Upgrade Ubuntu 20.04 to 22.04: On the 21st of April, 2022 Ubuntu 22.04 LTS was released. Installing it now and getting support until July 2027 is pretty cool. It comes with 5 years of app and security updates!
The tutorial will help you to understand the process of upgrading Old Ubuntu to Ubuntu 22.04 in easy steps. Queue jump is impossible without a fresh install, so this is annoying but necessary.
The new Ubuntu 22.04 LTS version requires the following:
- A working high-speed internet connection
- A fully-updated 64-bit Ubuntu 20.04 LTS or Ubuntu 21.10 LTS
Before we start upgrading Ubuntu 20.04 to 22.04, make sure that you have a backup of all important files and databases. Also, make sure you have at least 30 GB of free disk space and a fully charged laptop.
Upgrading from Ubuntu 20.04 LTS
Now that Ubuntu 22.04 has been released, you’d like to upgrade. You’re told there are no new releases available when you go to check for an update, as shown in the screenshot below.
upgrade Ubuntu 20.04 to 22.04
Why is this happening?
The upgrade to Ubuntu 22.04 will not be notified to users of Ubuntu 20.04 LTS until late July or August 2022. The first point release in the Jammy cycle should be out at this time. An LTS, after all, is all about maximizing stability. Standard practice calls for this very short delay.
Until the first point release, you can upgrade from Ubuntu 20.04 to Ubuntu 22.04, but you’ll have to go the long way around: upgrade to Ubuntu 21.10, and then upgrade that to 22.04.
The first step is to tell this version of Ubuntu that it’s okay to see non-LTS versions:
- First Open Software & Updates tool
- Then click the “Updates” tab
- After that Change “Notify me of a new Ubuntu version” to “For any new version”
Start a new Terminal window (or ctrl + t) and type the following command:
sudo do-release-upgradeWhat exactly does it do? A newer release is checked, all third-party PPAs are disabled, and the system’s apt list is rewritten to point to the impish branches (from which the package updates required for the upgrade are retrieved).
It is important that you do not press any other buttons on your keyboard after issuing the command. The program should calculate the changes after you issue the command.
You should proceed as directed as long as your internet connection is reliable. After this point, if you do not choose to proceed with the upgrade, you MUST manually reenable the focal (20.04) repositories. There is no automatic process for this.
Upgrades are largely automated. Besides waiting (and watching the command line text fly by in the terminal), you won’t need to do anything. It’s best not to abandon your system completely as, config-dependent, you might be asked for authentication of a package overwrite at some point (and it won’t proceed until you authorize it).
You can enjoy the refreshed Impish experience after the upgrade has been completed. But the process is not completed yet cause you’ll need to upgrade to Jammy Jellyfish next.
How to upgrade to Ubuntu 22.04 LTS from Old Ubuntu 20.04 LTS using a GUI method
Before typing the following commands, make sure all updates have been applied. In other words
$ sudo apt update
$ sudo apt upgrade
$ sudo reboot (If a kernel is installed)Type the following command to start the GUI update wizard
$ sudo update-manager -c -dThen you will see the release note:
The wizard will now prepare your system for the upgrade
New versions of Firefox are now only available as a snap package in Ubuntu 22.04 LTS. Be sure to close all Firefox tabs and windows before allowing the installer to do the transition for you. During such an update, you may receive an error message. Click on the wait button instead of cancelling the update. It is best to let the installation process run its course.
If a personalised config file is present, you may be prompted to replace or keep it. As an example (you can either keep it or replace it according to your requirements
Our final stages of upgrading have now reached, and you will be able to choose whether to keep or remove any obsolete packages. As outdated packages are not updated with new security patches, I chose to remove them.
However, you might want to keep them in order to maintain compatibility with older apps in the future but you should be careful with this option and click Details to see the list of packages.
Now you just have to restart the system to complete the Ubuntu GUI upgrade.
Upgrading from Ubuntu 21.10
It is enough to wait for your system to notify you that it is available, if it is available after April 21, 2022, for upgrading Ubuntu 21.10 to Ubuntu 22.04. When you install all (yes, all) updates available, the Software Updater tool will then inform you that “Ubuntu 22.04 LTS is now available (you already have 21.10)”.
I am sure you can figure out the rest of it by clicking the ‘Upgrade…’ button in this dialog box.
You can also upgrade your installation to Ubuntu 22.04 from Ubuntu 21.10 from the command line instead. Just run the following command:
$ sudo do-release-upgradeThis command will check if there is any new version available to upgrade and it will also disable all third-party PPAs, and it will also rewrite your system’s apt list to point to jammy development branches where it will fetch the updated packages required for your upgrade.
After you have issued the command, do not press any other button(s). your internet connection appears to be stable, follow the instructions.
You will need to manually enable the Impish (21.10) repos if you decide to decline the upgrade when prompted to do so. This will not be done automatically.
There is one thing to keep in mind though, don’t abandon your system altogether, because depending on your configuration, you may be asked to select Y or N in order to allow the odd overwriting of a package during the upgrade process (and it won’t start until it has been approved).
If you are prompted to restart your system after you have completed this, you will be able to experience the refreshed Jammy Jellyfish experience for yourself.
Summing up
In this tutorial, you learned how to upgrade Ubuntu 20.04 to 22.04 and from Ubuntu 21.10 to 22.04.
Do check the official Ubuntu release notes too for more information on version 22.04.
