I would like to determine the operating system of the host that my Java program is running programmatically (for example: I would like to be able to load different properties based on whether I am on a Windows or Unix platform). What is the safest way to do this with 100% reliability?
This question is related to
java
operating-system
Oct. 2008:
I would recommend to cache it in a static variable:
public static final class OsUtils
{
private static String OS = null;
public static String getOsName()
{
if(OS == null) { OS = System.getProperty("os.name"); }
return OS;
}
public static boolean isWindows()
{
return getOsName().startsWith("Windows");
}
public static boolean isUnix() // and so on
}
That way, every time you ask for the Os, you do not fetch the property more than once in the lifetime of your application.
February 2016: 7+ years later:
There is a bug with Windows 10 (which did not exist at the time of the original answer).
See "Java's “os.name” for Windows 10?"
If you're interested in how an open source project does stuff like this, you can check out the Terracotta class (Os.java) that handles this junk here:
And you can see a similar class to handle JVM versions (Vm.java and VmVersion.java) here:
You can just use sun.awt.OSInfo#getOSType() method
If you're interested in how an open source project does stuff like this, you can check out the Terracotta class (Os.java) that handles this junk here:
And you can see a similar class to handle JVM versions (Vm.java and VmVersion.java) here:
some of the links in the answers above seem to be broken. I have added pointers to current source code in the code below and offer an approach for handling the check with an enum as an answer so that a switch statement can be used when evaluating the result:
OsCheck.OSType ostype=OsCheck.getOperatingSystemType();
switch (ostype) {
case Windows: break;
case MacOS: break;
case Linux: break;
case Other: break;
}
The helper class is:
/**
* helper class to check the operating system this Java VM runs in
*
* please keep the notes below as a pseudo-license
*
* http://stackoverflow.com/questions/228477/how-do-i-programmatically-determine-operating-system-in-java
* compare to http://svn.terracotta.org/svn/tc/dso/tags/2.6.4/code/base/common/src/com/tc/util/runtime/Os.java
* http://www.docjar.com/html/api/org/apache/commons/lang/SystemUtils.java.html
*/
import java.util.Locale;
public static final class OsCheck {
/**
* types of Operating Systems
*/
public enum OSType {
Windows, MacOS, Linux, Other
};
// cached result of OS detection
protected static OSType detectedOS;
/**
* detect the operating system from the os.name System property and cache
* the result
*
* @returns - the operating system detected
*/
public static OSType getOperatingSystemType() {
if (detectedOS == null) {
String OS = System.getProperty("os.name", "generic").toLowerCase(Locale.ENGLISH);
if ((OS.indexOf("mac") >= 0) || (OS.indexOf("darwin") >= 0)) {
detectedOS = OSType.MacOS;
} else if (OS.indexOf("win") >= 0) {
detectedOS = OSType.Windows;
} else if (OS.indexOf("nux") >= 0) {
detectedOS = OSType.Linux;
} else {
detectedOS = OSType.Other;
}
}
return detectedOS;
}
}
You can just use sun.awt.OSInfo#getOSType() method
I liked Wolfgang's answer, just because I believe things like that should be consts...
so I've rephrased it a bit for myself, and thought to share it :)
/**
* types of Operating Systems
*
* please keep the note below as a pseudo-license
*
* helper class to check the operating system this Java VM runs in
* http://stackoverflow.com/questions/228477/how-do-i-programmatically-determine-operating-system-in-java
* compare to http://svn.terracotta.org/svn/tc/dso/tags/2.6.4/code/base/common/src/com/tc/util/runtime/Os.java
* http://www.docjar.com/html/api/org/apache/commons/lang/SystemUtils.java.html
*/
public enum OSType {
MacOS("mac", "darwin"),
Windows("win"),
Linux("nux"),
Other("generic");
private static OSType detectedOS;
private final String[] keys;
private OSType(String... keys) {
this.keys = keys;
}
private boolean match(String osKey) {
for (int i = 0; i < keys.length; i++) {
if (osKey.indexOf(keys[i]) != -1)
return true;
}
return false;
}
public static OSType getOS_Type() {
if (detectedOS == null)
detectedOS = getOperatingSystemType(System.getProperty("os.name", Other.keys[0]).toLowerCase());
return detectedOS;
}
private static OSType getOperatingSystemType(String osKey) {
for (OSType osType : values()) {
if (osType.match(osKey))
return osType;
}
return Other;
}
}
This code for displaying all information about the system os type,name , java information and so on.
