Detailed explanation of php_uname() parameters: What do a, s, r, v, and m represent?

php_uname() is a function in PHP that obtains operating system-related information. It returns a string containing the name, version of the operating system, and other related information. Different operating system information can be obtained by passing different parameters to the function. There are 5 types of parameters received by the php_uname() function, namely: a , s , r , v and m , and the functions of each parameter are different.

Below we will explain these parameters and their role in PHP.

1. a parameter: Return all operating system information

If you pass a as parameter, the php_uname() function will return the full information of the operating system. This information includes the operating system name, version, kernel version, machine architecture, and host name.

For example:

 echo php_uname('a');

Output example:

 Linux server.example.com 4.15.0-45-generic #48-Ubuntu SMP Wed Apr 18 08:32:18 UTC 2025 x86_64

This will return information such as the name of the operating system (such as Linux ), the host name (such as server.example.com ), the kernel version number, the system architecture (such as x86_64 ), and so on.

2. s parameter: Return the operating system name

If the s parameter is passed, php_uname() will only return the name of the operating system. For example:

 echo php_uname('s');

Output example:

 Linux

This will only return the name of the operating system, such as Linux or Windows NT .

3. r parameter: Return to the release version of the operating system

Pass the r parameter, the php_uname() function will return the published version of the operating system. For example:

 echo php_uname('r');

Output example:

 4.15.0-45-generic

This is the kernel version number of the operating system.

4. v Parameters: Return to the version of the operating system

If the v parameter is passed, php_uname() will return the specific version information of the operating system. This information includes the compiled version of the kernel, timestamp, etc.

For example:

 echo php_uname('v');

Output example:

 #48-Ubuntu SMP Wed Apr 18 08:32:18 UTC 2025

This output returns details of the operating system version, such as the kernel's compile date and time.

5. m parameter: Return to machine architecture type

Finally, when passing the m parameter, php_uname() returns the machine architecture type. Common return values ​​include x86_64 (64-bit architecture), i686 (32-bit architecture), etc.

For example:

 echo php_uname('m');

Output example:

 x86_64

This output shows the machine architecture type, usually 32-bit or 64-bit.

Summarize

• a : Returns the complete operating system information.

• s : Returns the name of the operating system.

• r : Returns the kernel version of the operating system.

• v : Returns the version of the operating system.

• m : Returns the machine architecture type.

Use these parameters to help developers obtain the operating system and architecture information of the running server, so as to make more appropriate judgments and optimizations during the development process.