uname (short for unix name) is a computer program in Unix and Unix-like computer operating systems that prints the name, version and other details about the current machine and the operating system running on it.

History

The uname system call and command appeared for the first time in PWB/UNIX. Both are specified by POSIX. The GNU version of uname is included in the "sh-utils" or "coreutils" packages. uname itself is not available as a standalone program. The version of uname bundled in GNU coreutils was written by David MacKenzie. The command is available as a separate package for Microsoft Windows as part of the GnuWin32 project and the UnxUtils collection of native Win32 ports of common GNU Unix-like utilities.

Related and similar commands

  • Some Unix variants, such as AT&T UNIX System V Release 3.0, include the related setname program, used to change the values that uname reports.
  • The ver command in MS-DOS, OS/2, and Windows is similar to uname.
  • The bash shell provides the special variables OSTYPE and HOSTTYPE whose values are similar to those of uname -o and uname -m respectively.

Examples

On a system running Darwin, the output from running uname with the -a command-line argument might look like the text below:

The following table contains examples from various versions of uname on various platforms.

DistributionSystem (or kernel) (-s) POSIXOperating System (or distribution) (-o)Machine (-m) POSIXProcessor (-p)Hardware platform (-i or -M)OS (kernel) version (-v) POSIXOS (kernel) release (-r) POSIX
Android 4.2.1 on Nexus 4LinuxGNU/Linuxarmv7lUnknownUnknown#1 SMP PREEMPT Thu Nov 8 15:42:02 PST 20123.4.0-perf-ge039dcb
Android 2.3 on Meteorit netbookLinuxGNU/Linuxarmv6lUnknownUnknown
any, coreutils 7.1LinuxGNU/Linuxsparc64sparc64UltraSPARC T1 (Niagara)(all)(all)
any, coreutils 7.1–8.4LinuxGNU/Linuxppc64ppc64PPC 970FX (XServe G5)(all)(all)
Arch LinuxLinuxGNU/Linuxx86_64UnknownUnknown#1 SMP PREEMPT_DYNAMIC Tue, 04 Oct 2022 19:16:52 +00006.0.0-arch1-1
A/UX 3.1A/UXillegal optionmc68030illegal optionillegal optionSVR23.1
busybox-w32 1.27 (32-bit) on Windows 10Windows_NTMS/Windowsi686UnknownUnknown92006.2
busybox-w32 1.27 (64-bit) on Wine 2.0Windows_NTMS/Windowsx86_64UnknownUnknown37905.2
CentOS 6.5, Pentium SU4100LinuxGNU/Linuxi686i686i386#1 SMP Fri Nov 22 00:26:36 UTC 20132.6.32-431.el6.i686
Cray UNICOS 9.0.2.2sn5176illegal optionCRAY Y-MPillegal optionillegal optionsin.09.0.2.2
Cygwin (Windows XP), Pentium 4CYGWIN_NT-5.1Cygwini686UnknownUnknown2006-01-20 13:281.5.19(0.150/4/2)
Cygwin 1.7 (Windows 7 32-bit), Core i7CYGWIN_NT-6.1Cygwini686UnknownUnknown2012-07-20 22:551.7.16(0.262/5/3)
Cygwin 1.7 (Windows 7 64-bit), Core i7CYGWIN_NT-6.1-WOW64Cygwini686UnknownUnknown2012-05-09 10:251.7.15(0.260/5/3)
Cygwin 1.7 64 bit (Windows 7 64-bit)CYGWIN_NT-6.1Cygwinx86_64UnknownUnknown2014-02-09 21:061.7.28(0.271/5/3)
Cygwin 2.2 64 bit (Windows 10 64-bit)CYGWIN_NT-10.0Cygwinx86_64UnknownUnknown2015-08-20 11:422.2.1(0.289/5/3)
DJGPP v2 32 bit (Windows Server 2008)MS-DOSillegal optioni686illegal optionillegal option505
Debian 6.0.5 on Raspberry Pi BLinuxGNU/Linuxarmv6lUnknown-iunknown -Minvalid#90 Wed Apr 18 18:23:05 BST 2012 / #538 PREEMPT Fri Aug 30 20:42:08 BST 20133.1.9+ / 3.6.11+