public static void main(String[] args) {
// TODO Auto-generated method stub
Properties pro = System.getProperties();
for(Object obj : pro.keySet()){
System.out.println(" System "+(String)obj+" : "+System.getProperty((String)obj));
}
}
Oct. 2008:
I would recommend to cache it in a static variable:
public static final class OsUtils
{
private static String OS = null;
public static String getOsName()
{
if(OS == null) { OS = System.getProperty("os.name"); }
return OS;
}
public static boolean isWindows()
{
return getOsName().startsWith("Windows");
}
public static boolean isUnix() // and so on
}
That way, every time you ask for the Os, you do not fetch the property more than once in the lifetime of your application.
February 2016: 7+ years later:
There is a bug with Windows 10 (which did not exist at the time of the original answer).
See "Java's “os.name” for Windows 10?"
I think following can give broader coverage in fewer lines
import org.apache.commons.exec.OS;
if (OS.isFamilyWindows()){
//load some property
}
else if (OS.isFamilyUnix()){
//load some other property
}
More details here: https://commons.apache.org/proper/commons-exec/apidocs/org/apache/commons/exec/OS.html
String osName = System.getProperty("os.name");
System.out.println("Operating system " + osName);
I find that the OS Utils from Swingx does the job.
Try this,simple and easy
System.getProperty("os.name");
System.getProperty("os.version");
System.getProperty("os.arch");
I liked Wolfgang's answer, just because I believe things like that should be consts...
so I've rephrased it a bit for myself, and thought to share it :)
/**
* types of Operating Systems
*
* please keep the note below as a pseudo-license
*
* helper class to check the operating system this Java VM runs in
* http://stackoverflow.com/questions/228477/how-do-i-programmatically-determine-operating-system-in-java
* compare to http://svn.terracotta.org/svn/tc/dso/tags/2.6.4/code/base/common/src/com/tc/util/runtime/Os.java
* http://www.docjar.com/html/api/org/apache/commons/lang/SystemUtils.java.html
*/
public enum OSType {
MacOS("mac", "darwin"),
Windows("win"),
Linux("nux"),
Other("generic");
private static OSType detectedOS;
private final String[] keys;
private OSType(String... keys) {
this.keys = keys;
}
private boolean match(String osKey) {
for (int i = 0; i < keys.length; i++) {
if (osKey.indexOf(keys[i]) != -1)
return true;
}
return false;
}
public static OSType getOS_Type() {
if (detectedOS == null)
detectedOS = getOperatingSystemType(System.getProperty("os.name", Other.keys[0]).toLowerCase());
return detectedOS;
}
private static OSType getOperatingSystemType(String osKey) {
for (OSType osType : values()) {
if (osType.match(osKey))
return osType;
}
return Other;
}
}
I find that the OS Utils from Swingx does the job.
Just use com.sun.javafx.util.Utils as below.
if ( Utils.isWindows()){
// LOGIC HERE
}
OR USE
boolean isWindows = OSInfo.getOSType().equals(OSInfo.OSType.WINDOWS);
if (isWindows){
// YOUR LOGIC HERE
}
Oct. 2008:
I would recommend to cache it in a static variable:
public static final class OsUtils
{
private static String OS = null;
public static String getOsName()
{
if(OS == null) { OS = System.getProperty("os.name"); }
return OS;
}
public static boolean isWindows()
{
return getOsName().startsWith("Windows");
}
public static boolean isUnix() // and so on
}
That way, every time you ask for the Os, you do not fetch the property more than once in the lifetime of your application.
February 2016: 7+ years later:
There is a bug with Windows 10 (which did not exist at the time of the original answer).
See "Java's “os.name” for Windows 10?"
This code for displaying all information about the system os type,name , java information and so on.
public static void main(String[] args) {
// TODO Auto-generated method stub
Properties pro = System.getProperties();
for(Object obj : pro.keySet()){
System.out.println(" System "+(String)obj+" : "+System.getProperty((String)obj));
}
}
If you're working in a security sensitive environment, then please read this through.
