To check for bad sectors check the SMART data, probably the best accessible by launching the Disks utility (Palimpsest). Even if you don't see any bad blocks there, launch a self-test to be sure. The program is bundled in the gnome-disk-utility package. Run gksudo gnome-disks. Or in Ubuntu 16.04 version (3.18): Badblocks. You can also use badblocks.
If you would rather use a graphical tool to find out whether your system is 32-bit or 64-bit, click the 'System' menu (the gear button) in the upper-right corner of the screen, and then select the 'System Settings' options from the dropdown menu. Download the latest LTS version of Ubuntu, for desktop PCs and laptops. LTS stands for long-term support — which means five years, until April 2025, of free. If the aforementioned command produces i686 in output, then your OS is 32-bit, but if the output is x8664, then the OS is 64-bit. For example, my system is 32-bit: 2. Using the getconf command. The getconf command is basically used to query system configuration variables. To check whether your OS is 32-bit or 64-bit, run getconf in the.
If you want to know how to check an Ubuntu version, it is quite easy.
We will go over two simple methods, and then discuss why you might want to know which version of Ubuntu you are running.
Ubuntu, in case you already didn't know, is a version of the free Linux operating system. It can be a great alternative to Windows. It is free and open source. You have full power over customizing Ubuntu.
Ubuntu is the most popular version of Linux because of its ease of use. It is also very easy to upgrade, much easier than some other variations of Linux. We will talk about upgrading a bit more later in the article.
For now, let us find out what version of Ubuntu you are running.
If you are running a recent version of Ubuntu, you are likely running their Unity desktop software, which is a GUI (Graphical User Interface) that overlays the system, much like Windows is what you use to interact with a Microsoft computer.
All you need to do to check your Ubuntu version in Unity is to open up the System Settings from the menu, and then click on 'Details.'
You will not only see the version of Ubuntu you are running, in big bold letters underneath the bright Ubuntu logo, you will see other details about your machine. These details might include your processor and CPUs, graphics card, OS type (32-bit or 64-bit), and disk space.
Discus cd label. Note: If you are running a different desktop instead of Unity, such as Xfce in Xubuntu, you may have to look in a different place.
How to Check Your Ubuntu Version from the Command Line
- To check the Ubuntu version from the command line in Ubuntu, first open a terminal.
The terminal can be accessed from the Unity interface. It is one of the software programs usually put under utilities or system administration, and the icon typically looks like a little monitor or black TV screen.
- You can also use the following keyboard shortcut to pop open a terminal window:
CTRL + ALT + T (make sure you hold down all these keys at once)
- Once the terminal is opened, type in the following:
lsb_release -a
Your output will look something like the following:
No LSB modules are available.
Distributor ID: Ubuntu
Description: Ubuntu 14.04.3 LTS
Release: 14.04
Codename: trusty
What you are interested in here is the number after Release, which here is 14.04. You are therefore using Ubuntu version 14.04.
The Codename is a short version of the friendly name of the Ubuntu major version. We'll explain what that means in a bit.
Image by Free-Photos from Pixabay
Each major version of Ubuntu has a development code name, but it also has a number.
When we say major version, we are talking about a major revision of the software. In numbers, it is indicated by the integer before the decimal point in the release number.
For example, the major version of Ubuntu numbered 11 is different from 14. All versions of Ubuntu 11, such as 11.01 or 11.11 (these are made up, example numbers) are smaller updates but part of the same major version family.
The numbers actually refer to years and months. So, Ubuntu version 6.06 was released in June of 2006.
Ubuntu Check Bitcoin
This convention is not used across the board in Linux or software distribution. So, it is not true, for example, that Debian 7 was released in 2007.
The year and month designation is somewhat unique to Ubuntu's numbering labeling system.
Releases don't necessarily happen every month of every year. Right now, as of this writing, the latest Ubuntu version is 17.04.
You might also see the acronym 'LTS' after your Ubuntu version number. This means 'Long Term Support' and that indicates a stable version of Ubuntu that you can keep for a longer time, as the Ubuntu team still actively supports it and offers security updates.
