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Check if system is 32bit or 64bit

Terminal - Check if system is 32bit or 64bit
uname -m # display machine "hardware name"
2013-01-04 11:46:43
User: mpb
Functions: uname
-4
Up
Down
Check if system is 32bit or 64bit

Display the machine "hardware name" 32 or 64 bit.

"x86_64" is shown on 64 bit machines

"i686" is typically shown on 32 bit machines (although, you might also see "i386" or "i586" on older Linuxen).

On other "unix-like" systems, other hardware names will be displayed.

For example, on AIX, "uname -m" gives the "machine sequence number".

For whatever reason, IBM decided that "uname -M" would give the machine type and model.

(ref: http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/aix/library/au-aix-systemid.html )

On Sun Solaris, "uname -m" can be used to determine the chip type and "isainfo -v" will reveal

if the kernel is 64 or 32 bit.

(ref: http://www.ibiblio.org/pub/packages/solaris/sparc/html/32.and.64.bit.packages.html )

A more reliable way to determine "64-bit ness" across different Unix type systems is to compile the following simple C program:

cat <<eeooff > bits.c

/*

* program bits.c

* purpose Display "32" or "64" according to machine type

* written January 2013

* reference http://www.unix.org/whitepapers/64bit.html

*/

/* hmm, curious that angle-brackets removed by commandlinefu.com data input processing? */

#include "/usr/include/stdio.h"

long lv = 0xFFFFFFFF;

main ( ) {

printf("%2d\n",(lv < 0)?32:64);

}

eeooff

Compile and run thusly: cc -o bits bits.c; ./bits

Show sample output | Add to favourites | Report as malicious

Alternatives

There is 1 alternative - vote for the best!

Terminal - Alternatives
getconf LONG_BIT
2009-08-08 21:22:19
User: caiosba
Functions: getconf
Tags: getconf 32 64
75
Up
Down
32 bits or 64 bits?

Easy and direct way to find this out.

Show sample output | Comments (1) | Add to favourites | Report as malicious
getconf LONG_BIT
2012-12-12 23:51:51
User: varghjarta
Functions: getconf
Tags: kernel 32bit 64bit
20
Up
Down
Check if system is 32bit or 64bit

Needed a quick way to see if my server distro that I setup years ago was running 32bit or not, since with time I had forgotten.

Note: does not check _hardware_ e.g. /proc/cpuinfo but rather the kernel installed

Show sample output | Comments (3) | Add to favourites | Report as malicious
arch
2013-01-02 17:52:14
User: anapsix
Functions: arch
Tags: kernel 32bit 64bit
13
Up
Down
Check if system is 32bit or 64bit
Comments (2) | Add to favourites | Report as malicious
sudo lshw -C cpu|grep width
2009-09-24 11:43:00
User: sliceoflinux
Functions: grep sudo
Tags: cpu 32 64 lshw
7
Up
Down
32 bits or 64 bits?
Comments (0) | Add to favourites | Report as malicious
grep -q '\<lm\>' /proc/cpuinfo && echo 64 bits || echo 32 bits
2013-02-09 13:01:36
User: sputnick
Functions: echo grep
Tags: hardware 32bit 64bit
2
Up
Down
Check if *hardware* is 32bit or 64bit

This command tell you if your hardware is 32 or 64 bits even if you install a 32bits OS on a 64 bits hardware.

If your distro don't support the -q switch, try doing :

grep &>/dev/null '\<lm\>' /proc/cpuinfo && echo 64 bits || echo 32 bits
Comments (0) | Add to favourites | Report as malicious

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