Skip to main content

Os-Release

Tool Name: system/os-release

Retrieves Linux distribution and kernel version.

Example​

Every example below shows the equivalent linuxctl command and the raw MCP JSON-RPC call it resolves to. The raw call always follows the same two-step pattern (see MCP API overview for the full explanation): open an SSE stream to get a one-time POST endpoint, then POST the JSON-RPC request there - the result streams back on the SSE connection.

linuxctl
linuxctl get system os-release

Output (Ubuntu 24.04 VPS):

OS Release Info:
PRETTY_NAME="Ubuntu 24.04 LTS"
NAME="Ubuntu"
VERSION_ID="24.04"
VERSION="24.04 LTS (Noble Numbat)"
VERSION_CODENAME=noble
ID=ubuntu
ID_LIKE=debian
HOME_URL="https://www.ubuntu.com/"
SUPPORT_URL="https://help.ubuntu.com/"
BUG_REPORT_URL="https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/"
PRIVACY_POLICY_URL="https://www.ubuntu.com/legal/terms-and-policies/privacy-policy"
UBUNTU_CODENAME=noble
LOGO=ubuntu-logo

Kernel Info:
Linux vps.example.com 6.8.0-142-generic #142-Ubuntu SMP PREEMPT_DYNAMIC Wed Sep 2 14:24:27 UTC 2026 x86_64
curl (raw MCP JSON-RPC)
# 1. Open the SSE stream (in the background) and capture the one-time POST endpoint
curl -N -s --cacert mcpd.crt -H "Authorization: Bearer $MCP_TOKEN" https://localhost:9091/sse &
# server sends: event: endpoint / data: /message?session_id=...

# 2. POST the tools/call request to that endpoint
curl -s --cacert mcpd.crt -X POST "https://localhost:9091/message?session_id=<from step 1>" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $MCP_TOKEN" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"jsonrpc": "2.0", "id": "1", "method": "tools/call", "params": {"name": "system/os-release", "arguments": {}}}'

# 3. The result arrives on the SSE stream opened in step 1

Response:

{
"jsonrpc": "2.0",
"id": "1",
"result": {
"content": [
{
"type": "text",
"text": "OS Release Info:\nPRETTY_NAME=\"Ubuntu 24.04 LTS\"\nNAME=\"Ubuntu\"\nVERSION_ID=\"24.04\"\nVERSION=\"24.04 LTS (Noble Numbat)\"\nVERSION_CODENAME=noble\nID=ubuntu\nID_LIKE=debian\nHOME_URL=\"https://www.ubuntu.com/\"\nSUPPORT_URL=\"https://help.ubuntu.com/\"\nBUG_REPORT_URL=\"https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/\"\nPRIVACY_POLICY_URL=\"https://www.ubuntu.com/legal/terms-and-policies/privacy-policy\"\nUBUNTU_CODENAME=noble\nLOGO=ubuntu-logo\n\nKernel Info:\nLinux vps.example.com 6.8.0-142-generic #142-Ubuntu SMP PREEMPT_DYNAMIC Wed Sep 2 14:24:27 UTC 2026 x86_64\n"
}
]
}
}