UNIX for Dummies Questions & Answers

Hi Team,

I need to determine whether my OS is 32 bit or 64 bit.
For linux I am running :-

Code:

bash$ uname -a
Linux xxxx 2.6.32-358.el6.x86_64 #1 SMP Tue Jan 29 11:47:41 EST 2013 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

This tells me that Linux is 64 bit as it is x86_64.

For Solaris

Code:

bash$ uname -a
SunOS xxxx 5.10 Generic_142910-17 i86pc i386 i86pc

This is indicating that Solaris is 32 bit
But this command on solaris:-

Code:

bash$ isainfo
amd64 i386

is indicating that my OS is 64 bit.

Could you please help me in understanding this .
And how to check whether processor is 32 bit ?

Thanks

Hello Raj,

Could you please try following command and let me know if this helps.

Code:

 isainfo -b

Thanks,
R. Singh

Hi Ravi,

It gives me the 64 bit.

But why isainfo is showing both amd64 and i386 wheras uname is showin only i386.

Thanks

Hello Raj,

I am on a Solaris on a AMD-
uname -agives

Code:

OS Solaris 10 x86_64 (SunOS goldtpus34 5.10 Generic_144489-11

I wanted to find whether it has a 32bit or 64 bit kernel so I did

Code:

/usr/bin/isainfo -k

It says

Code:

amd64

but when I do

Code:

file /sbin/init

It says

Code:

ELF 32-bit LSB executable 80386 Version 1, dynamically linked, stripped

The majority of binaries in a 64-bit installation of Solaris are 32-bit binaries. There is a historic reason for this related to the differences between SPARC chips and x86 chips. This is different than the approach taken with Linux. So even if the kernel is booted in 64-bit mode, you will see that init is a 32-bit binary. The isainfo command is specifically designed to show which kinds of programs the kernel can run.

Thanks,
R. Singh

I would be interested in seeing an authoritative reference for that statement.