Debian on WD MyBookLiveLinuxGNU/LinuxppcUnknown-iunknown -Minvalid#1 Fri Oct 15 17:13:23 PDT 20102.6.32.11-svn21605
Debian GNU/HurdGNUGNUi686-AT386Unknown-iunknown -Millegal optionGNU-Mach 1.3.99-486/Hurd-0.30.3
Debian GNU/kFreeBSD 6.0, AMDGNU/kFreeBSDGNU/kFreeBSDx86_64amd64AMD Sempron Processor 3000+#0 Thu Nov 26 04:22:59 CET 20098.0-1-amd64
DragonFlyBSDDragonFlyillegal optioni386i386GENERICDragonFly v2.13.0.749.g93fef-DEVELOPMENT #0: …2.13-DEVELOPMENT
DragonFlyBSD 2.7, AMD64DragonFlyillegal optionx86_64x86_64[filename of kernel conf file]DragonFly v2.7.3.122.g0ba92-DEVELOPMENT #0: Tue June 8 16:50:35 CEST 20102.7-DEVELOPMENT root@Chance.: /usr/obj/usr/src/sys/X86_64_GENERIC
Fedora 19LinuxGNU/Linuxi686i686i386#1 SMP Fri Mar 7 17:22:54 UTC 20143.13.6-100.fc19.i686
FreeBSD 6.1, IntelFreeBSDillegal optioni386i386[kernel name from kernel conf file. i.e.: GENERIC]FreeBSD 6.1-RELEASE-p15 #1: Sun Apr 15 18:04:51 EDT 20076.1-RELEASE-p15
FreeBSD 9.0, IntelFreeBSDFreeBSDamd64amd64[kernel name from kernel conf file. i.e.: GENERIC]FreeBSD 9.0-RELEASE #0: Tue Jan 3 07:46:30 UTC 2012 root@farrell.cse.buffalo.edu:/usr/obj/usr/src/sys/GENERIC9.0-RELEASE
Gentoo, UltraSparc IIeLinuxGNU/Linuxsparc64sun4uTI UltraSparc IIe (Hummingbird)#1 SMP Wed Nov 10 02:04:26 CET 20102.6.34-gentoo-r12
Haiku R1/Alpha 1, QEMUHaikuHaikuBePCUnknownUnknownr33109 Sep 12 2009 17:45:451
HP-UXHP-UXillegal option9000/712illegal option[Unique machine ID number or node name if cannot be determined.]UB.11.11
HP-UX 11i v3HP-UXillegal optionia64illegal option[Unique machine ID number or node name if cannot be determined.]UB.11.31
GNU HurdGNUGNUi686-AT386UnknownUnknownGNU-Mach 1.8+git20190109-486/Hurd-0.90.9
IBM AIX PS/2 v1.3AIXillegal optioni386illegal optionillegal option13.0
IBM AIX 5.3AIXillegal option(serial number of machine)powerpcIBM,8205-E6B53
IBM AIX 7.1AIXillegal option(serial number of machine)powerpcIBM,7891-73X71
IBM AIX 7.2AIXillegal option(serial number of machine)powerpcIBM,9009-42A72
IBM i 5.3 with QSHOS400(hostname)(serial number of machine)UnknownUnknown53
IBM i 6.1 with QSHOS400(hostname)(serial number of machine)UnknownUnknown61
IBM i 7.1 with QSHOS400(hostname)(serial number of machine)UnknownUnknown71
Interix (Windows Services for UNIX) 3.5Interixillegal optionx86Intel_x86_Family6_Model28_Stepping10illegal option10.0.7063.06.1
Interix, Subsystem for Unix-based Applications (SUA), AMD64 6.1 (Windows 2008 R2)Interix—genuineintelIntel64_Family_6_Model_26_Stepping_4—10.0.7063.06.1
IRIXIRIXillegal optionIP22mipsillegal option
IRIX 6.5.30, Origin 2000IRIX64illegal optionIP30 IP35mipsillegal option072020136.5
Linux Mint 10 "Julia" 64-bitLinuxGNU/Linuxx86_64UnknownUnknown#33-Ubuntu SMP Sun Sep 19 20:32:27 UTC 20102.6.35-22-generic
Linux on Xeon PhiLinuxGNU/Linuxk1omk1omk1om#2 SMP Fri Jun 21 13:43:31 EDT 20132.6.38.8-g2593b11
Mac OS X Panther 10.3, PowerBook G4 (2004)Darwinillegal optionPower Macintoshpowerpcillegal optionDarwin Kernel Version 7.8.0: Wed Dec 22 14:26:17 PST 2004; root:xnu/xnu-517.11.1.obj~1/RELEASE_PPC7.8.0
