1UNAME(1P) POSIX Programmer's Manual UNAME(1P)
2
6 This manual page is part of the POSIX Programmer's Manual. The Linux
7 implementation of this interface may differ (consult the corresponding
8 Linux manual page for details of Linux behavior), or the interface may
9 not be implemented on Linux.
10
12 uname - return system name
13
15 uname [-snrvma]
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18 By default, the uname utility shall write the operating system name to
19 standard output. When options are specified, symbols representing one
20 or more system characteristics shall be written to the standard output.
21 The format and contents of the symbols are implementation-defined. On
22 systems conforming to the System Interfaces volume of
23 IEEE Std 1003.1-2001, the symbols written shall be those supported by
24 the uname() function as defined in the System Interfaces volume of
25 IEEE Std 1003.1-2001.
26
28 The uname utility shall conform to the Base Definitions volume of
29 IEEE Std 1003.1-2001, Section 12.2, Utility Syntax Guidelines.
30 The following options shall be supported:
32 -a Behave as though all of the options -mnrsv were specified.
34 -m Write the name of the hardware type on which the system is run‐
36 ning to standard output.
37 -n Write the name of this node within an implementation-defined
39 communications network.
40 -r Write the current release level of the operating system imple‐
42 mentation.
43 -s Write the name of the implementation of the operating system.
45 -v Write the current version level of this release of the operating
47 system implementation.
48 If no options are specified, the uname utility shall write the operat‐
51 ing system name, as if the -s option had been specified.
52
54 None.
55
57 Not used.
58
60 None.
61
63 The following environment variables shall affect the execution of
64 uname:
65 LANG Provide a default value for the internationalization variables
67 that are unset or null. (See the Base Definitions volume of
68 IEEE Std 1003.1-2001, Section 8.2, Internationalization Vari‐
69 ables for the precedence of internationalization variables used
70 to determine the values of locale categories.)
71 LC_ALL If set to a non-empty string value, override the values of all
73 the other internationalization variables.
74 LC_CTYPE
76 Determine the locale for the interpretation of sequences of
77 bytes of text data as characters (for example, single-byte as
78 opposed to multi-byte characters in arguments).
79 LC_MESSAGES
81 Determine the locale that should be used to affect the format
82 and contents of diagnostic messages written to standard error.
83 NLSPATH
85 Determine the location of message catalogs for the processing of
86 LC_MESSAGES .
87
90 Default.
91
93 By default, the output shall be a single line of the following form:
94 "%s\n", <sysname>
97 If the -a option is specified, the output shall be a single line of the
99 following form:
100 "%s %s %s %s %s\n", <sysname>, <nodename>, <release>,
103 <version>, <machine>
104 Additional implementation-defined symbols may be written; all such sym‐
106 bols shall be written at the end of the line of output before the <new‐
107 line>.
108 If options are specified to select different combinations of the sym‐
110 bols, only those symbols shall be written, in the order shown above for
111 the -a option. If a symbol is not selected for writing, its correspond‐
112 ing trailing <blank>s also shall not be written.
113
115 The standard error shall be used only for diagnostic messages.
116
118 None.
119
121 None.
122
124 The following exit values shall be returned:
125 0 The requested information was successfully written.
127 >0 An error occurred.
129
132 Default.
133 The following sections are informative.
135
137 Note that any of the symbols could include embedded <space>s, which may
138 affect parsing algorithms if multiple options are selected for output.
139 The node name is typically a name that the system uses to identify
141 itself for inter-system communication addressing.
142
144 The following command:
145 uname -sr
148 writes the operating system name and release level, separated by one or
150 more <blank>s.
151
153 It was suggested that this utility cannot be used portably since the
154 format of the symbols is implementation-defined. The POSIX.1 working
155 group could not achieve consensus on defining these formats in the
156 underlying uname() function, and there was no expectation that this
157 volume of IEEE Std 1003.1-2001 would be any more successful. Some
158 applications may still find this historical utility of value. For exam‐
159 ple, the symbols could be used for system log entries or for comparison
160 with operator or user input.
161
163 None.
164
166 The System Interfaces volume of IEEE Std 1003.1-2001, uname()
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169 Portions of this text are reprinted and reproduced in electronic form
170 from IEEE Std 1003.1, 2003 Edition, Standard for Information Technology
171 -- Portable Operating System Interface (POSIX), The Open Group Base
172 Specifications Issue 6, Copyright (C) 2001-2003 by the Institute of
173 Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc and The Open Group. In the
174 event of any discrepancy between this version and the original IEEE and
175 The Open Group Standard, the original IEEE and The Open Group Standard
176 is the referee document. The original Standard can be obtained online
177 at http://www.opengroup.org/unix/online.html .
178IEEE/The Open Group 2003 UNAME(1P)