1:mod:`platform` ---  Access to underlying platform's identifying data
2=====================================================================
3
4.. module:: platform
5   :synopsis: Retrieves as much platform identifying data as possible.
6
7.. moduleauthor:: Marc-André Lemburg <mal@egenix.com>
8.. sectionauthor:: Bjorn Pettersen <bpettersen@corp.fairisaac.com>
9
10**Source code:** :source:`Lib/platform.py`
11
12--------------
13
14.. note::
15
16   Specific platforms listed alphabetically, with Linux included in the Unix
17   section.
18
19
20Cross Platform
21--------------
22
23
24.. function:: architecture(executable=sys.executable, bits='', linkage='')
25
26   Queries the given executable (defaults to the Python interpreter binary) for
27   various architecture information.
28
29   Returns a tuple ``(bits, linkage)`` which contain information about the bit
30   architecture and the linkage format used for the executable. Both values are
31   returned as strings.
32
33   Values that cannot be determined are returned as given by the parameter presets.
34   If bits is given as ``''``, the ``sizeof(pointer)`` (or
35   ``sizeof(long)`` on Python version < 1.5.2) is used as indicator for the
36   supported pointer size.
37
38   The function relies on the system's :file:`file` command to do the actual work.
39   This is available on most if not all Unix  platforms and some non-Unix platforms
40   and then only if the executable points to the Python interpreter.  Reasonable
41   defaults are used when the above needs are not met.
42
43   .. note::
44
45      On macOS (and perhaps other platforms), executable files may be
46      universal files containing multiple architectures.
47
48      To get at the "64-bitness" of the current interpreter, it is more
49      reliable to query the :attr:`sys.maxsize` attribute::
50
51         is_64bits = sys.maxsize > 2**32
52
53
54.. function:: machine()
55
56   Returns the machine type, e.g. ``'AMD64'``. An empty string is returned if the
57   value cannot be determined.
58
59
60.. function:: node()
61
62   Returns the computer's network name (may not be fully qualified!). An empty
63   string is returned if the value cannot be determined.
64
65
66.. function:: platform(aliased=0, terse=0)
67
68   Returns a single string identifying the underlying platform with as much useful
69   information as possible.
70
71   The output is intended to be *human readable* rather than machine parseable. It
72   may look different on different platforms and this is intended.
73
74   If *aliased* is true, the function will use aliases for various platforms that
75   report system names which differ from their common names, for example SunOS will
76   be reported as Solaris.  The :func:`system_alias` function is used to implement
77   this.
78
79   Setting *terse* to true causes the function to return only the absolute minimum
80   information needed to identify the platform.
81
82   .. versionchanged:: 3.8
83      On macOS, the function now uses :func:`mac_ver`, if it returns a
84      non-empty release string, to get the macOS version rather than the darwin
85      version.
86
87
88.. function:: processor()
89
90   Returns the (real) processor name, e.g. ``'amdk6'``.
91
92   An empty string is returned if the value cannot be determined. Note that many
93   platforms do not provide this information or simply return the same value as for
94   :func:`machine`.  NetBSD does this.
95
96
97.. function:: python_build()
98
99   Returns a tuple ``(buildno, builddate)`` stating the Python build number and
100   date as strings.
101
102
103.. function:: python_compiler()
104
105   Returns a string identifying the compiler used for compiling Python.
106
107
108.. function:: python_branch()
109
110   Returns a string identifying the Python implementation SCM branch.
111
112
113.. function:: python_implementation()
114
115   Returns a string identifying the Python implementation. Possible return values
116   are: 'CPython', 'IronPython', 'Jython', 'PyPy'.
117
118
119.. function:: python_revision()
120
121   Returns a string identifying the Python implementation SCM revision.
122
123
124.. function:: python_version()
125
126   Returns the Python version as string ``'major.minor.patchlevel'``.
127
128   Note that unlike the Python ``sys.version``, the returned value will always
129   include the patchlevel (it defaults to 0).
130
131
132.. function:: python_version_tuple()
133
134   Returns the Python version as tuple ``(major, minor, patchlevel)`` of strings.
135
136   Note that unlike the Python ``sys.version``, the returned value will always
137   include the patchlevel (it defaults to ``'0'``).
138
139
140.. function:: release()
141
142   Returns the system's release, e.g. ``'2.2.0'`` or ``'NT'``. An empty string is
143   returned if the value cannot be determined.
144
145
146.. function:: system()
147
148   Returns the system/OS name, such as ``'Linux'``, ``'Darwin'``, ``'Java'``,
149   ``'Windows'``. An empty string is returned if the value cannot be determined.
150
151
152.. function:: system_alias(system, release, version)
153
154   Returns ``(system, release, version)`` aliased to common marketing names used
155   for some systems.  It also does some reordering of the information in some cases
156   where it would otherwise cause confusion.
157
158
159.. function:: version()
160
161   Returns the system's release version, e.g. ``'#3 on degas'``. An empty string is
162   returned if the value cannot be determined.
