utsname/uname in C++

Question

I am writing a program that uses the <sys/utsname.h> header and the name functions to display the operating systems name, version, etc. I have included the header and have called the function, however, I am getting fatal errors stating that the header file is not recognized. Everything I have seen online shows the main.cpp file which I have used as an example for my code. Any help to get this header file properly linked would be of much help!

I am currently running on VS, CLion, and on csegrid.

Ted Lyngmo · Accepted Answer · 2021-02-11T19:04:58.257

I am getting fatal errors stating that the header file is not recognized

You need to install the package which provides that header file (and much more) first.

Ubuntu:

sudo apt install linux-libc-dev

Fedora:

sudo dnf install glibc-headers

^{If you use any other OS, you need to find the correct package using the tools provided with the OS}

Then, if you have everything else in place, this should compile and display the information:

#include <sys/utsname.h>

#include <iostream>

// a small helper to display the content of an utsname struct:
std::ostream& operator<<(std::ostream& os, const utsname& u) {
    return os << "sysname : " << u.sysname << '\n'
              << "nodename: " << u.nodename << '\n'
              << "release : " << u.release << '\n'
              << "version : " << u.version << '\n'
              << "machine : " << u.machine << '\n';
}

int main() {
    utsname result;      // declare the variable to hold the result

    uname(&result);      // call the uname() function to fill the struct

    std::cout << result; // show the result using the helper function
}

Example output from my Ubuntu 20.04 (WSL2):

sysname : Linux
nodename: TED-W10
release : 4.19.104-microsoft-standard
version : #1 SMP Wed Feb 19 06:37:35 UTC 2020
machine : x86_64

utsname/uname in C++

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