# `platform` — Access to underlying platform’s identifying data

Source code: Lib/platform.py

Note

Specific platforms listed alphabetically, with Linux included in the Unix section.

## Cross platform

platform.architecture(executable=sys.executable, bits='', linkage='')

  Queries the given executable (defaults to the Python interpreter binary) for various architecture information.

  Returns a tuple `(bits, linkage)` which contain information about the bit architecture and the linkage format used for the executable. Both values are returned as strings.

  Values that cannot be determined are returned as given by the parameter presets. If bits is given as `''`, the `sizeof(pointer)` (or `sizeof(long)` on Python version < 1.5.2) is used as indicator for the supported pointer size.

  The function relies on the system’s `file` command to do the actual work. This is available on most if not all Unix platforms and some non-Unix platforms and then only if the executable points to the Python interpreter. Reasonable defaults are used when the above needs are not met.

  Note

  On macOS (and perhaps other platforms), executable files may be universal files containing multiple architectures.

  To get at the “64-bitness” of the current interpreter, it is more reliable to query the `sys.maxsize` attribute:

      is_64bits = sys.maxsize > 2**32

platform.machine()

  Returns the machine type, e.g. `'AMD64'`. An empty string is returned if the value cannot be determined.

  The output is platform-dependent and may differ in casing and naming conventions.

platform.node()

  Returns the computer’s network name (may not be fully qualified!). An empty string is returned if the value cannot be determined.

platform.platform(aliased=False, terse=False)

  Returns a single string identifying the underlying platform with as much useful information as possible.

  The output is intended to be human readable rather than machine parseable. It may look different on different platforms and this is intended.

  If aliased is true, the function will use aliases for various platforms that report system names which differ from their common names, for example SunOS will be reported as Solaris. The `system_alias()` function is used to implement this.

  Setting terse to true causes the function to return only the absolute minimum information needed to identify the platform.

  Changed in version 3.8: On macOS, the function now uses `mac_ver()`, if it returns a non-empty release string, to get the macOS version rather than the darwin version.

platform.processor()

  Returns the (real) processor name, e.g. `'amdk6'`.

  An empty string is returned if the value cannot be determined. Note that many platforms do not provide this information or simply return the same value as for `machine()`. NetBSD does this.

platform.python_build()

  Returns a tuple `(buildno, builddate)` stating the Python build number and date as strings.

platform.python_compiler()

  Returns a string identifying the compiler used for compiling Python.

platform.python_branch()

  Returns a string identifying the Python implementation SCM branch.

platform.python_implementation()

  Returns a string identifying the Python implementation. Possible return values are: ‘CPython’, ‘IronPython’, ‘Jython’, ‘PyPy’.

platform.python_revision()

  Returns a string identifying the Python implementation SCM revision.

platform.python_version()

  Returns the Python version as string `'major.minor.patchlevel'`.

  Note that unlike the Python `sys.version`, the returned value will always include the patchlevel (it defaults to 0).

platform.python_version_tuple()

  Returns the Python version as tuple `(major, minor, patchlevel)` of strings.

  Note that unlike the Python `sys.version`, the returned value will always include the patchlevel (it defaults to `'0'`).

platform.release()

  Returns the system’s release, e.g. `'2.2.0'` or `'NT'`. An empty string is returned if the value cannot be determined.

platform.system()

  Returns the system/OS name, such as `'Linux'`, `'Darwin'`, `'Java'`, `'Windows'`. An empty string is returned if the value cannot be determined.

  On iOS and Android, this returns the user-facing OS name (i.e, `'iOS`, `'iPadOS'` or `'Android'`). To obtain the kernel name (`'Darwin'` or `'Linux'`), use `os.uname()`.

platform.system_alias(system, release, version)

  Returns `(system, release, version)` aliased to common marketing names used for some systems. It also does some reordering of the information in some cases where it would otherwise cause confusion.

platform.version()

  Returns the system’s release version, e.g. `'#3 on degas'`. An empty string is returned if the value cannot be determined.

  On iOS and Android, this is the user-facing OS version. To obtain the Darwin or Linux kernel version, use `os.uname()`.

platform.uname()

  Fairly portable uname interface. Returns a `namedtuple()` containing six attributes: `system`, `node`, `release`, `version`, `machine`, and `processor`.

  `processor` is resolved late, on demand.

  Note: the first two attribute names differ from the names presented by `os.uname()`, where they are named `sysname` and `nodename`.

  Entries which cannot be determined are set to `''`.

  Changed in version 3.3: Result changed from a tuple to a `namedtuple()`.

  Changed in version 3.9: `processor` is resolved late instead of immediately.

platform.invalidate_caches()

  Clear out the internal cache of information, such as the `uname()`. This is typically useful when the platform’s `node()` is changed by an external process and one needs to retrieve the updated value.

  Added in version 3.14.