Eventually, an LTS release will be replaced with the newest LTS release.
An Aside About Debian Linux and How to Find Its Ubuntu Equivalent
It is worth noting at this point that Ubuntu Linux is actually built upon another, older, more venerable version of Linux called Debian.
Debian is the basis for all Ubuntu code. You can actually go ahead and download Debian and install it on your personal computer and use it for free just like Ubuntu.
Debian is still very popular, and it is used quite frequently as the version of Linux that powers the Internet's web servers. In fact, system administrators recommend Debian over Ubuntu as a web server platform.
Why? Ubuntu is filled with a lot of add-ons and extras that are designed for desktop users. It is also updated more frequently.
Debian, on the other hand, is updated more slowly. This is not necessarily a bad thing. It means that Debian is more stable and less experimental than Ubuntu.
This makes it much better as an operating system for a web server that needs stability as well as performance.
So, while Debian 7 was around for years, Ubuntu was quickly coming up with new versions. Debian is currently on version 9 as of this writing, which was launched on March 10th, 2018.
So, while Ubuntu is up to major version 17, Debian is only up to 9.
How to Find Out What Debian 'Version' Ubuntu is Running Off Of
Debian, like Ubuntu, has codenames for its major releases. Debian release version 9 is code named 'stretch.'
Here are the other releases and codenames of Debian:
- Debian 9 (stretch) — current stable release
- Debian 8 (jessie) — obsolete stable release
- Debian 7 (wheezy) — obsolete stable release
- Debian 6.0 (squeeze) — obsolete stable release
- Debian GNU/Linux 5.0 (lenny) — obsolete stable release
- Debian GNU/Linux 4.0 (etch) — obsolete stable release
- Debian GNU/Linux 3.1 (sarge) — obsolete stable release
- Debian GNU/Linux 3.0 (woody) — obsolete stable release
- Debian GNU/Linux 2.2 (potato) — obsolete stable release
- Debian GNU/Linux 2.1 (slink) — obsolete stable release
- Debian GNU/Linux 2.0 (hamm) — obsolete stable release
(The next release will be called 'buster.')
Now, to find out what version of Debian your Ubuntu distribution is running, you can do the following:
- Open up your terminal, or a file manager in Ubuntu. Read the file '/etc/debian_version' and you will see something like the following:
Ubuntu | Debian
18.04 bionic buster / sid - 10
17.10 artful stretch / sid - 9
17.04 zesty stretch / sid
16.10 yakkety stretch / sid
16.04 xenial stretch / sid
15.10 wily jessie / sid - 8
15.04 vivid jessie / sid
14.10 utopic jessie / sid
14.04 trusty jessie / sid
13.10 saucy wheezy / sid - 7
13.04 raring wheezy / sid
12.10 quantal wheezy / sid
12.04 precise wheezy / sid
11.10 oneiric wheezy / sid
11.04 natty squeeze / sid - 6
10.10 maverick squeeze / sid
So, while Debian 7 was around for years, Ubuntu was quickly coming up with new versions. Debian is currently on version 9 as of this writing, which was launched on March 10th, 2018.
So, while Ubuntu is up to major version 17, Debian is only up to 9.
How to Find Out What Debian 'Version' Ubuntu is Running Off Of
Debian, like Ubuntu, has codenames for its major releases. Debian release version 9 is code named 'stretch.'
Here are the other releases and codenames of Debian:
- Debian 9 (stretch) — current stable release
- Debian 8 (jessie) — obsolete stable release
- Debian 7 (wheezy) — obsolete stable release
- Debian 6.0 (squeeze) — obsolete stable release
- Debian GNU/Linux 5.0 (lenny) — obsolete stable release
- Debian GNU/Linux 4.0 (etch) — obsolete stable release
- Debian GNU/Linux 3.1 (sarge) — obsolete stable release
- Debian GNU/Linux 3.0 (woody) — obsolete stable release
- Debian GNU/Linux 2.2 (potato) — obsolete stable release
- Debian GNU/Linux 2.1 (slink) — obsolete stable release
- Debian GNU/Linux 2.0 (hamm) — obsolete stable release
(The next release will be called 'buster.')
