Which Version Of Linux Mint Am I Running?

This post will show you how to check which version of Linux Mint you are running. This can be done both through the graphical user interface or command line, we’ll cover both options here.

How To Check Linux Mint Version

Command Line

We’ll start by showing you how to check the Linux Mint version through command line, as this is quick and easy and can even be done remotely through SSH.

My favourite ways are to simply cat the /etc/issue, /etc/linuxmint/info, or /etc/os-release files. As shown below, we can see in multiple locations that I am running Linux Mint 18.1 Serena.

rootusers@vm ~ $ cat /etc/issue
Linux Mint 18.1 Serena \n \l

rootusers@vm ~ $ cat /etc/linuxmint/info
RELEASE=18.1
CODENAME=serena
EDITION="Cinnamon 64-bit"
DESCRIPTION="Linux Mint 18.1 Serena"
GRUB_TITLE=Linux Mint 18.1 Cinnamon 64-bit

rootusers@vm ~ $ cat /etc/os-release
NAME="Linux Mint"
VERSION="18.1 (Serena)"
ID=linuxmint
PRETTY_NAME="Linux Mint 18.1"
VERSION_ID="18.1"
VERSION_CODENAME=serena

All of these files can be read by any user on the system, root privileges are not required.

Graphical User Interface

If you instead prefer to check the version of Linux Mint in use through the graphical user interface (GUI), follow these steps.

From the Menu, select Preferences > System Info. Any user can perform this action.

Linux Mint Open System Info

This will open the System Info window, which shows that we are running Linux Mint 18.1 with Cinnamon.

Linux Mint System Info

With just a few clicks we’ve quickly been able to see which version of Linux Mint is installed.

Summary

We have shown you how to quickly and easily check which version of Linux Mint is in use through both the command line and graphical user interface.

  1. your site is my favorite !

  2. “Graphical User Interface
    From the Menu, select Preferences > System Info. Any user can perform this action.”

    WRONG! THERE IS NO SYSTEM INFO ICON.
    Linux is like an IKEA furniture. It’s just that they bolted together a dining table with a bedroom storage-shelf and a kitchen sink. If you dare to move the dining table, the whole lot collapses.
    Just happened to me: all system TEXT completely disappeared! If you move the mouse over it, it may or may not show. The icons are there but no text.
    What a RUBBISHWARE!
    At this pace Linux needs 50 more years to get to Windows 3.11 level.

    • Well are you running Mint version 18 like I was 2 years ago when I wrote this post? I doubt it, so yes most likely things have changed over time. Maybe try the command line options instead, rather than accusing a 2 year old post as “WRONG” when you can’t work out how to check basic functionality within your OS.

  3. Yep, using the command line option identified the version, and the longer string revealed the Mint desktop too. Thanks. This was the info I got:

    RELEASE=18
    CODENAME=sarah
    EDITION=”Xfce 64-bit”
    DESCRIPTION=”Linux Mint 18 Sarah”
    DESKTOP=Xfce
    TOOLKIT=GTK
    NEW_FEATURES_URL=http://www.linuxmint.com/rel_sarah_xfce_whatsnew.php
    RELEASE_NOTES_URL=http://www.linuxmint.com/rel_sarah_xfce.php
    USER_GUIDE_URL=help:linuxmint
    GRUB_TITLE=Linux Mint 18 Xfce 64-bit

    So it does work !

  4. lsb_release -a

    hostnamectl

  5. thanks for this topic

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