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  3. Node.js — Detect if Running on Linux

Node.js — Detect if Running on Linux

In some situations, you need to detect the operating system running the Node.js process. You can do that by using Node.js’ built-in os module.

Node.js Series Overview

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  17. How to Format a Date YYYY-MM-DD in JavaScript or Node.js
  18. Convert a Date to UTC in JavaScript or Node.js (Coming soon)
  19. Get Number of Days in a Month (Coming soon)
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  7. Overview of Promise-Based APIs in Node.js
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  5. Use Numeric Separators for Better Readability
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  8. Check if a Value is a Number
  1. How to Merge Objects
  2. How to Check if an Object is Empty in JavaScript or Node.js
  3. How to CamelCase Keys of an Object in JavaScript or Node.js
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  5. How to Rename a File
  6. Check If a Path Is a Directory
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  12. How to Create a Directory (and Parents If Needed)
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  22. Handling `fs.Stats` Constructor is Deprecated
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  1. Calculate an MD5 Hash
  2. Retrieve the List of Supported Hash Algorithms
  3. Calculate a SHA256 Hash
  4. Calculate a SHA512 Hash
  1. Using the Styletext Utility for Terminal Text Formatting

Check if the Operating System is Linux

The os module in Node.js provides a platform method. This platform method allows you to identify the operating system. It returns the platform name as a string identifier. You can then go ahead and compare the identifier against Linux.

Here’s a sample function determining whether Node.js is running on the Linux platform:

import Os from 'os'

/**
 * Determine whether the Node.js process runs on Linux.
 *
 * @returns {Boolean}
 */
function isLinux () {  
  return Os.platform() === 'linux'
}

At the time of writing this tutorial, possible platform values are:

  • aix
  • android
  • darwin
  • freebsd
  • haiku
  • linux
  • openbsd
  • sunos
  • win32
  • cygwin
  • netbsd

These values are set at compile-time and don’t change during runtime.

That’s it!

Mentioned Resources

Marcus Pöhls

Marcus is a fullstack JS developer. He’s passionate about the hapi framework for Node.js and loves to build web apps and APIs. Creator of Futureflix and the “learn hapi” learning path.

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