version

Reference for linuxguard-agent --version and the build-time metadata (version string, git commit, build timestamp) the agent reports.

Synopsis

Print the agent's build-time version string, git commit hash, and build timestamp, then exit. Used for support-ticket attachments, CI artefact identification, and runtime drift detection ("is the binary on disk the version I expect?"). The version surface is implemented by urfave/cli/v2's built-in --version and -v flags — there is no linuxguard-agent version subcommand; the version is a top-level flag on the binary.

linuxguard-agent --version

Note: support-bundle collect embeds the same version string in BUNDLE-MANIFEST.json and system.json (via supportbundle.SetAgentVersion(version) called from main). When triaging a bundle, prefer the manifest's agent_version over running --version on a current binary — the binary may have been upgraded between the bundle collection time and the triage time.

How the version string is composed

The string printed by --version is composed from three ldflags-injected build-time variables:

<version> (commit: <git_commit>, built: <build_time>)

Component	Source	Set by
<version>	semantic version tag (e.g., v3.0.0) or dev for local builds	-ldflags="-X main.version=..." at build time
<git_commit>	short or full git commit SHA the build was produced from	-ldflags="-X main.gitCommit=..." at build time
<build_time>	UTC RFC3339 timestamp of the build	-ldflags="-X main.buildTime=..." at build time

The string is assembled at startup via fmt.Sprintf("%s (commit: %s, built: %s)", version, gitCommit, buildTime). Local go build invocations that omit the ldflags produce dev (commit: , built: ) — useful for distinguishing a developer build from a packaged release on disk.

Flags

--version (and its short form -v) is the only flag in scope. urfave/cli/v2 provides both forms by default:

Flag	Description
--version	Print the version string and exit 0.
-v	Short alias for --version.
--help, -h	Print the top-level help including the agent's command catalogue.

Environment

--version reads no environment variables. The version string is fully baked into the binary at build time.

Signals

--version is a one-shot CLI invocation — it does not install signal handlers via signal.Notify. The command returns immediately after printing the string.

Exit codes

Code	Meaning
0	Always. The version string was printed to stdout. urfave/cli/v2's built-in --version cannot fail at runtime — the string is a compile-time constant assembled in main.

Examples

Inspect a packaged release

linuxguard-agent --version

Stdout:

LinuxGuard Agent version v3.0.0 (commit: 7a8b9c1, built: 2026-05-15T08:23:11Z)

The leading LinuxGuard Agent version is urfave/cli/v2's default prefix; the rest is the agent-supplied string. Stable channel packages include a non-empty git commit and build timestamp.

Inspect a developer build

go build -o /tmp/linuxguard-agent .
/tmp/linuxguard-agent --version

Stdout:

LinuxGuard Agent version dev (commit: , built: )

The empty commit and built fields identify the binary as a local build that did not pass through the release ldflags. Treat such binaries as test artefacts; do NOT deploy them to production hosts.

Capture the version for a support ticket

linuxguard-agent --version > /tmp/lg-version.txt
sudo linuxguard-agent support-bundle collect --out /tmp/lg-bundle.tar.zst

Attach both files to the support ticket. The bundle's BUNDLE-MANIFEST.json and system.json already embed the version, but the standalone --version output captures the exact build of the binary running at ticket-open time (the bundle may be older).

Distinguish two binaries on disk

/usr/bin/linuxguard-agent --version
/opt/linuxguard/bin/linuxguard-agent --version

Useful when an unpackaged build was dropped alongside the system-managed package — the version string identifies which binary is which without inspecting file timestamps.

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Related: start | show-config | support-bundle | CLI Reference