Please refrain from ever trusting a property obtained via the System#getProperty(String) subroutine! Actually, almost every property including os.arch, os.name, and os.version isn't readonly as you'd might expect — instead, they're actually quite the opposite.
First of all, any code with sufficient permission of invoking the System#setProperty(String, String) subroutine can modify the returned literal at will. However, that's not necessarily the primary issue here, as it can be resolved through the use of a so called SecurityManager, as described in greater detail over here.
The actual issue is that any user is able to edit these properties when running the JAR in question (through -Dos.name=, -Dos.arch=, etc.). A possible way to avoid tampering with the application parameters is by querying the RuntimeMXBean as shown here. The following code snippet should provide some insight into how this may be achieved.
RuntimeMXBean runtimeMxBean = ManagementFactory.getRuntimeMXBean();
List<String> arguments = runtimeMxBean.getInputArguments();
for (String argument : arguments) {
if (argument.startsWith("-Dos.name") {
// System.getProperty("os.name") altered
} else if (argument.startsWith("-Dos.arch") {
// System.getProperty("os.arch") altered
}
}
A small example of what you're trying to achieve would probably be a class similar to what's underneath:
import java.util.Locale;
public class OperatingSystem
{
private static String OS = System.getProperty("os.name", "unknown").toLowerCase(Locale.ROOT);
public static boolean isWindows()
{
return OS.contains("win");
}
public static boolean isMac()
{
return OS.contains("mac");
}
public static boolean isUnix()
{
return OS.contains("nux");
}
}
This particular implementation is quite reliable and should be universally applicable. Just copy and paste it into your class of choice.
As indicated in other answers, System.getProperty provides the raw data. However, the Apache Commons Lang component provides a wrapper for java.lang.System with handy properties like SystemUtils.IS_OS_WINDOWS, much like the aforementioned Swingx OS util.
If you're working in a security sensitive environment, then please read this through.
Please refrain from ever trusting a property obtained via the System#getProperty(String) subroutine! Actually, almost every property including os.arch, os.name, and os.version isn't readonly as you'd might expect — instead, they're actually quite the opposite.
First of all, any code with sufficient permission of invoking the System#setProperty(String, String) subroutine can modify the returned literal at will. However, that's not necessarily the primary issue here, as it can be resolved through the use of a so called SecurityManager, as described in greater detail over here.
The actual issue is that any user is able to edit these properties when running the JAR in question (through -Dos.name=, -Dos.arch=, etc.). A possible way to avoid tampering with the application parameters is by querying the RuntimeMXBean as shown here. The following code snippet should provide some insight into how this may be achieved.
RuntimeMXBean runtimeMxBean = ManagementFactory.getRuntimeMXBean();
List<String> arguments = runtimeMxBean.getInputArguments();
for (String argument : arguments) {
if (argument.startsWith("-Dos.name") {
// System.getProperty("os.name") altered
} else if (argument.startsWith("-Dos.arch") {
// System.getProperty("os.arch") altered
}
}
If you're interested in how an open source project does stuff like this, you can check out the Terracotta class (Os.java) that handles this junk here:
And you can see a similar class to handle JVM versions (Vm.java and VmVersion.java) here:
In com.sun.jna.Platform class you can find useful static methods like
Platform.isWindows();
Platform.is64Bit();
Platform.isIntel();
Platform.isARM();
and much more.
If you use Maven just add dependency
<dependency>
<groupId>net.java.dev.jna</groupId>
<artifactId>jna</artifactId>
<version>5.2.0</version>
</dependency>
Otherwise just find jna library jar file (ex. jna-5.2.0.jar) and add it to classpath.
