What version (32/64bit) of linux is installed on my machine?

[kevin123]

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I am trying to find a command that will tell me if I am running 32 or 64-bit linux on my G5 server ( Yellow Dog Linux Distro). Is there a command I can issue that will tell me that? Or a place I can look?

[Kaerka]

I am trying to find a command that will tell me if I am running 32 or 64-bit linux on my G5 server ( Yellow Dog Linux Distro). Is there a command I can issue that will tell me that? Or a place I can look?

From a command prompt, issue the 'uname -a' command. It's output should be something like this:
Linux hostname 2.6.9-55.0.2.ELsmp #1 SMP Tue Jun 12 17:58:20 EDT 2007 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux
or
Linux hostname 2.6.9-55.0.2.ELsmp #1 SMP Tue Jun 12 17:59:08 EDT 2007 i686 i686 i386 GNU/Linux

The x86_64 tells you that you're running 64bit, and definitely on a 64bit cpu, since 64bit OS doesn't run at all on a 32bit cpu. If you have i386, i586, or i686 listed, you're running 32bit OS on either a 64bit cpu or 32bit cpu.

To really get indepth data about your hardware, type 'cat /proc/cpuinfo' or 'lspci -vv'.

[kevin123]

Thanks for the response! When I run uname I get the following:

Linux localhost.localdomain 2.6.15-rc5.ydl.1g5 #1 Tue Jan 17 18:00:42 EST 2006 ppc64 ppc64 ppc64 GNU/Linux


I am trying to compile a 32bit application instead of 64bit, so I had planned on installing a 32bit version of yellowdog linux on the G5 and then compile. So far 2 different versions of the install return similar UNAME results. When I use gcc to compile, it only lets me compile with the -m32 option (fails when i try to do -m64) Should I assume then that I will be compiling a true 32bit application when using gcc -m32 ... ?

[Ben Cotton]

Linux localhost.localdomain 2.6.15-rc5.ydl.1g5 #1 Tue Jan 17 18:00:42 EST 2006 ppc64 ppc64 ppc64 GNU/Linux

Your processor is 64-bit, but not the x86_64 processor you are probably thinking of. Based on the uname output and your own description of the machine, you're using a PowerPC processor. Not knowing exactly what you're doing, I can't speak as to how it affects you, but you might start looking for information here:

penguinppc.org: front page

[Kaerka]

The PPC is indeed PowerPC chipset, which means that this is either an IBM or Apple machine; so you'll need to take that into consideration when compiling any code or installing anything on this machine.

Linux actually supports a whole lot of other cpu types and manufacturers beyond just Intel and AMD and beyond the standard 32 or 64bit.

Sadly though, I can't really help you much for linux on PowerPC cpu's; all of the PPC systems I work with run IBM AIX or IBM VIO.