## Windows platform

platform.win32_ver(release='', version='', csd='', ptype='')

  Get additional version information from the Windows Registry and return a tuple `(release, version, csd, ptype)` referring to OS release, version number, CSD level (service pack) and OS type (multi/single processor). Values which cannot be determined are set to the defaults given as parameters (which all default to an empty string).

  As a hint: ptype is `'Uniprocessor Free'` on single processor NT machines and `'Multiprocessor Free'` on multi processor machines. The `'Free'` refers to the OS version being free of debugging code. It could also state `'Checked'` which means the OS version uses debugging code, i.e. code that checks arguments, ranges, etc.

platform.win32_edition()

  Returns a string representing the current Windows edition, or `None` if the value cannot be determined. Possible values include but are not limited to `'Enterprise'`, `'IoTUAP'`, `'ServerStandard'`, and `'nanoserver'`.

  Added in version 3.8.

platform.win32_is_iot()

  Return `True` if the Windows edition returned by `win32_edition()` is recognized as an IoT edition.

  Added in version 3.8.

## macOS platform

platform.mac_ver(release='', versioninfo=('', '', ''), machine='')

  Get macOS version information and return it as tuple `(release, versioninfo, machine)` with versioninfo being a tuple `(version, dev_stage, non_release_version)`.

  Entries which cannot be determined are set to `''`. All tuple entries are strings.

## iOS platform

platform.ios_ver(system='', release='', model='', is_simulator=False)

  Get iOS version information and return it as a `namedtuple()` with the following attributes:

  - `system` is the OS name; either `'iOS'` or `'iPadOS'`.

  - `release` is the iOS version number as a string (e.g., `'17.2'`).

  - `model` is the device model identifier; this will be a string like `'iPhone13,2'` for a physical device, or `'iPhone'` on a simulator.

  - `is_simulator` is a boolean describing if the app is running on a simulator or a physical device.

  Entries which cannot be determined are set to the defaults given as parameters.

## Unix platforms

platform.libc_ver(executable=sys.executable, lib='', version='', chunksize=16384)

  Tries to determine the libc version against which the file executable (defaults to the Python interpreter) is linked. Returns a tuple of strings `(lib, version)` which default to the given parameters in case the lookup fails.

  Note that this function has intimate knowledge of how different libc versions add symbols to the executable is probably only usable for executables compiled using gcc.

  The file is read and scanned in chunks of chunksize bytes.

## Linux platforms

platform.freedesktop_os_release()

  Get operating system identification from `os-release` file and return it as a dict. The `os-release` file is a freedesktop.org standard and is available in most Linux distributions. A noticeable exception is Android and Android-based distributions.

  Raises `OSError` or subclass when neither `/etc/os-release` nor `/usr/lib/os-release` can be read.

  On success, the function returns a dictionary where keys and values are strings. Values have their special characters like `"` and `$` unquoted. The fields `NAME`, `ID`, and `PRETTY_NAME` are always defined according to the standard. All other fields are optional. Vendors may include additional fields.

  Note that fields like `NAME`, `VERSION`, and `VARIANT` are strings suitable for presentation to users. Programs should use fields like `ID`, `ID_LIKE`, `VERSION_ID`, or `VARIANT_ID` to identify Linux distributions.

  Example:

      def get_like_distro():
          info = platform.freedesktop_os_release()
          ids = [info["ID"]]
          if "ID_LIKE" in info:
              # ids are space separated and ordered by precedence
              ids.extend(info["ID_LIKE"].split())
          return ids

  Added in version 3.10.

## Android platform

platform.android_ver(release='', api_level=0, manufacturer='', model='', device='', is_emulator=False)

  Get Android device information. Returns a `namedtuple()` with the following attributes. Values which cannot be determined are set to the defaults given as parameters.

  - `release` - Android version, as a string (e.g. `"14"`).

  - `api_level` - API level of the running device, as an integer (e.g. `34` for Android 14). To get the API level which Python was built against, see `sys.getandroidapilevel()`.

  - `manufacturer` - Manufacturer name.

  - `model` - Model name – typically the marketing name or model number.

  - `device` - Device name – typically the model number or a codename.

  - `is_emulator` - `True` if the device is an emulator; `False` if it’s a physical device.

  Google maintains a list of known model and device names.

  Added in version 3.13.

## Command-line usage

`platform` can also be invoked directly using the `-m` switch of the interpreter:

    python -m platform [--terse] [--nonaliased] [{nonaliased,terse} ...]

The following options are accepted:

--terse

  Print terse information about the platform. This is equivalent to calling `platform.platform()` with the terse argument set to `True`.

--nonaliased

  Print platform information without system/OS name aliasing. This is equivalent to calling `platform.platform()` with the aliased argument set to `True`.

You can also pass one or more positional arguments (`terse`, `nonaliased`) to explicitly control the output format. These behave similarly to their corresponding options.