Now, to find out what version of Debian your Ubuntu distribution is running, you can do the following:
- Open up your terminal, or a file manager in Ubuntu. Read the file '/etc/debian_version' and you will see something like the following:
Ubuntu | Debian
18.04 bionic buster / sid - 10
17.10 artful stretch / sid - 9
17.04 zesty stretch / sid
16.10 yakkety stretch / sid
16.04 xenial stretch / sid
15.10 wily jessie / sid - 8
15.04 vivid jessie / sid
14.10 utopic jessie / sid
14.04 trusty jessie / sid
13.10 saucy wheezy / sid - 7
13.04 raring wheezy / sid
12.10 quantal wheezy / sid
12.04 precise wheezy / sid
11.10 oneiric wheezy / sid
11.04 natty squeeze / sid - 6
10.10 maverick squeeze / sid
10.04 lucid squeeze / sid
- Now look at the Ubuntu version that you found either though the Unity GUI or the command line. In our example, we had 14.04. That correlates with the Debian code name 'jessie,' which is Debian 8.
Therefore, in our example, we are running Ubuntu 14.04, which is based on Debian 8.
Image via Maxpixel
As you can see, Debian uses somewhat abstract, sometimes funny, names for their major releases, including 'squeeze,' 'wheezy,' 'jessie,' and 'stretch.'
Ubuntu has its own special naming convention for its major releases. Remember, these are the releases based on the year.
Ubuntu's release naming convention uses two words. The first is an adjective and the second is the name of an animal, preferably something quirky or obscure. The first Ubuntu release was named 'Warty Warthog.'
- Feisty Fawn 7.04
- Hardy Heron 8.04 LTS
- Jaunty Jackalope 9.04
- Lucid Lynx 10.04 LTS
- Precise Pangolin 12.04 LTS
The 2017 release of Ubuntu is called Zesty Zapus. And, as you can see from the above /etc/ debian_version, the next version of Ubuntu will be a bionic something or other.
The quirky naming convention of Ubuntu was originally a joke, but the name stuck. Now, naming conventions are a way for developers to be creative and fun.
For example, Android versions are named after types of candy, such as KitKat, Lollipop, Jellybean, and the like.
Image by StartupStockPhotos from Pixabay
As you can see, if you check your Ubuntu version quickly, you can figure out if it is time to upgrade your Ubuntu distribution.
Don't feel you have to rush it though. Especially if you are running an LTS version of Ubuntu, you can keep that same version for years before upgrading.
Ubuntu Check Video Driver
Ubuntu is a great free operating system, so enjoy using it!
Featured Image by Gustavo Manuel Belemmi Agurto from Pixabay
Ubuntu will work with your existing PC files, printers, cameras, music players and smartphones - and it comes with thousands of free apps.
Our long-term support (LTS) releases are supported for five years – ideal for organisations undertaking large deployments. To install Ubuntu, you'll need to create an installation CD or USB stick once your download is complete.
If you are interested in giving Ubuntu 12 a try on your current computer without running any risk, please check out our Guide: Running Linux From a USB Drive As a Virtual Machine or Bootable Disk.
Install Instructions:
- Using a CD?
- It's easy to install Ubuntu from a CD. Here's what you need to do:
- Put the Ubuntu CD into the CD/DVD-drive.
- Restart your computer. You should see a welcome screen prompting you to choose your language and giving you the option to install Ubuntu or try it from the CD.
- If you don't get this menu, read the booting from the CD guide for more information.
- Using a USB drive?
- Most newer computers can boot from USB. You should see a welcome screen prompting you to choose your language and giving you the option to install Ubuntu or try it from the CD.
- If your computer doesn't automatically do so, you might need to press the F12 key to bring up the boot menu, but be careful not to hold it down - that can cause an error message.
