE_NAME="cpe:/o:fedoraproject:fedora:17"
 351 HOME_URL="https://fedoraproject.org/"
 352 BUG_REPORT_URL="https://bugzilla.redhat.com/"</programlisting>
 353   </refsect1>
 354
 355   <refsect1>
 356       <title>See Also</title>
 357       <para>
 358         <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
 359         <citerefentry project='die-net'><refentrytitle>lsb_release</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
 360         <citerefentry><refentrytitle>hostname</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
 361         <citerefentry><refentrytitle>machine-id</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
 362         <citerefentry><refentrytitle>machine-info</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>
 363       </para>
 364   </refsect1>
 365
 366 </refentry>