Mac OS X Snow Leopard 10.6, MacBook3,1 (Late 2007)Darwinillegal optioni386i386illegal optionDarwin Kernel Version 10.0.0: Fri Jul 31 22:47:34 PDT 2009; root:xnu-1456.1.25~1/RELEASE_I38610.0.0
Mac OS X Lion 10.7.3 build 11D50, MacbookPro7,1 (Late 2010)Darwinillegal optionx86_64i386illegal optionDarwin Kernel Version 11.3.0: Thu Jan 12 18:47:41 PST 2012; root:xnu-1699.24.23~1/RELEASE_X86_6411.3.0
OS X Mountain Lion 10.8.3 build 12D78, MacbookPro10,1 (Mid 2012)Darwinillegal optionx86_64i386illegal optionDarwin Kernel Version 12.3.0: Sun Jan 6 22:37:10 PST 2013; root:xnu-2050.22.13~1/RELEASE_X86_6412.3.0
OS X Mavericks 10.9 build 13A598, MacbookPro5,1 (Mid 2009)Darwinillegal optionx86_64i386illegal optionDarwin Kernel Version 13.0.0: Thu Sep 19 22:22:27 PDT 2013; root:xnu-2422.1.72~6/RELEASE_X86_6413.0.0
OS X Yosemite 10.10 build 14A298i, MacbookPro6,2 (Mid 2010)Darwinillegal optionx86_64i386illegal optionDarwin Kernel Version 14.0.0: Tue Jul 15 23:56:31 PDT 2014; root:xnu-2782.1.43.0.2~1/RELEASE_X86_6414.0.0
OS X El Capitan 10.11 build 15A284, MacBookPro10,1 (Mid 2012)Darwinillegal optionx86_64i386illegal optionDarwin Kernel Version 15.0.0: Sat Sep 19 15:53:46 PDT 2015; root:xnu-3247.10.11~1/RELEASE_X86_6415.0.0
macOS Sierra 10.12 build 16E195, MacBookPro12,1 (Early 2015)Darwinillegal optionx86_64i386illegal optionDarwin Kernel Version 16.5.0: Fri Mar 3 16:52:33 PST 2017; root:xnu-3789.51.2~3/RELEASE_X86_6416.5.0
macOS High Sierra 10.13.3 build 17D47, MacBookPro12,1 (Early 2015)Darwinillegal optionx86_64i386illegal optionDarwin Kernel Version 17.4.0: Sun Dec 17 09:19:54 PST 2017; root:xnu-4570.41.2~1/RELEASE_X86_6417.4.0
macOS Mojave 10.14.3 build 18D109Darwinillegal optionx86_64i386illegal optionDarwin Kernel Version 18.2.0: Thu Dec 20 20:46:53 PST 2018; root:xnu-4903.241.1~1/RELEASE_X86_6418.2.0
macOS Catalina 10.15.5 build 19F101DarwinDarwinx86_64i386MacBookPro15.1Darwin Kernel Version 19.5.0: Tue May 26 20:41:44 PDT 2020; root:xnu-6153.121.2~2/RELEASE_X86_6419.5.0
macOS Big Sur 11.0.1 build 20B29 on Apple M1Darwinillegal optionarm64armillegal optionDarwin Kernel Version 20.1.0: Sat Oct 31 00:07:10 PDT 2020; root:xnu-7195.50.7~2/RELEASE_ARM64_T810120.1.0
macOS Monterey 12.2.1 build 21D62 on Apple M1Darwinillegal optionarm64armillegal optionDarwin Kernel Version 21.3.0: Wed Jan 5 21:37:58 PST 2022; root:xnu-8019.80.24~20/RELEASE_ARM64_T810121.3.0
Manjaro Linux 0.8.11 64 bitLinuxGNU/Linuxx86_64UnknownUnknown#1 SMP PREEMPT Sat Nov 15 10:54:42 UTC 20143.17.3-1-MANJARO
Microsoft POSIX subsystem, Windows NT 4.0 (SP6), PentiumWindows NT—PentiumUnknownUnknown53
MidnightBSD 1.0, IntelMidnightBSDMidnightBSDamd64amd64[kernel name from kernel conf file. i.e.: GENERIC]MidnightBSD 1.0 #5 r11989M: Sat Aug 11 13:20:45 EDT 2018 root@stargazer.midnightbsd.org:/usr/obj/usr/src/sys/GENERIC1.0
MINIX 3.1.7, x86Minixillegal optioni686i386illegal option1.73
MinGW 32 bit (Windows 7)MINGW32_NT-6.1Msysi686UnknownUnknown2018-11-26 09:222.11.2(0.329/5/3)
MinGW 64 bit (Windows 7)MINGW64_NT-6.1Msysx86_64UnknownUnknown2018-11-26 09:222.11.2(0.329/5/3)
MSYS 32 bit (Windows 7)MSYS_NT-6.1Msysi686UnknownUnknown2018-11-26 09:222.11.2(0.329/5/3)