- Prepare to install Ubuntu
- We recommend you plug your computer into a power source
- You should also make sure you have enough space on your computer to install Ubuntu
- We advise you to select Download updates while installing and Install this third-party software now
- You should also stay connected to the internet so you can get the latest updates while you install Ubuntu
- If you're not connected to the internet, we'll help you set up wireless at the next step
- Set up wireless
- If you are not connected to the internet, you will be asked to select a wireless network, if available. We advise you to connect during the installation so we can ensure your machine is up to date. So, if you set up your wireless network at this point, it's worth then clicking the Back button to go back to the last screen (Preparing to install Ubuntu) and ticking the box marked ‘Download updates while installing'.
- Allocate drive space
- Use the checkboxes to choose whether you'd like to Install Ubuntu alongside another operating system, delete your existing operating system and replace it with Ubuntu, or – if you're an advanced user – choose the 'Something else' option
- Begin the installation
- Depending on your previous selections, you can now verify that you have chosen the way in which you would like to install Ubuntu. The installation process will begin when you click the Install Now button.
- Ubuntu needs about 4.5 GB to install, so add a few extra GB to allow for your files.
- Not sure about this step? Windows users can use the Windows installer, which will install and uninstall Ubuntu in the same way as any other Windows application. It's simpler and completely safe.
- Select your location
- If you are connected to the internet, this should be done automatically. Check your location is correct and click 'Forward' to proceed. If you're unsure of your time zone, type the name of the town you're in or click on the map and we'll help you find it.
- Select your preferred keyboard layout
- Click on the language option you need. If you're not sure, click the ‘Detect Keyboard Layout' button for help.
- Enter your login and password details
- Learn more about Ubuntu while the system installs… or make a cup of tea!
- That's it.
- All that's left is to restart your computer and start enjoying Ubuntu!
What's New:
- Desktop Interface
- There is a new way to quickly search and access menu and indicator actions, called the 'HUD' (Heads-Up Display). Tap the Alt key and enter some letters and words, and it will show the corresponding entries, including some fuzzy matching; then press enter to execute the action. The search will include all menu entries of the currently focused application, as well as all indicator facilities (like managing emails, sound list, or logging out of the session). It learns from your previous choices to make the search more and more accurate for you.
- System Settings has several new 'options' to customize Unity's look and behavior.
- Nautilus quicklist support has been added to Unity launcher.
- ClickPad devices are trackpads where the physical button is integrated into the trackpad surface. Ubuntu 12.04 now has enhanced support for these devices. When the button is pressed on a ClickPad device, a second finger may be used to drag the cursor.
- ClickPad support requires extra handling that conflicts with 'Click Action' support. Click Actions allow for separate actions when multiple fingers are active on a trackpad. The default Ubuntu settings enable right button behavior when two fingers are in contact with the trackpad surface and the physical trackpad button is pressed. Because of conflicting behavior, ClickPad devices do not support Click Actions in this release.
- Most Synaptics brand ClickPads are recognized out of the box. Apple MacBook trackpads are recognized as well. Support for Apple Magic Trackpads and more Synaptics brand ClickPads will follow in the next release.
- Network Manager now uses dnsmasq for improved DNS reliability and support for split-DNS on VPN links. You can learn more here.
- IPv6 and IPv4 are now equally supported in Network Manager: an IPv4 address is no longer required for a connection to be considered as working.
- Desktop Applications
- The default music player has been switched to Rhythmbox, which again includes the Ubuntu One music store.
- LibreOffice has been updated to 3.5.2.
- GNOME has been updated to 3.4.1. Read the GNOME 3.4 Release Notes to learn what's new and improved. A few highlights include:
- Files (Nautilus) now has undo support.
- Several games have been modernized with useful help, simplified menus, and a less cluttered interface.
- Remmina with FreeRDP is the new standard remote desktop client, replacing Vinagre and rdesktop.
- The IcedTea Java plugin is no longer installed as part of the ubuntu-restricted-addons package but it is still available for install (889171)
- Software Center
- When installing new software through software-center, corresponding language support packages (translations, spell check modules particular to that software, help files, etc.) are now installed alongside automatically. This removes the need to open 'Language Support' after installing new software.
- The user can opt-in into personalized recommendations. This will show global, category and per-application recommendations to the user.
- Payment support for PayPal.
- Web Directory to share applications with your friends.
- Support for multiple screenshots and videos is now available.
- Startup time and overall responsiveness was improved.
