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UNAME(1P)                  POSIX Programmer's Manual                 UNAME(1P)

PROLOG
       This  manual  page is part of the POSIX Programmer's Manual.  The Linux
       implementation of this interface may differ (consult the  corresponding
       Linux  manual page for details of Linux behavior), or the interface may
       not be implemented on Linux.
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  run-
              ning 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  imple-
              mentation.
       -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  operat-
       ing 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  Vari-
              ables  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 sym-
       bols shall be written at the end of the line of output before the <new-
       line>.
       If options are specified to select different combinations of  the  sym-
       bols, only those symbols shall be written, in the order shown above for
       the -a option. If a symbol is not selected for writing, its correspond-
       ing 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 exam-
       ple, 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 .

IEEE/The Open Group                  2003                            UNAME(1P)