String osName = System.getProperty("os.name");
System.out.println("Operating system " + osName);
Below code shows the values that you can get from System API, these all things you can get through this API.
public class App {
public static void main( String[] args ) {
//Operating system name
System.out.println(System.getProperty("os.name"));
//Operating system version
System.out.println(System.getProperty("os.version"));
//Path separator character used in java.class.path
System.out.println(System.getProperty("path.separator"));
//User working directory
System.out.println(System.getProperty("user.dir"));
//User home directory
System.out.println(System.getProperty("user.home"));
//User account name
System.out.println(System.getProperty("user.name"));
//Operating system architecture
System.out.println(System.getProperty("os.arch"));
//Sequence used by operating system to separate lines in text files
System.out.println(System.getProperty("line.separator"));
System.out.println(System.getProperty("java.version")); //JRE version number
System.out.println(System.getProperty("java.vendor.url")); //JRE vendor URL
System.out.println(System.getProperty("java.vendor")); //JRE vendor name
System.out.println(System.getProperty("java.home")); //Installation directory for Java Runtime Environment (JRE)
System.out.println(System.getProperty("java.class.path"));
System.out.println(System.getProperty("file.separator"));
}
}
Answers:-
Windows 7
6.1
;
C:\Users\user\Documents\workspace-eclipse\JavaExample
C:\Users\user
user
amd64
1.7.0_71
http://java.oracle.com/
Oracle Corporation
C:\Program Files\Java\jre7
C:\Users\user\Documents\workspace-Eclipse\JavaExample\target\classes
\
I find that the OS Utils from Swingx does the job.
The following JavaFX classes have static methods to determine current OS (isWindows(),isLinux()...):
Example:
if (PlatformUtil.isWindows()){
...
}
Below code shows the values that you can get from System API, these all things you can get through this API.
public class App {
public static void main( String[] args ) {
//Operating system name
System.out.println(System.getProperty("os.name"));
//Operating system version
System.out.println(System.getProperty("os.version"));
//Path separator character used in java.class.path
System.out.println(System.getProperty("path.separator"));
//User working directory
System.out.println(System.getProperty("user.dir"));
//User home directory
System.out.println(System.getProperty("user.home"));
//User account name
System.out.println(System.getProperty("user.name"));
//Operating system architecture
System.out.println(System.getProperty("os.arch"));
//Sequence used by operating system to separate lines in text files
System.out.println(System.getProperty("line.separator"));
System.out.println(System.getProperty("java.version")); //JRE version number
System.out.println(System.getProperty("java.vendor.url")); //JRE vendor URL
System.out.println(System.getProperty("java.vendor")); //JRE vendor name
System.out.println(System.getProperty("java.home")); //Installation directory for Java Runtime Environment (JRE)
System.out.println(System.getProperty("java.class.path"));
System.out.println(System.getProperty("file.separator"));
}
}
Answers:-
Windows 7
6.1
;
C:\Users\user\Documents\workspace-eclipse\JavaExample
C:\Users\user
user
amd64
1.7.0_71
http://java.oracle.com/
Oracle Corporation
C:\Program Files\Java\jre7
C:\Users\user\Documents\workspace-Eclipse\JavaExample\target\classes
\
Just use com.sun.javafx.util.Utils as below.
if ( Utils.isWindows()){
// LOGIC HERE
}
OR USE
boolean isWindows = OSInfo.getOSType().equals(OSInfo.OSType.WINDOWS);
if (isWindows){
// YOUR LOGIC HERE
}
A small example of what you're trying to achieve would probably be a class similar to what's underneath:
import java.util.Locale;
public class OperatingSystem
{
private static String OS = System.getProperty("os.name", "unknown").toLowerCase(Locale.ROOT);
public static boolean isWindows()
{
return OS.contains("win");
}
public static boolean isMac()
{
return OS.contains("mac");
}
public static boolean isUnix()
{
return OS.contains("nux");
}
}
This particular implementation is quite reliable and should be universally applicable. Just copy and paste it into your class of choice.
TL;DR
For accessing OS use: System.getProperty("os.name").
But why not create a utility class, make it reusable! And probably much faster on multiple calls. Clean, clear, faster!
Create a Util class for such utility functions. Then create public enums for each operating system type.
public class Util {
public enum OS {
WINDOWS, LINUX, MAC, SOLARIS
};// Operating systems.
private static OS os = null;
public static OS getOS() {
if (os == null) {
String operSys = System.getProperty("os.name").toLowerCase();
if (operSys.contains("win")) {
os = OS.WINDOWS;
} else if (operSys.contains("nix") || operSys.contains("nux")
|| operSys.contains("aix")) {
os = OS.LINUX;
} else if (operSys.contains("mac")) {
os = OS.MAC;
} else if (operSys.contains("sunos")) {
os = OS.SOLARIS;
}
}
return os;
}
}
Now, you can easily invoke class from any class as follows,(P.S. Since we declared os variable as static, it will consume time only once to identify the system type, then it can be used until your application halts. )
switch (Util.getOS()) {
case WINDOWS:
//do windows stuff
break;
case LINUX:
and That is it!