MSYS 64 bit (Windows 7)MSYS_NT-6.1Msysx86_64UnknownUnknown2018-11-26 09:222.11.2(0.329/5/3)
NetBSDNetBSDUnknowni386i386UnknownNetBSD 6.0.1 (GENERIC)6.0.1
NonStop OS H06 25NONSTOP_KERNELUnknownNSE-TUnknownH0625Unknown
NonStop OS J06 14NONSTOP_KERNELUnknownNSE-ABUnknownJ0614Unknown
OpenBSD 5.4OpenBSDillegal optionamd64amd64illegal optionGENERIC.MP#15.4
openSUSE 10.3, Core2-duo 64-bitLinuxGNU/Linuxx86_64x86_64x86_64#1 SMP 2007/09/21 22:29:00 UTC2.6.22.5-31-default
openSUSE TumbleweedLinuxGNU/Linuxx86_64x86_64x86_64#1 SMP PREEMPT_DYNAMIC Mon Feb 17 10:42:46 UTC 2025 (36519ec)6.13.3-1-default
OpenWRT Barrier Breaker r40420 on TL-WR1043NDLinuxGNU/LinuxmipsUnknown-iunknown -Minvalid#1 Tue Apr 8 06:30:07 UTC 20143.10.34
QNXQNX—x86pcx86—2010/07/09-14:44:03EDT6.5.0
Red Hat Linux, Fedora Core 6, AMD Turion64 mobileLinuxGNU/Linuxi686athloni386#1 SMP Wed Jan 10 19:28:18 EST 20072.6.19-1.2895.fc6
ReliantUNIXReliantUNIX-YRM600R4000B20055.45
SINIXSINIX-YRM600R40005.43
Solaris 2.5.1 Intel Platform EditionSunOSSolarisi86pci386i86pcGeneric_103641-425.5.1
Solaris 8SunOSillegal optionsun4usparcSUNW, UltraAX-i2Generic_117350-505.8
Solaris 9, Sun Fire 280RSunOSillegal optionsun4usparcSUNW, Sun-Fire-280RGeneric_112233-085.9
Solaris 10, Sun Fire V490SunOSillegal optionsun4usparcSUNW, Sun-Fire-V490Generic_142900-135.10
Solaris 11 Express (201011), x86SunOSSolarisi86pci386i86pcsnv_151a5.11
Solaris 11.1, Sun Fire X4540SunOSillegal optioni86pci386i86pc11.15.11
OpenIndianaSunOSillegal optioni86pci386i86pcoi_151a85.11
OpenIndianaHipster2018.04SunOSSolarisi86pci386i86pcillumos-47b8d4b8845.11
OpenIndianaHipster2021.10SunOSillumosi86pci386i86pcillumos-b12aaafbf55.11
SmartOSSunOSillumosi86pci386i86pcjoyent_20250206T001102Z5.11
OmniOSSunOSillegal optioni86pci386i86pcomnios-a7084245.11
Tru64OSF1invalidalphaalphainvalid2650V5.1
Ubuntu 11.04LinuxGNU/Linuxx86_64x86_64x86_64#46-Ubuntu SMP Tue Jun 28 15:07:17 UTC 20112.6.38-10-generic
Ubuntu 12.0.4 on Pandaboard ESLinuxGNU/Linuxarmv7larmv7larmv7l#33-Ubuntu SMP PREEMPT Sat Jan 26 00:46:04 UTC 20133.2.0-1425-omap4
Ubuntu 20.0.4LTS on Raspberry Pi 4 Model BLinuxGNU/Linuxaarch64aarch64aarch64#20-Ubuntu SMP Sun Sep 6 05:11:16 UTC 20205.4.0-1018-raspi
UltrixULTRIX—VAX——04.5
UnxUtils 2007 32 bit (Windows Server 2008)WindowsNTillegal optionx86illegal optionillegal option60
(SCO) OpenServer 5.0.6SCO_SV(hostname)i386i386illegal5.0.63.2
(SCO) System VSCO_SVillegali386i386illegal6.0.05
(SCO) UnixWare 7.1.4UnixWareillegal optioni386x86at-ihardware serial/license number, .e.g. 1AB000123 or NUL000000 -Millegal option7.1.45
UWIN (64 bit Windows 7), Intel Core i5UWIN-W7UWINi686-64x6464/642012-06-265.0/6.1
SYS$UNIX:SH on OpenVMS on VAX emulatorIS/WBillegal optionvax-6340illegal optionillegal optionstd5.0
z/OS USSOS/390Unknown2097Unknown-i -Munknown option -Iz/OS0322.00
Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL), Ubuntu 18.04LinuxGNU/Linuxx86_64x86_64x86_64#476-Microsoft Fri Nov 01 16:53:00 PST 20194.4.0-18362-Microsoft
Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL2), Ubuntu 20.04LinuxGNU/Linuxx86_64x86_64x86_64#1 SMP Wed Aug 25 23:20:18 UTC 20215.10.60.1-microsoft-standard-WSL2

See also

Footnotes

External links