163
164
165.. function:: uname()
166
167   Fairly portable uname interface. Returns a :func:`~collections.namedtuple`
168   containing six attributes: :attr:`system`, :attr:`node`, :attr:`release`,
169   :attr:`version`, :attr:`machine`, and :attr:`processor`.
170
171   Note that this adds a sixth attribute (:attr:`processor`) not present
172   in the :func:`os.uname` result.  Also, the attribute names are different
173   for the first two attributes; :func:`os.uname` names them
174   :attr:`sysname` and :attr:`nodename`.
175
176   Entries which cannot be determined are set to ``''``.
177
178   .. versionchanged:: 3.3
179      Result changed from a tuple to a :func:`~collections.namedtuple`.
180
181
182Java Platform
183-------------
184
185
186.. function:: java_ver(release='', vendor='', vminfo=('','',''), osinfo=('','',''))
187
188   Version interface for Jython.
189
190   Returns a tuple ``(release, vendor, vminfo, osinfo)`` with *vminfo* being a
191   tuple ``(vm_name, vm_release, vm_vendor)`` and *osinfo* being a tuple
192   ``(os_name, os_version, os_arch)``. Values which cannot be determined are set to
193   the defaults given as parameters (which all default to ``''``).
194
195
196Windows Platform
197----------------
198
199
200.. function:: win32_ver(release='', version='', csd='', ptype='')
201
202   Get additional version information from the Windows Registry and return a tuple
203   ``(release, version, csd, ptype)`` referring to OS release, version number,
204   CSD level (service pack) and OS type (multi/single processor). Values which
205   cannot be determined are set to the defaults given as parameters (which all
206   default to an empty string).
207
208   As a hint: *ptype* is ``'Uniprocessor Free'`` on single processor NT machines
209   and ``'Multiprocessor Free'`` on multi processor machines. The *'Free'* refers
210   to the OS version being free of debugging code. It could also state *'Checked'*
211   which means the OS version uses debugging code, i.e. code that checks arguments,
212   ranges, etc.
213
214.. function:: win32_edition()
215
216   Returns a string representing the current Windows edition, or ``None`` if the
217   value cannot be determined.  Possible values include but are not limited to
218   ``'Enterprise'``, ``'IoTUAP'``, ``'ServerStandard'``, and ``'nanoserver'``.
219
220   .. versionadded:: 3.8
221
222.. function:: win32_is_iot()
223
224   Return ``True`` if the Windows edition returned by :func:`win32_edition`
225   is recognized as an IoT edition.
226
227   .. versionadded:: 3.8
228
229
230macOS Platform
231--------------
232
233
234.. function:: mac_ver(release='', versioninfo=('','',''), machine='')
235
236   Get macOS version information and return it as tuple ``(release, versioninfo,
237   machine)`` with *versioninfo* being a tuple ``(version, dev_stage,
238   non_release_version)``.
239
240   Entries which cannot be determined are set to ``''``.  All tuple entries are
241   strings.
242
243
244Unix Platforms
245--------------
246
247.. function:: libc_ver(executable=sys.executable, lib='', version='', chunksize=16384)
248
249   Tries to determine the libc version against which the file executable (defaults
250   to the Python interpreter) is linked.  Returns a tuple of strings ``(lib,
251   version)`` which default to the given parameters in case the lookup fails.
252
253   Note that this function has intimate knowledge of how different libc versions
254   add symbols to the executable is probably only usable for executables compiled
255   using :program:`gcc`.
256
257   The file is read and scanned in chunks of *chunksize* bytes.
258
259
260Linux Platforms
261---------------
262
263.. function:: freedesktop_os_release()
264
265   Get operating system identification from ``os-release`` file and return
266   it as a dict. The ``os-release`` file is a `freedesktop.org standard
267   <https://www.freedesktop.org/software/systemd/man/os-release.html>`_ and
268   is available in most Linux distributions. A noticeable exception is
269   Android and Android-based distributions.
270
271   Raises :exc:`OSError` or subclass when neither ``/etc/os-release`` nor
272   ``/usr/lib/os-release`` can be read.
273
274   On success, the function returns a dictionary where keys and values are
275   strings. Values have their special characters like ``"`` and ``$``
276   unquoted. The fields ``NAME``, ``ID``, and ``PRETTY_NAME`` are always
277   defined according to the standard. All other fields are optional. Vendors
278   may include additional fields.
279
280   Note that fields like ``NAME``, ``VERSION``, and ``VARIANT`` are strings
281   suitable for presentation to users. Programs should use fields like
282   ``ID``, ``ID_LIKE``, ``VERSION_ID``, or ``VARIANT_ID`` to identify
283   Linux distributions.
284
285   Example::
286
287      def get_like_distro():
288          info = platform.freedesktop_os_release()
289          ids = [info["ID"]]
290          if "ID_LIKE" in info:
291              # ids are space separated and ordered by precedence
292              ids.extend(info["ID_LIKE"].split())
293          return ids
294
295   .. versionadded:: 3.10
296