Check what Debian version you are running on your Linux system Print

The easiest way on how to check what Debian version you are running is to simply read a contents from /etc/issue file. Example:

root@debian:~# cat /etc/issue
Debian GNU/Linux 9 \n \l

However, the above command may not show the current Debian update point releases. You may get more accurate info with the following command:

root@debian:~# cat /etc/debian_version
9.8

Next, you can check for /etc/os-release release file:

# cat /etc/os-release
PRETTY_NAME="Debian GNU/Linux 9 (stretch)"
NAME="Debian GNU/Linux"
VERSION_ID="9"
VERSION="9 (stretch)"
ID=debian
HOME_URL="https://www.debian.org/"
SUPPORT_URL="https://www.debian.org/support"
BUG_REPORT_URL="https://bugs.debian.org/"

An alternative way is by use of lsb_release command to find debian version. This command may be missing by default so you may need to install it first:

# apt-get install lsb-release

Once you install the above package run the following linux command to see what debian version you are running:

$ lsb_release -da
No LSB modules are available.
Distributor ID: Debian
Description:    Debian GNU/Linux 9.0 (stretch)
Release:        9.0
Codename:       stretch

For systemd debian version you may also use hostnamectl:

# hostnamectl 
   Static hostname: www
         Icon name: computer-container
           Chassis: container
        Machine ID: 6866ec1d654b4a2ea52d591dc0146d82
           Boot ID: 51bfbc1e197b4d378e95073da0df0288
    Virtualization: openvz
  Operating System: Debian GNU/Linux 9 (stretch)
            Kernel: Linux 4.9.0
      Architecture: x86-64