To obtain the version of OS X from a command line, i.e., from a Terminal window, you can use the command
system_profiler SPSoftwareDataType
.
$ system_profiler SPSoftwareDataType
Software:
System Software Overview:
System Version: Mac OS X 10.3.9 (7W98)
Kernel Version: Darwin 7.9.0
Boot Volume: Macintosh HD
Computer Name: john smith's Computer
User Name: JOHN SMITH (jsmith)The above command provides both the version of OS X, which is 10.3.9 in
the example shown and the kernel version, which is 7.9.0.
To view just the version of OS X, you can use the command
sw_vers -productVersion.
$ sw_vers -productVersion 10.3.9 $
If you needed the version of the kernel, you can also use the
traditional uname -a command used on Unix and Linux systems
or uname -r to get just the kernel version.
$ uname -a Darwin joe-smiths-Computer.local 7.9.0 Darwin Kernel Version 7.9.0: Wed Mar 30 2 0:11:17 PST 2005; root:xnu/xnu-517.12.7.obj~1/RELEASE_PPC Power Macintosh powerpc $ uname -r 7.9.0
To match a version number to a codename, e.g. OS X 10.3 has a codename of "Panther", see the table below.
| Version | Codename | Date Announced | Release Date | Most Recent Version |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mac OS X Server 1.0 | Hera | March 16, 1999 | 1.2v3 (October 27, 2000) | |
| Public Beta | Kodiak | September 13, 2000 | ||
| 10.0 | Cheetah | March 24, 2001 | 10.0.4 (June 22, 2001) | |
| 10.1 | Puma | July 18, 2001 | September 25, 2001 | 10.1.5 (June 6, 2002) |
| 10.2 | Jaguar | May 6, 2002 | August 24, 2002 | 10.2.8 (October 3, 2003) |
| 10.3 | Panther | June 23, 2003 | October 24, 2003 | 10.3.9 (April 15, 2005) |
| 10.4 | Tiger | May 4, 2004 | April 29, 2005 | 10.4.11 (November 14, 2007) |
| 10.5 | Leopard | June 26, 2006 | October 26, 2007 | 10.5.8 (August 5, 2009) |
| 10.6 | Snow Leopard | June 9, 2008 | August 28, 2009 | 10.6.4 (June 15, 2010) |
References:
-
OS X Version From Command Line
Date: September 12, 2006
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