Knowing your Raspberry Pi’s Operating System Version is Essential for Troubleshooting and Updates

Learn how to check the operating system version of your Raspberry Pi with ease. This knowledge will help you identify compatibility issues, apply updates, and ensure proper functionality. …


Updated October 18, 2023

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Learn how to check the operating system version of your Raspberry Pi with ease. This knowledge will help you identify compatibility issues, apply updates, and ensure proper functionality.

Raspberry Pi is a popular single-board computer that runs on Linux-based operating systems. There are several distributions available for the Raspberry Pi, including Raspbian, Ubuntu, and others. Knowing your Raspberry Pi’s operating system version is crucial to ensure compatibility with software packages, troubleshoot issues, and apply updates when necessary. In this article, we will guide you through the steps to check the OS version on your Raspberry Pi.

There are multiple ways to determine the OS version on a Raspberry Pi, including using the command line interface (CLI) and graphical user interfaces (GUI). We’ll cover both methods:

  1. Checking OS Version Using CLI The most straightforward method is checking your Raspberry Pi’s operating system version via the command line interface (CLI). To do this, open a terminal window on your Raspberry Pi and type in the following command:
cat /etc/os-release

This command will display information about your Raspberry Pi’s OS, including the name of the distribution and its version. For example, if you are running Raspbian, you might see an output similar to this:

PRETTY_NAME="Raspbian GNU/Linux 10 (buster)"
NAME="Raspbian GNU/Linux"
VERSION_ID="10"
VERSION="10 (buster)"
VERSION_CODENAME=buster
ID=raspbian
ID_LIKE=debian
HOME_URL="http://www.raspbian.org/"
SUPPORT_URL="http://www.raspbian.org/RaspbianForums"
BUG_REPORT_URL="http://www.raspbian.org/RaspbianBugs"

In this example, the OS version is “10 (buster)”.

  1. Checking OS Version Using GUI If you prefer a graphical approach, you can use the desktop environment of your Raspberry Pi to check its operating system version. Here’s how:
  • Open the main menu by clicking on the icon in the top left corner or pressing the Windows key (or Alt+F1).
  • Navigate to “Preferences” > “About Raspberry Pi”.
  • The OS version will be displayed under the “Operating System” section. For example, if you are running Raspbian, it might say “Raspbian GNU/Linux 10 (buster)”.

Conclusion: Knowing your Raspberry Pi’s operating system version is crucial for maintenance and troubleshooting purposes. By following the steps outlined above, you can easily check the OS version on your Raspberry Pi using either the command line interface or graphical user interface. This information will help you identify compatibility issues, apply updates, and ensure proper functionality of your device.