Updating the osinfo database on a Linux hypervisor
The osinfo database provides “all the information about an operating system that is required in order to provision and manage it in a virtualized environment.” (libosinfo.org)
In a nutshell, it’s metadata about guest OSes for use by hypervisors. I haven’t poked at it more than this, but I like it when my guest OSes are recognized, there are two that I now use commonly that are not recognized: Windows Server 2025 and AlmaLinux 10.
To update the osinfo database, you can use osinfo-db-import(1) (provided by osinfo-db-tools in AlmaLinux).
If this is run elevated, it updates the database for all users (updates /etc/osinfo). If it is not, it updates the database for only the current user (updates ~/.config/osinfo). You can override this behavior with the --user or --local arguments, or overwrite the system (packaged) osinfo-db with the --system argument.
To update to the latest release for all users (at the time of writing, this does not provide AlmaLinux 10 or Server 2025):
$ sudo osinfo-db-import --latest
To update to the nightly version of the osinfo database for all users:
$ sudo osinfo-db-import --nightly
Alternatively, you can get a new version of the osinfo database from releases.pagure.org/libosinfo and manually import it.
$ wget https://releases.pagure.org/libosinfo/osinfo-db-20250124.tar.xz
--2025-06-07 16:53:13-- https://releases.pagure.org/libosinfo/osinfo-db-20250124.tar.xz
Resolving releases.pagure.org (releases.pagure.org)... 8.43.85.76, 2620:52:3:1:dead:beef:cafe:fed8
Connecting to releases.pagure.org (releases.pagure.org)|8.43.85.76|:443... connected.
HTTP request sent, awaiting response... 200 OK
Length: 159540 (156K) [application/x-xz]
Saving to: ‘osinfo-db-20250124.tar.xz’
osinfo-db-20250124.tar.xz 100%[======================================================>] 155.80K --.-KB/s in 0.05s
2025-06-07 16:53:14 (2.78 MB/s) - ‘osinfo-db-20250124.tar.xz’ saved [159540/159540]
$ sudo osinfo-db-import --local osinfo-db-20250124.tar.xz
To verify your changes, you can use osinfo-query to query the database for recognized operating systems.
wporter@c300:~$ osinfo-query os | grep -i alma
almalinux8 | AlmaLinux 8 | 8 | http://almalinux.org/almalinux/8
almalinux9 | AlmaLinux 9 | 9 | http://almalinux.org/almalinux/9
wporter@c300:~$ sudo osinfo-db-import --latest
wporter@c300:~$ osinfo-query os | grep -i alma
almalinux8 | AlmaLinux 8 | 8 | http://almalinux.org/almalinux/8
almalinux9 | AlmaLinux 9 | 9 | http://almalinux.org/almalinux/9
wporter@c300:~$ sudo osinfo-db-import --nightly
wporter@c300:~$ osinfo-query os | grep -i alma
almalinux-kitten10 | AlmaLinux Kitten 10 | 10 | http://almalinux.org/almalinux-kitten/10
almalinux10 | AlmaLinux 10 | 10 | http://almalinux.org/almalinux/10
almalinux8 | AlmaLinux 8 | 8 | http://almalinux.org/almalinux/8
almalinux9 | AlmaLinux 9 | 9 | http://almalinux.org/almalinux/9
That was an easy one! Yay!
Here’s a demo of what running osinfo-db-import elevated (or not) does:
[wporter@3060t0 ~]$ sudo rm -rf /etc/osinfo; rm -rf ~/.config/osinfo
[wporter@3060t0 ~]$ osinfo-query os | grep -i 'Windows Server 2025'
[wporter@3060t0 ~]$ # nada
[wporter@3060t0 ~]$ osinfo-query os | grep -i 'Windows Server'
win2k12 | Microsoft Windows Server 2012 | 6.3 | http://microsoft.com/win/2k12
win2k12r2 | Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2 | 6.3 | http://microsoft.com/win/2k12r2
win2k16 | Microsoft Windows Server 2016 | 10.0 | http://microsoft.com/win/2k16
win2k19 | Microsoft Windows Server 2019 | 10.0 | http://microsoft.com/win/2k19
win2k22 | Microsoft Windows Server 2022 | 10.0 | http://microsoft.com/win/2k22
win2k3 | Microsoft Windows Server 2003 | 5.2 | http://microsoft.com/win/2k3
win2k3r2 | Microsoft Windows Server 2003 R2 | 5.2 | http://microsoft.com/win/2k3r2
win2k8 | Microsoft Windows Server 2008 | 6.0 | http://microsoft.com/win/2k8
win2k8r2 | Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 | 6.1 | http://microsoft.com/win/2k8r2
[wporter@3060t0 ~]$ # this is the packaged osinfo-db (from AlmaLinux 10.0) - only up to 22
[wporter@3060t0 ~]$ osinfo-db-import --nightly # update my personal ~/.config/osinfo db
[wporter@3060t0 ~]$ osinfo-query os | grep -i 'Windows Server 2025'
win2k25 | Microsoft Windows Server 2025 | 10.0 | http://microsoft.com/win/2k25
[wporter@3060t0 ~]$ su - temp
Password:
Last login: Sat Jun 7 16:57:43 EDT 2025 on pts/1
[temp@3060t0 ~]$ osinfo-query os | grep -i 'Windows Server 2025'
[temp@3060t0 ~]$ # nada
[temp@3060t0 ~]$ exit
logout
[wporter@3060t0 ~]$ rm -rf ~/.config/osinfo # clear local config
[wporter@3060t0 ~]$ osinfo-query os | grep -i 'Windows Server 2025'
[wporter@3060t0 ~]$ # nada; back to osinfo packaged with Alma 10.0
[wporter@3060t0 ~]$ # import an update to the system database at /etc/osinfo
[wporter@3060t0 ~]$ sudo osinfo-db-import --nightly
[wporter@3060t0 ~]$ su - temp
Password:
Last login: Sat Jun 7 17:04:11 EDT 2025 on pts/1
[temp@3060t0 ~]$ osinfo-query os | grep -i 'Windows Server 2025'
win2k25 | Microsoft Windows Server 2025 | 10.0 | http://microsoft.com/win/2k25
[temp@3060t0 ~]$ # updated for all users
[temp@3060t0 ~]$ exit
logout