diff --git a/syslib/utils_os.py b/syslib/utils_os.py
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..b4b2a5c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/syslib/utils_os.py
@@ -0,0 +1,61 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python
+
+r"""
+This file contains utilities associated with the host OS.
+"""
+
+import bmc_ssh_utils
+import var_funcs
+
+
+def get_os_release_info():
+    r"""
+
+    Get os-release info and return it as a dictionary.
+
+    An example of the contents of /etc/os-release:
+
+    NAME="Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server"
+    VERSION="7.5 (Maipo)"
+    ID="rhel"
+    ID_LIKE="fedora"
+    VARIANT="Server"
+    VARIANT_ID="server"
+    VERSION_ID="7.5"
+    PRETTY_NAME="Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server 7.5 Beta (Maipo)"
+    ANSI_COLOR="0;31"
+    CPE_NAME="cpe:/o:redhat:enterprise_linux:7.5:beta:server"
+    HOME_URL="https://www.redhat.com/"
+    BUG_REPORT_URL="https://bugzilla.redhat.com/"
+
+    REDHAT_BUGZILLA_PRODUCT="Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7"
+    REDHAT_BUGZILLA_PRODUCT_VERSION=7.5
+    REDHAT_SUPPORT_PRODUCT="Red Hat Enterprise Linux"
+    REDHAT_SUPPORT_PRODUCT_VERSION="7.5 Beta"
+
+    For the data shown above, this function will return the following
+    dictionary:
+
+    result:
+      [name]:                             Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server
+      [version]:                          7.5 (Maipo)
+      [id]:                               rhel
+      [id_like]:                          fedora
+      [variant]:                          Server
+      [variant_id]:                       server
+      [version_id]:                       7.5
+      [pretty_name]:                      Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server 7.5 Beta (Maipo)
+      [ansi_color]:                       0;31
+      [cpe_name]:                         cpe:/o:redhat:enterprise_linux:7.5:beta:server
+      [home_url]:                         https://www.redhat.com/
+      [bug_report_url]:                   https://bugzilla.redhat.com/
+      [redhat_bugzilla_product]:          Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
+      [redhat_bugzilla_product_version]:  7.5
+      [redhat_support_product]:           Red Hat Enterprise Linux
+      [redhat_support_product_version]:   7.5 Beta
+    """
+
+    stdout, stderr, rc =\
+        bmc_ssh_utils.os_execute_command("cat /etc/os-release")
+
+    return var_funcs.key_value_outbuf_to_dict(stdout, delim="=", strip='"')