How to find SQLITE database file version

Question

I have few sqlite database files. I want to know the database file version i.e if the database was created with sqlite2 or sqlite3 or any other main/sub version (not the sql

Answer 1

You can get version number of a database file by the Magic Header String:

• sqlite2 ==> first 48 bytes
• sqlite3 ==> first 16 bytes

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$ head -c 48 file2.db
** This file contains an SQLite 2.1 database **

$ head -c 16 file3.db
SQLite format 3

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The easier way is using the file command:

$ file file2.db
file2.db: SQLite 2.x database

$ file file3.db
file3.db: SQLite 3.x database