Introduction

I am writing this post because the first time I attempted to upgrade a major distribution change, I did it without researching the right way to do it. Needless to say, it did not go well. So, I am putting this together to help those of you willing to “read the instructions”.

First thing to know is that there are different types of distribution upgrades. If you are upgrading within a major distribution (like say ‘Hardy’), then you use the “Minor” release method. However, if you are upgrading from one “Long Term Support” version to another (like ‘Dapper’ to ‘Hardy’), then use the “Major” release method below.

Determining which Release you are running

There are multiple ways to determine which release you are currently running. Here are a few of them (choice one):

1. lsb_release -a
2. more /etc/lsb-release
3. uname -a

NOTE: The last method will not give you the current release name (like ‘Gutsy’) but only the release number (like ’2.6.24-19-server’).

Minor Release Upgrade Method

Use the following steps as a guide to upgrade from one minor release to another:

1. apt-get update
2. apt-get upgrade
3. apt-get dist-upgrade

NOTE: if you are not running as root you will have to use ‘sudo’ (without quotes) before each of the above commands.

Major Release Upgrade Method

Here are some guidelines for upgrading from one major release to another:

1. apt-get update
2. apt-get upgrade
3. apt-get install update-manager-core
4. do-release-upgrade

NOTE: if you are not running as root you will have to use ‘sudo’ (without quotes) before each of the above commands.

Tags: system admin, ubuntu, Upgrading Ubuntu