5

I'm now on desktop Ubuntu 15.10 and I have some bootable USB drive. I'm pretty sure, that on the stick is installed another Ubuntu system, but I can't remember which version it is. Can I find it somewhere in files on this USB, or with some command?

I don't want to reboot only for this check.

Thanks.

Improve this question

5 Answers 5

Reset to default
4

If its from unetbootin, then the lines at the end of ubnfilel.txt tells which version it installs.

Improve this answer
1
  • It doesn't look like this is a stable answer, I was unable to find the ubuntu version in that file.
    – rosch
    Mar 5, 2019 at 9:41
4

If there is a folder dists, the name of the subfolder might help you to identify the version. For instance if there is xenial then the version is 16.04 -- see: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Releases

Improve this answer
2
  • I have the same question. That file ends with preseed/cli.seed preseed/ltsp.seed preseed/xubuntu.seed I only use unetbootin, but possibly I was given this stick.
    – Peter Flynn
    Jun 6, 2018 at 8:31
  • This helped me, I saw a focal folder in the dists folder. Thanks!
    – kas
    Nov 12, 2020 at 17:18
1

The name of the subfolder under /dists is a good start. Even better, look beyond the directory name as the directory itself may contain more specific information. For example, if the release is xenial, then in /dists/xenial/Release you will find lines like: "Version: 16.04", "Description: Ubuntu Xenial 16.04", "Architectures: amd64 i386". In this case, that probably came from the ISO file ubuntu-16.04-desktop-amd64.iso rather than ubuntu-16.04.1-desktop-amd64.iso or ubuntu-16.04.2-desktop-amd64.iso, so it is out of date. ubnfile1.txt (mentioned in another answer), on the other hand, wasn't terribly helpful. It did not contain the "!6.04" anywhere but it did have xenial in a few paths, such as /dists/xenial/release

Improve this answer
0

If ubnfilel.txt doesn't work for you, here are two more files to check:

  1. file .disk/info: Ubuntu 16.04 LTS "Xenial Xerus" - Release amd64 (20160420.1)
  2. file README.diskdefines, first line: #define DISKNAME Ubuntu 16.04 LTS "Xenial Xerus" - Release amd64
  3. file dists/<release name>/Release, first 5 lines: Origin: Ubuntu Label: Ubuntu Suite: xenial Version: 16.04 Codename: xenial

The folders .disk, dists and the file README.diskdefines are to be found at the root of the USB drive.

Improve this answer
0

After I read some of the recomendations here, I did grep -ri bionic on the root folder of the USB.

I've found a folder .disk on my 18.04 live Kubuntu USB. There is a file named "info" inside which has the following text:

Kubuntu 18.04.1 LTS "Bionic Beaver" - Release amd64 (20180725)

This is great because I wanted to know what is the specific "subversion" of the Ubuntu installation (I knew that it was 18.04 but didn't knew if I needed to upgrade it to 18.04.4).

I do not remember how I made this USB and do not know if this folder is present dependable on the method of creating the USB. So try it yourslef and see.

Improve this answer

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .