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I downloaded and installed the latest 11.04 version from the official Ubuntu site.

However I don't know if it installed the 32-bit or 64-bit version.

In Windows 7 I could right click My PC and there the information was on display. Any easy ways in Ubuntu?

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12 Answers

up vote 58 down vote accepted

I know at least 2 ways. Open a terminal and type:

  1. uname -a

    Result for 32-bit Ubuntu:

    Linux discworld 2.6.38-8-generic #42-Ubuntu SMP Mon Apr 11 03:31:50 UTC 2011 i686 i686 i386 GNU/Linux

    whereas the 64-bit Ubuntu will show:

    Linux discworld 2.6.38-8-generic #42-Ubuntu SMP Mon Apr 11 03:31:50 UTC 2011 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

    or

  2. file /sbin/init

    Result for 32-bit Ubuntu:

    /sbin/init: ELF 32-bit LSB shared object, Intel 80386, version 1 (SYSV), dynamically linked (uses shared libs), for GNU/Linux 2.6.15, stripped

    whereas for the 64-bit version it would look like:

    /sbin/init: ELF 64-bit LSB shared object, x86-64, version 1 (SYSV), dynamically linked (uses shared libs), for GNU/Linux 2.6.15, stripped

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Method 2, which consists of "sniffing" the (binary) content of a widely available executable, is quite indirect and awkward. While it works for most setups, the mere presence of a 64bit executable should not be a reliable way of detecting the running OS architecture. Specially when you consider multiarch, ia32_libs and, specially in your init example, upstart – MestreLion Mar 25 at 11:20
up vote 28 down vote

Ubuntu 11.04+ with Unity

  • Hit Command(mac) or Window key.
  • Type System info, and select System Info (or Details in Ubuntu 12.04) icon
  • Read "OS type" field
  • 64 bit OS will read "64-bit"

enter image description here

I know the terminal responses are good but I guess this is the GUI answer. :)

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+1: The GUI way is preferred over terminal commands for a user that is used to Windows and specifically asked for an easy way. – MestreLion Mar 25 at 11:01
Also, another (GUI) way to get to the same screen: System Menu (top right corner, near the clock) -> System Settings -> Details – MestreLion Mar 25 at 11:25
up vote 18 down vote

refer http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/24842/how-do-i-know-if-im-running-32-bit-or-64-bit-linux-answers/

Use the command:

/bin/uname -m

You will typically get:

i686

for 32-bit (maybe 'i586' is an possibility too?), and:

x86_64

for 64-bit.

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up vote 10 down vote

Open terminal and try the arch command. If it's output is x86_64 then its 64bit. if it says i686,i386 etc then it 32 bit.

However the best way to determine the architecture is run the arch command and google the output.

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4  
arch is just the same as uname -m (even stated in the manpage). ;-) – htorque Nov 1 '10 at 14:05
On my computer (Ubuntu 9.04), the arch command doesn't seem to exist. So I'd say uname -m is more reliable. – Jonathan Sternberg Nov 1 '10 at 15:09
@JonathanSternberg: it was added a few months later, developed by the same authors of uname and included in the same coreutils package. So from Ubuntu 10.04 onwards both commands are available. – MestreLion Mar 25 at 11:10
up vote 5 down vote

Open the Ubuntu Software Center and search for lib32. If that turns up any results, you are on a 64-bit install (the results are compatibility libraries for running 32-bit applications on a 64-bit install).

Not exactly a better answer, but at least it doesn't require a terminal... ;-)

Edit

I found an even easier one: open Help -> About Mozilla Firefox and you will see it right there... ;-)

At the bottom it displays the "user agent string", e.g. on my 64-bit system:

Mozilla/5.0 (X11; U; Linux x86_64; nl; rv:1.9.2.12) Gecko/20101027 Ubuntu/10.10 (maverick) Firefox/3.6.12

or on my 32-bit system:

Mozilla/5.0 (X11; U; Linux i686; nl; rv:1.9.2.12) Gecko/20101027 Ubuntu/10.10 (maverick) Firefox/3.6.12

x86_64 is 64-bit, i686 is 32-bit

(But this is still not the answer that should be there ;) )

