Ubuntu Upgrade from 18.04 to 20.04 - TUXEDO Computers

Note
Upgrading to a newer version is strongly recommended! Ubuntu 18.04 will only receive updates and new packages until 2023. We recommend a backup of your data and a new installation, e.g. via our automatic reinstallation service WebFAI.

We do not guarantee the functionality after an upgrade, nor can we support you!

The latest version of Ubuntu, 20.04, offers both LTS users and users of the previous version 19.10 the possibility to update Ubuntu and use the latest features. Thanks to the upgrade process it is relatively easy to upgrade either Ubuntu 18.04 to 20.04 (both LTS) or Ubuntu 19.10 to 20.04 LTS Focal Fossa. But beware: In most cases this leads to problems! Therefore we recommend a backup of your data and a new installation!

Start your Ubuntu update

Before you do anything, make sure your system is already up to date. Please also make sure to back up your data manually or using a backup tool! Perform a full Ubuntu update and upgrade with apt.

sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade
sudo apt dist-upgrade

This ensures that the difference between the packages is as small as possible. It will also be the way Canonical has most likely tested the upgrade itself, so it will find the least errors. Before you start upgrading from Ubuntu to 18.04 LTS, you may also want to remove any packages you no longer need:

sudo apt autoremove

The Ubuntu way

Ubuntu has developed its own automatic way of upgrading between versions. This way you can prepare everything and then leave the computer. The rest is done by Ubuntu.

Hint:
Upgrades from 19.10 will only be released a few days after the release of 20.04. Upgrades from 18.04 LTS will only be released a few days after the release 20.04.1 expected for the end of July. There are no offline upgrade options for Ubuntu Desktop and Ubuntu Server.

If you want to go this way, you must first install a package:

sudo apt install update-manager-core

When this is finished, run the Ubuntu upgrade utility.

sudo do-release-upgrade

If you do this too soon, it will tell you that no new version has been found. In this case, add the -d flag at the end of the command at your own risk to force the upgrade. For more information, see "No new version found".

sudo do-release-upgrade -d

Ubuntu will ask you a few questions about how you want to handle the upgrade and then starts upgrading your system.

No new version found

As mentioned above, upgrades from 19.10 will not be activated until a few days after the release of 20.04 and upgrades from 18.04 LTS until a few days after the release of 20.04.1 expected in late July 2020. As a result, your upgrade attempt may lead to the message No new version found while you are trying to update your Ubuntu system with the sudo do-release-upgrade command. In this case, read the following sections.

Updating Ubuntu 18.04 LTS

First, run the sudo do-release-upgrade command. If you receive the message »No new version found«, you have four options:

• The first and recommended approach is easy to maintain. Direct upgrades from Ubuntu 18.04 LTS to Ubuntu 20.04 LTS are not expected to be available by the end of July 2020.

The other three methods may be helpful, but they require some experience and are therefore expressly not recommended by us! If you really want to do this, please do not forget to make a backup of your data!

• Force a direct upgrade with the switch -d. In this case sudo do-release-upgrade -d forces an upgrade from Ubuntu 16.04 LTS to Ubuntu 18.04 LTS. If you receive the message "Upgrades to the development version are only available from the latest supported version", make sure that the default behavior of the release upgrade is set to lts in /etc/update-manager/releaseupgrade..
• Update to 19.10 first by changing the default release upgrade behavior in the /etc/update-manager/release-upgrades to normal. When you are ready, re-execute the sudo do-release-upgrade command. Once your system has been upgraded to Ubuntu 17.10, follow the upgrade procedure from Ubuntu 17.10 to Ubuntu 20.04, while the release upgrade behavior remains set to normal.
• Use the method described below to update your Ubuntu 18.04 system.

Updating Ubuntu 19.10

First run the sudo do-release-upgrade command. If you receive the message »No new version found«, make sure the default release upgrade is set to normal and run the command sudo do-release-upgrade again.

How to update Ubuntu the traditional way

Change your sources

If you have chosen the traditional way, you must change the /etc/apt/sources.list file and replace the name of your previous version with focal. So, when you get to April 23th, replace every instance of Bionic with Focal. If you currently have 19.10, replace eoan with focal.

This process can be automated with the following sed command:

sudo sed -i 's/bionic/focal/g' /etc/apt/sources.list

See in /etc/apt/sources.list.d/. Change all files in it in the same way. If you end up with an error when you try to update Ubuntu, use artful until these repositories are updated.

Ubuntu update and Ubuntu upgrade

Now you can perform the Ubuntu Dist Upgrade. Update the apt sources first. Then run the Ubuntu upgrade.

sudo apt update && sudo apt -y dist-upgrade

The upgrade should take some time, as probably every package on the system will be updated. When the Ubuntu upgrade is complete, reboot the system. When the system is up and running again, you will be running Ubuntu 20.04 LTS Focal Fossa!