Linux Mint has a major release (like Mint 19) every two years and minor releases (like Mint 19.1, 19.2 etc) every six months or so. You can upgrade Linux Mint version on your own or it may get automatically update for the minor releases.
Between all these release, you may wonder which Linux Mint version you are using. Knowing the version number is also helpful in determining whether a particular software is available for your system or if your system has reached end of life.
There could be a number of reasons why you might require the Linux Mint version number and there are various ways you can obtain this information. Let me show you both graphical and command line ways to get the Mint release information.
Ways to check Linux Mint version number using terminal
I’ll go over several ways you can check your Linux Mint version number and codename using very simple commands. You can open up a terminal from the Menu or by pressing CTRL+ALT+T (default hotkey).
The last two entries in this list also output the Ubuntu release your current Linux Mint version is based on.
1. /etc/issue
Starting out with the simplest CLI method, you can print out the contents of /etc/issue to check your Version Number and Codename:
mint@mint:~$ cat /etc/issue
Linux Mint 19.2 Tina \n \l2. hostnamectl
This single command (hostnamectl) prints almost the same information as that found in System Info. You can see your Operating System (with version number), as well as your kernel version.3.
3. lsb_release
lsb_release is a very simple Linux utility to check basic information about your distribution:
mint@mint:~$ lsb_release -a
No LSB modules are available.
Distributor ID: LinuxMint
Description: Linux Mint 19.2 Tina
Release: 19.2
Codename: tinaNote: I used the –a tag to print all parameters, but you can also use -s for short form, -d for description etc. (check man lsb_release for all tags).
4. /etc/linuxmint/info
This isn’t a command, but rather a file on any Linux Mint install. Simply use cat command to print it’s contents to your terminal and see your Release Number and Codename.
5. Use /etc/os-release to get Ubuntu codename as well
Linux Mint is based on Ubuntu. Each Linux Mint release is based on a different Ubuntu release. Knowing which Ubuntu version your Linux Mint release is based on is helpful in cases where you’ll have to use Ubuntu codename while adding a repository like when you need to install the latest Virtual Box in Linux Mint.
os-release is yet another file similar to info, showing you the codename for the Ubuntu release your Linux Mint is based on.
6. Use /etc/upstream-release/lsb-release to get only Ubuntu base info
If you only want to see information about the Ubuntu base, output /etc/upstream-release/lsb-release:
mint@mint:~$ cat /etc/upstream-release/lsb-release
DISTRIB_ID=Ubuntu
DISTRIB_RELEASE=18.04
DISTRIB_CODENAME=bionic
DISTRIB_DESCRIPTION="Ubuntu 18.04 LTS"Bonus Tip: You can just check Linux kernel version with the uname command:
mint@mint:~$ uname -r
4.15.0-54-genericNote: -r stands for release, however you can check the other flags with man uname.
Check Linux Mint version information using GUI
If you are not comfortable with the terminal and commands, you can use the graphical method. As you would expect, this one is pretty straight-forward.
Open up the Menu (bottom-left corner) and then go to Preferences > System Info:
Alternatively, in the Menu you can search for System Info:
Here you can see both your operating system (including version number), your kernel and the version number of your DE:
Wrapping Up
I have covered some different ways you can quickly check the version and name (as well as the Ubuntu base and kernel) of the Linux Mint release you are running. I hope you found this beginner tutorial helpful. Let us know in the comments which one is your favorite method!
