Checking Installed Software Versions on Linux Servers

Sounds like you’re dealing with quite a bit of hassle there! Checking versions on multiple Linux servers can definitely become a tedious task. Here’s a way to make it a bit easier.

Using Ansible

If you’re open to trying out some new tools, Ansible is pretty straightforward for this kind of task. You can write a simple playbook to check the version of a package on all your servers at once. Here’s a basic outline of how you can do that:

---
- name: Check software version
  hosts: all
  tasks:
    - name: Get Apache version
      command: apache2 -v
      register: apache_version
      ignore_errors: yes
    
    - name: Get Python version
      command: python --version
      register: python_version
      ignore_errors: yes
    
    - name: Display versions
      debug:
        msg: "Apache Version: {{ apache_version.stdout }}, Python Version: {{ python_version.stdout }}"

You’ll need to install Ansible and have your servers set up in an inventory file. It will run the commands across all hosts you specify, so you don’t have to SSH into each one manually.

Using a Simple Bash Script

If you prefer something a bit simpler, you can also use a bash script to loop through your servers:

#!/bin/bash

SERVERS=("server1" "server2" "server3") # Add your servers here

for SERVER in "${SERVERS[@]}"; do
    echo "Checking $SERVER"
    ssh $SERVER "apache2 -v || httpd -v"  # Check for Apache on different distros
    ssh $SERVER "python --version || python3 --version"  # Check for Python
done

This script uses an array to hold your server names and tries to SSH into each one to get the version info. It also attempts both commands for Apache since it can vary by distro.

Cross-Distribution Command Considerations

Unfortunately, there isn’t a one-size-fits-all command for every Linux distribution. You’ll often have to check for slight variations in commands (like `httpd -v` for CentOS and `apache2 -v` for Ubuntu). However, the scripts above should help you cover most of it!

Don’t forget, the more you use these tools and scripts, the better you’ll get at managing them. Good luck, and I hope you find this helpful!