# Amazon Linux-specific identification
<a name="ident-amazon-linux-specific"></a>

Some files are specific to Amazon Linux and can identify Amazon Linux and its version. For new code, use the [`/etc/os-release`](ident-os-release.md) standard for cross-distribution compatibility, and avoid the Amazon Linux-specific files.

**Topics**
+ [System release file](#ident-system-release)
+ [Image identification file](#ident-image-id-file)
+ [Examples of Amazon Linux-specific files](#ident-version-examples)

## System release file
<a name="ident-system-release"></a>

Amazon Linux contains an `/etc/system-release` file that specifies the current release that is installed. This file is updated through package managers, and on Amazon Linux it is part of the `system-release` package. Although some other distributions like Fedora also have this file, it is not present in Debian-based distributions like Ubuntu.

**Note**  
The `/etc/system-release` file contains a human-readable string and should not be used programmatically to identify an OS or release. Use the machine-readable fields in `/etc/os-release` (or `/usr/lib/os-release` if `/etc/os-release` does not exist) instead.

Amazon Linux also contains a machine-readable version of `/etc/system-release` that follows the Common Platform Enumeration (CPE) specification in the `/etc/system-release-cpe` file.

On AL2027, the `/etc/system-release` and `/etc/system-release-cpe` files are symbolic links to files under `/usr/lib`. The `/etc/amazon-linux-release` and `/etc/amazon-linux-release-cpe` links point to the same files. The presence of either link indicates an Amazon Linux system.

## Image identification file
<a name="ident-image-id-file"></a>

Each Amazon Linux image contains a unique `/etc/image-id` file that provides additional information about the original image as generated by the Amazon Linux team. This file is specific to Amazon Linux and is not found in other Linux distributions such as Debian, Ubuntu, or Fedora. This file contains the following information about the image:
+ `image_name`, `image_version`, `image_arch` – Values from the build recipe that was used to construct the image.
+ `image_stamp` – A unique, random hex value generated during image creation.
+ `image_date` – The UTC time of image creation, in *YYYYMMDDhhmmss* format.
+ `recipe_name`, `recipe_id` – The name and ID of the build recipe used to construct the image.

## Examples of Amazon Linux-specific files
<a name="ident-version-examples"></a>

The following sections provide examples of the Amazon Linux-specific identification files for each major version of Amazon Linux.

**Note**  
In any real-world code, `/usr/lib/os-release` should be used if the `/etc/os-release` file does not exist.

### AL2027
<a name="ident-image-id-amazon-linux-2027"></a>

The following examples show the identification files for an AL2027 container image.

Example of `/etc/image-id` for AL2027:

```
cat /etc/image-id
```

```
image_name="al2027-preview-container"
image_version="2027"
image_arch="x86_64"
image_file="al2027-preview-container-2027.0.20260903.0-x86_64"
image_stamp="4a6c-c3b6"
image_date="20260903212654"
recipe_name="al2027-preview container"
recipe_id="fcf5e1a4-a276-3448-b71a-1eb1-7d2f-f464-8f6cf1f3"
```

Example of `/etc/system-release` for AL2027:

```
cat /etc/system-release
```

```
Amazon Linux release 2027.0.20260903 (Amazon Linux)
```

Example of `/etc/system-release-cpe` for AL2027:

```
cat /etc/system-release-cpe
```

```
cpe:2.3:o:amazon:amazon_linux:2027:2027.0.20260903
```

### AL2023
<a name="ident-image-id-amazon-linux-2023"></a>

The following examples show the identification files for AL2023.

Example of `/etc/image-id` for AL2023:

```
cat /etc/image-id
```

```
image_name="al2023-container"
image_version="2023"
image_arch="x86_64"
image_file="al2023-container-2023.12.20260817.0-x86_64"
image_stamp="9528-ae09"
image_date="20260812030732"
recipe_name="al2023 container"
recipe_id="980ea2f4-f357-51ba-89f2-1aa8-c495-4e2f-4bd719d3"
```

Example of `/etc/system-release` for AL2023:

```
cat /etc/system-release
```

```
Amazon Linux release 2023.12.20260817 (Amazon Linux)
```

### AL2
<a name="ident-image-id-amazon-linux-2"></a>

The following examples show the identification files for AL2.

Example of `/etc/image-id` for AL2:

```
cat /etc/image-id
```

```
image_name="amzn2-container-raw"
image_version="2"
image_arch="x86_64"
image_file="amzn2-container-raw-2.0.20260710.0-x86_64"
image_stamp="8cc3-051d"
image_date="20260710034742"
recipe_name="amzn2 container"
recipe_id="6431fa04-4ce1-b2fe-b9e3-a141-5bdd-7f0e-3b752f6d"
```

Example of `/etc/system-release` for AL2:

```
cat /etc/system-release
```

```
Amazon Linux release 2 (Karoo)
```