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2  
+1 for trying to find a pure gui answer – ithkuil Nov 1 '10 at 18:18
Pure GUI, sure, but quite a fragile one... packages whose names (or descriptions) contain lib32 is surely not a reliable way of detecting architecture. – MestreLion Mar 25 at 11:27
up vote 3 down vote

Architecture Checker

enter image description here

Download Link

  1. Download It
  2. Extract it.
  3. Mark the file Architecture Checker.sh Executable and run it.
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up vote 1 down vote

If a non-terminal GUI only solution is needed (why?): Check if in Places -> File System a link to a folder named /lib64 is present. No 100% guarantee but most likely you are then running a 64-bit system. If unsure you can always perform the better, faster and more reliable CLI tools mentioned already.

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up vote 1 down vote

The power button (top-most, extreme right) has an "About this Computer" option. :)

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up vote 0 down vote

Have a look at your Software Sources in Synaptic or Software Centre. If you haven't deleted your original source eg cdrom, it will (?) indicate the architecture. It's a GUI but it won't say '32bit' nor '64bit'.

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up vote 0 down vote

As far as i can remember it is possible to install x86_64 kernel on 32bit system. As few wrote here you should look what libs you have/what packages you have installed on your system. So safest way to see is to check if you have /lib64 and if it is symlink to /lib.

Other possible way is to check what packages you have downloaded in /var/cache/apt/archive if thy contain _amd64.deb it is 64bit system, that is, if you have installed packages and have not cleared your cache

All of that can be done from konqueror/dolphin by just pointing anc clicking or

ls -la / |grep lib
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up vote -1 down vote

I am not sure what you call an OS being 32 bits.

To be specific, my kernel and desktop distribution is a 64 bits Debian/Sid, but I routinely use schroot to run a deboostrap-ed 32 bits Debian inside a chroot-ed environment (for testing purposes).

Do you feel that my 32 bits environment should be called 32 bits (I believe so) or 64 bits (after all, it does run inside a 64 bits kernel). In that environment uname -m says i686 and all libraries and executables and processes are 32 bits.

For practical purposes uname -m should be enough. The file command can tell you if an ELF executable is a 32 bits or a 64 bits one.

See the Linux specific personality(2) syscall (and also the uname(2) one).

And the hardware information about your processor is visible with e.g.

 cat /proc/cpuinfo

its output is the same in my desktop 64 bits system and in my 32 bits schroot-ed environment.

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1  
-1: you added a lot of unnecessary confusion without adding any useful new info. Why saying that you're "not sure what you call an OS being 32 bits"? That's a pretty straightforward question, one you know about. Your chroot example is pointless: it is similar to a Virtual Machine, so of course uname -m will output i686 if you bootstrapped it with a 32-bit OS. But the "host" is still 64 bits, and uname -m will say so if you run it outside the chroot environment – MestreLion Mar 25 at 11:47
Also, /proc/cpuinfo is misleading: it shows the CPU capabilities, and not the actual installed (and running) OS architecture. Virtually all desktop CPUs sold in the last 5 years are 64-bit, but this has absolutely nothing to do with the question. And of course it reports the same in both scenarios, since your CPU hardware is the same, and it is capable of running both 32 and 64 bits OSes. – MestreLion Mar 25 at 11:54
up vote -3 down vote

Though it's not a 'gui' solution ... It's not too hard to find the info via the terminal ... just grep the output of cpuinfo ...

Long Mode flags determine whether your kernel is operating in 32 or 64 bit mode. By grepping the output of /proc/cpuinfo you can determine the mode your system is operating in ... 

cat /proc/cpuinfo | grep lm

If you find lm flags in the ouput then your system is running in 64bit mode ... for more info

http://www.cyberciti.biz/faq/linux-how-to-find-if-processor-is-64-bit-or-not/

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Why the downvotes ... it works. – Eddie B Sep 27 '12 at 17:11
Because your answer is flawed. It shows the CPU capabilities, and not the actual installed (and running) OS architecture. Virtually all desktop CPUs sold in the last 5 years are 64-bit, but this has absolutely nothing to do with the question. A 64-bit CPU can run 32 bit OSes, so this method can not be used to determine OS. – MestreLion Mar 25 at 11:58

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