- Improved support for installing multiple versions via the ubuntu-backports project.
- Ubuntu One
- The all new Control Panel now provides an installer, setup wizard, ability to add/remove folders to sync, and more.
- Proxy support is now fully functional.
- Ubuntu One contacts sync in Evolution is not supported any more and has been removed.
- Common Infrastructure
- Up until Ubuntu 11.10, administrator access using the sudo tool was granted via the 'admin' Unix group. In Ubuntu 12.04, administrator access will be granted via the 'sudo' group. This makes Ubuntu more consistent with the upstream implementation and Debian. For compatibility purposes, the 'admin' group will continue to provide sudo/administrator access in 12.04.
- Hibernate (suspend to disk) has been disabled by default, as it was found to be unreliable, very slow and confusing to have two suspend modes. See bug 812394 for details. If you want to re-enable it, please follow this recipe.
- pm-utils now has two new scripts to power down USB and various PCI devices in battery mode. A number of desktop packages were fixed to wake up less often. Both of these reduce power consumption and thus improve battery lifetime.
- resolvconf is now used to manage /etc/resolv.conf on all Ubuntu systems. You can learn more here
- Backports are now more easily accessible -- to enable users to more easily receive new versions of software, the Ubuntu Backports repository is now enabled by default. Packages from backports will not be installed by default — they must explicitly be selected in package management software. However, once installed, packages from backports will automatically be upgraded to newer versions.
- DVD Images -- the DVD images have been cleaned up significantly reducing their size to around 1.5GB to ease consumption. The remaining software remains available via download.
- Linux v3.2.14 Kernel
- Ubuntu 12.04 LTS ships with an updated kernel moving from the mainline v3.0 series to the mainline v3.2 series. At release we are shipping with the Ubuntu 3.2.0-23.36 kernel which is based on the v3.2.14 upstream stable Linux kernel. The mainline v3.0 to v3.2 stable series update brings a number of new features. Some highlights include:
- ext4 gains support for larger base block sizes
- btrfs has more work addressing data integrity issues
- device mapper gains thin provisioning and recursive snapshots
- more work to improve performance under high writeback load
- networking improvements for congested networks
- ext3 moves to using filesystem barriers
- memory allocator improvements
- VFS scalability improvements
- a new iSCSI implementation
- software wait gains bad block management
- Key changes in the Ubuntu kernel since the 3.0.0-12.20 Ubuntu kernel as shipped in the 11.10 Ubuntu release include:
- Rebase to upstream stable Linux kernel v3.2.14.
- The amd64 -generic and -server kernel flavors have been merged into a single -generic kernel flavor for Ubuntu 12.04. Given the few differences that existed between the two flavors, it only made sense to merge the two and reduce the overall maintenance burden over the life of this LTS release.
- Support for a new armhf kernel flavor has been introduced.
- The non-smp PowerPC kernel flavor has been removed. All hardware currently supported by the non-smp PowerPC kernel flavor should also be supported by the smp PowerPC kernel flavor.
- RC6 is enabled by default for Sandy Bridge systems. RC6 is a technology which allows the GPU to go into a very low power consumption state when the GPU is idle (down to 0W). It results in considerable power savings when this stage is activated. When comparing under idle loads with machine state where RC6 is disabled, improved power usage of around 40-60% has been witnessed.
- An improved set of jack detection patches has been backported from the upstream v3.3 Linux kernel.
- An updated AppArmor patch set has been included to better align with what is landing upstream.
- Applied and enabled the seccomp filters feature which uses the packet filtering machinery (BPF) to restrict access to system calls.
- A set of kexec fixes for arm from v3.3-rc1 has also been backported.
- We've also conducted an extensive review of Ubuntu kernel configs and made numerous config changes as a result.
- Ubuntu 12.04 LTS ships with an updated kernel moving from the mainline v3.0 series to the mainline v3.2 series. At release we are shipping with the Ubuntu 3.2.0-23.36 kernel which is based on the v3.2.14 upstream stable Linux kernel. The mainline v3.0 to v3.2 stable series update brings a number of new features. Some highlights include:
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