====== Checking a Slackware Version ======

To check which version of Slackware you are running, we have two means that are widely used and practical, the first is to read the ''slackware-version'' file, which is located in the ''/etc/'' directory. For this you can run the '''cat''' command indicating the input file, or simply open it with your favorite editor.

===== Slackware Version file =====

<code>
$ cat /etc/slackware-version
Slackware 14.2 
</code>


The ''slackware-version'' file will also be updated if you upgrade your Slackware, since it is part of the "aaa_base" package. 

If the ''slackware-version'' output is appended by a '+' it means that the system is running the Slackware -current (development) version.

<code>
$ cat /etc/slackware-version
Slackware 14.2+
</code>

===== os-release file=====

The second method is the most complete. There is a file containing a lot of basic system information which is present in practically all Linux distributions. IT was first introduced by //systemd//.

This file is called ''os-release'' and is also located in ''/etc/''. To view it, you can use the same methods as above with the cat command or your favorite editor.

<code>
$ cat /etc/os-release
NAME=Slackware
VERSION="14.2"
ID=slackware
VERSION_ID=14.2
PRETTY_NAME="Slackware 14.2"
ANSI_COLOR="0;34"
CPE_NAME="cpe:/o:slackware:slackware_linux:14.2"
HOME_URL="http://slackware.com/"
SUPPORT_URL="http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/slackware-14/"
BUG_REPORT_URL="http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/slackware-14/" 
</code>

<note>
There is a lot of very valuable information in this file.
This information can be easily used in your Shell script using the ''source'' command (also known as the 'dot' command ".").
A very simple example using bash:
</note>

<code>
$ source /etc/os-release
$ echo "Distribution: $NAME"
Distribution: Slackware
$ echo "Version: $VERSION"
Version: 14.2
$ echo "URL SITE: $HOME_URL"
URL SITE: http://slackware.com/
</code>

===== Unix Way =====

Or you can use a more UNIX way of handling things using old rice and beans ... So you can also collect the necessary data.
For this we execute a pipeline command storing the result inside a variable called ''version'' as an example.

<code>
$ version=$(grep '^VERSION=' /etc/os-release | cut -d '=' -f 2 | sed 's/"//g')
$ echo "$version"
14.2
</code>

====== Sources ======
<!-- If you are copying information from another source, then specify that source -->
  * Original source: [[http://slackjeff.com.br/artigos/verificando_versao_slackware.html]]
  * Originally written by [[wiki:user:slackjeff | Slackjeff]]

{{tag>howtos misc slackware_version checking author_slackjeff}}