How to Upgrade to Ubuntu 22.04

How to upgrade to Ubuntu 22.04 from Ubuntu 20.10 or Ubuntu 20.04

You can upgrade Ubuntu 22.04 directly from version 20.04 or 21.10 to get a stable system with five years of security updates. You need an administrator account with sudo permissions to run the upgrade and make system changes safely.

You need administrative privileges to run the upgrade. Log in as the root user or use an account with sudo access.

How to Back up Ubuntu

That way, you can restore it if something unexpected happens during the upgrade.

How to back up Ubuntu

How to update Ubuntu

You need to update Ubuntu and install the 💿 newest versions of your current software packages before starting the upgrade to prevent errors. Check for any packages held back from updating by running sudo apt-mark showhold in your terminal.

If packages are held back, you may want to release them to upgrade to the latest version. First, run the commands below to see any packages currently being held back. To release a hold, use the commands that follow. Remember to replace 'package_name' with the actual name of the package. After that, update all your currently installed packages with the commands below. Finally, run the commands to complete an upgrade and remove any packages that might be preventing your machine from upgrading.

sudo apt-mark showhold

To release the hold, run the commands below. Remember to replace package_name with the name of the package being held back.

sudo apt-mark unhold package_name

Next, run the commands below to update all your currently installed packages.

sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade

Next, run the commands below to complete an upgrade and remove packages that might be preventing your machine from upgrading.

The update-manager-core tool starts the actual upgrade to Ubuntu 22.04 after your system updates and restarts. This tool usually installs by default, but you can install update-manager-core with `sudo apt install update-manager-core` if the tool is missing. Installing update-manager-core prepares your system for the main upgrade process.

Ubuntu includes an upgrade package called "update-manager-core," which is installed by default on both desktop and server versions. If it's not already installed, you can run the commands below.

sudo apt install update-manager-core

Open the /etc/update-manager/release-upgrades file and verify the default upgrade policy reads Prompt=normal or Prompt=lts.

If your release upgrade option is set to 'lts' and you encounter issues, change it to 'normal' and try again. This ensures your system checks for the standard Ubuntu 22.04 upgrade pathway.

Finally, run the commands below to begin the upgrade process.

sudo do-release-upgrade

During the upgrade, you'll be prompted to choose between keeping your existing configuration file or installing the package maintainer's version.

You can safely type Y for Yes if you haven't made many custom configurations.

The Ubuntu 22.04 upgrade process requires patience. Once the installation of 22.04 is finished, your computer will prompt you to reboot. This reboot is necessary for the new Ubuntu 22.04 system to start correctly.

After rebooting, run the commands below to confirm that your Ubuntu system has been upgraded.

lsb_release -a

You should see something similar to the lines below:

No LSB modules are available.
Distributor ID:	Ubuntu
Description:	Ubuntu 22.04 LTS
Release:	22.04
Codename:	jammy

Related post:

How to upgrade the Ubuntu desktop

Conclusion:

• Upgrading to Ubuntu 22.04 LTS (Jammy Jellyfish) from Ubuntu 20.04 or 21.10 is straightforward and well-supported.
• It's crucial to back up your current system before performing the upgrade to ensure you can restore it if anything unexpected occurs.
• Updating the currently installed packages and releasing any held-back packages is necessary before upgrading.
• Once the system is updated, installing the update-manager-core package and adjusting the upgrade policy will allow you to start the upgrade process with the sudo do-release-upgrade command.
• During the upgrade, you may be prompted to confirm certain actions, and after completion, it's essential to reboot and verify the Ubuntu version to ensure a successful upgrade.