To verify if a system is 32 bit versus 64 bit you can use the uname command. Below are examples of using the uname command from the CLI on a 32 bit system followed by using the uname command on a 64 bit system.
32 Bit CentOS Linux Server
- [root@server ~]# uname -a
- Linux server1.example.com 2.6.18-92.1.13.el5 #1 SMP Wed Sep 24 19:33:52 EDT 2008 i686 i686 i386 GNU/Linux
64 Bit CentOS Linux Server
- [root@server ~]# uname -a
- Linux server.example.com 2.6.18-53.1.21.el5 #1 SMP Tue May 20 09:35:07 EDT 2008 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux
As you can see above the 64 bit server will show x86_64 numerous times after the install date and time. The 32 bit system will show i686 and i386 after the install date and time. So it is very easy to verify if a system is 32 bit versus 64 bit using the “uname -a” command from a shell.
Worked like a charm!
Hello Marlon,
Good to hear. Thanks for taking the time to leave feedback.
Thanks.
alex
Short and to the point. Was very helpful.
Hello johan,
Thanks for posting feedback.
Thanks.
alex
Thanks for that, now I know, that I’ve installed a 32 bit version. I tried the 64 bit version of SL but when I wanted to install it, something went wrong, and it won’t install. My processor is 64 bit compatible, AMD Athlon 64 3200+ , but I don’t know, if having only 4 GB RAM is a hinderance.
I’m doing this without my glasses and the print is so small, that I can hardly see what I am typing.
Thanks again for the info.
Helgi
No
uname -m
or
arch
Thank you for your posting!
Example:
[root@localhost ~]# getconf LONG_BIT
64
Thanks for pointing out getconf and I prefer this over uname. A possible enhancement: use “getconf WORD_BIT” instead of “getconf LONG_BIT”, since WORD represents natural unit of data that c an be handled by a particular processor.
Seems like “getconf LONG_BIT” is the correct one – I found that on one of my 64 bit OS installs, WORD_BIT yielded 32, whereas LONG_BIT yielded 64.
Hello Sathya,
Thanks for following up to your post. I wasn’t aware of the getconf command you could issue to provide the same information but now that I am I will be using it in the future. Like you I prefer getconf over uname!
Thanks.
alex
Hello Eric,
Awesome! I was not aware of this command and appreciate you taking the time to share.
Thanks.
alex
Gracias por el post