UNAME
Section: POSIX Programmer's Manual (P)
Updated: 2003
NAME
uname - return system name
SYNOPSIS
uname [-snrvma]
DESCRIPTION
By default, the uname utility shall write the operating system
name to standard output. When options are specified,
symbols representing one or more system characteristics shall be written
to the standard output. The format and contents of the
symbols are implementation-defined. On systems conforming to the System
Interfaces volume of IEEE Std 1003.1-2001, the
symbols written shall be those supported by the uname() function
as defined in the
System Interfaces volume of IEEE Std 1003.1-2001.
OPTIONS
The uname utility shall conform to the Base Definitions volume
of IEEE Std 1003.1-2001, Section 12.2, Utility Syntax Guidelines.
The following options shall be supported:
- -a
-
Behave as though all of the options -mnrsv were specified.
- -m
-
Write the name of the hardware type on which the system is running
to standard output.
- -n
-
Write the name of this node within an implementation-defined communications
network.
- -r
-
Write the current release level of the operating system implementation.
- -s
-
Write the name of the implementation of the operating system.
- -v
-
Write the current version level of this release of the operating system
implementation.
If no options are specified, the uname utility shall write the
operating system name, as if the -s option had been
specified.
OPERANDS
None.
STDIN
Not used.
INPUT FILES
None.
ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
The following environment variables shall affect the execution of
uname:
- LANG
-
Provide a default value for the internationalization variables that
are unset or null. (See the Base Definitions volume of
IEEE Std 1003.1-2001, Section 8.2, Internationalization Variables
for
the precedence of internationalization variables used to determine
the values of locale categories.)
- LC_ALL
-
If set to a non-empty string value, override the values of all the
other internationalization variables.
- LC_CTYPE
-
Determine the locale for the interpretation of sequences of bytes
of text data as characters (for example, single-byte as
opposed to multi-byte characters in arguments).
- LC_MESSAGES
-
Determine the locale that should be used to affect the format and
contents of diagnostic messages written to standard
error.
- NLSPATH
-
Determine the location of message catalogs for the processing of LC_MESSAGES
.
ASYNCHRONOUS EVENTS
Default.
STDOUT
By default, the output shall be a single line of the following form:
-
"%s\n", <sysname>
If the -a option is specified, the output shall be a single
line of the following form:
-
"%s %s %s %s %s\n", <sysname>, <nodename>, <release>,
<version>, <machine>
Additional implementation-defined symbols may be written; all such
symbols shall be written at the end of the line of output
before the <newline>.
If options are specified to select different combinations of the symbols,
only those symbols shall be written, in the order
shown above for the -a option. If a symbol is not selected for
writing, its corresponding trailing <blank>s also shall
not be written.
STDERR
The standard error shall be used only for diagnostic messages.
OUTPUT FILES
None.
EXTENDED DESCRIPTION
None.
EXIT STATUS
The following exit values shall be returned:
- 0
-
The requested information was successfully written.
- >0
-
An error occurred.
CONSEQUENCES OF ERRORS
Default.
The following sections are informative.
APPLICATION USAGE
Note that any of the symbols could include embedded <space>s, which
may affect parsing algorithms if multiple options are
selected for output.
The node name is typically a name that the system uses to identify
itself for inter-system communication addressing.
EXAMPLES
The following command:
-
uname -sr
writes the operating system name and release level, separated by one
or more <blank>s.
RATIONALE
It was suggested that this utility cannot be used portably since the
format of the symbols is implementation-defined. The
POSIX.1 working group could not achieve consensus on defining these
formats in the underlying uname() function, and there was no
expectation that this volume of
IEEE Std 1003.1-2001 would be any more successful. Some applications
may still find this historical utility of value. For
example, the symbols could be used for system log entries or for comparison
with operator or user input.
FUTURE DIRECTIONS
None.
SEE ALSO
The System Interfaces volume of IEEE Std 1003.1-2001, uname()
COPYRIGHT
Portions of this text are reprinted and reproduced in electronic form
from IEEE Std 1003.1, 2003 Edition, Standard for Information Technology
-- Portable Operating System Interface (POSIX), The Open Group Base
Specifications Issue 6, Copyright (C) 2001-2003 by the Institute of
Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc and The Open Group. In the
event of any discrepancy between this version and the original IEEE and
The Open Group Standard, the original IEEE and The Open Group Standard
is the referee document. The original Standard can be obtained online at
http://www.opengroup.org/unix/online.html .
Index
- NAME
-
- SYNOPSIS
-
- DESCRIPTION
-
- OPTIONS
-
- OPERANDS
-
- STDIN
-
- INPUT FILES
-
- ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
-
- ASYNCHRONOUS EVENTS
-
- STDOUT
-
- STDERR
-
- OUTPUT FILES
-
- EXTENDED DESCRIPTION
-
- EXIT STATUS
-
- CONSEQUENCES OF ERRORS
-
- APPLICATION USAGE
-
- EXAMPLES
-
- RATIONALE
-
- FUTURE DIRECTIONS
-
- SEE ALSO
-
- COPYRIGHT
-
This document was created by
man2html,
using the manual pages.
Time: 07:35:58 GMT, March 26, 2013