As indicated in other answers, System.getProperty provides the raw data. However, the Apache Commons Lang component provides a wrapper for java.lang.System with handy properties like SystemUtils.IS_OS_WINDOWS, much like the aforementioned Swingx OS util.
In com.sun.jna.Platform class you can find useful static methods like
Platform.isWindows();
Platform.is64Bit();
Platform.isIntel();
Platform.isARM();
and much more.
If you use Maven just add dependency
<dependency>
<groupId>net.java.dev.jna</groupId>
<artifactId>jna</artifactId>
<version>5.2.0</version>
</dependency>
Otherwise just find jna library jar file (ex. jna-5.2.0.jar) and add it to classpath.
The following JavaFX classes have static methods to determine current OS (isWindows(),isLinux()...):
Example:
if (PlatformUtil.isWindows()){
...
}
Try this,simple and easy
System.getProperty("os.name");
System.getProperty("os.version");
System.getProperty("os.arch");
I find that the OS Utils from Swingx does the job.
I think following can give broader coverage in fewer lines
import org.apache.commons.exec.OS;
if (OS.isFamilyWindows()){
//load some property
}
else if (OS.isFamilyUnix()){
//load some other property
}
More details here: https://commons.apache.org/proper/commons-exec/apidocs/org/apache/commons/exec/OS.html
some of the links in the answers above seem to be broken. I have added pointers to current source code in the code below and offer an approach for handling the check with an enum as an answer so that a switch statement can be used when evaluating the result:
OsCheck.OSType ostype=OsCheck.getOperatingSystemType();
switch (ostype) {
case Windows: break;
case MacOS: break;
case Linux: break;
case Other: break;
}
The helper class is:
/**
* helper class to check the operating system this Java VM runs in
*
* please keep the notes below as a pseudo-license
*
* http://stackoverflow.com/questions/228477/how-do-i-programmatically-determine-operating-system-in-java
* compare to http://svn.terracotta.org/svn/tc/dso/tags/2.6.4/code/base/common/src/com/tc/util/runtime/Os.java
* http://www.docjar.com/html/api/org/apache/commons/lang/SystemUtils.java.html
*/
import java.util.Locale;
public static final class OsCheck {
/**
* types of Operating Systems
*/
public enum OSType {
Windows, MacOS, Linux, Other
};
// cached result of OS detection
protected static OSType detectedOS;
/**
* detect the operating system from the os.name System property and cache
* the result
*
* @returns - the operating system detected
*/
public static OSType getOperatingSystemType() {
if (detectedOS == null) {
String OS = System.getProperty("os.name", "generic").toLowerCase(Locale.ENGLISH);
if ((OS.indexOf("mac") >= 0) || (OS.indexOf("darwin") >= 0)) {
detectedOS = OSType.MacOS;
} else if (OS.indexOf("win") >= 0) {
detectedOS = OSType.Windows;
} else if (OS.indexOf("nux") >= 0) {
detectedOS = OSType.Linux;
} else {
detectedOS = OSType.Other;
}
}
return detectedOS;
}
}
Oct. 2008:
I would recommend to cache it in a static variable:
public static final class OsUtils
{
private static String OS = null;
public static String getOsName()
{
if(OS == null) { OS = System.getProperty("os.name"); }
return OS;
}
public static boolean isWindows()
{
return getOsName().startsWith("Windows");
}
public static boolean isUnix() // and so on
}
That way, every time you ask for the Os, you do not fetch the property more than once in the lifetime of your application.
February 2016: 7+ years later:
There is a bug with Windows 10 (which did not exist at the time of the original answer).
See "Java's “os.name” for Windows 10?"
If you're interested in how an open source project does stuff like this, you can check out the Terracotta class (Os.java) that handles this junk here:
And you can see a similar class to handle JVM versions (Vm.java and VmVersion.java) here:
Source: Stackoverflow.com