Upgrading from Ubuntu 23.10 to Ubuntu 24.04 LTS will be simple and will ensure that your system has all the recent features, security patches, and performance improvements. The steps outlined here detail how to do this upgrade seamlessly. It will involve preparation of your system, updating your current packages, and running the upgrade command. Let’s dive into the specifics.
1. Preparing Your System
Before upgrading, take a backup of your important data. The upgrade process is generally safe, but taking a backup is always a good precautionary measure in case of unexpected problems.
Backup Your Data
You can use applications such as rsync to backup your home directory:
rsync -a --progress /home/your_username/ /path/to/backup/location/Replace your_username with your real username and /path/to/backup/location/ with the desired path to where you want to back up your files.
Make Sure System is Up-to-date
It is recommended to upgrade to a fully upgraded system. Open a terminal and run:
sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade -y
sudo apt dist-upgrade -y
sudo apt autoremove -yThis will ensure that all of your packages are up-to-date, which reduces the chance of conflicts when upgrading.
2. Checking for a New Release
Ubuntu has a native utility for managing upgrades. The command to upgrade to the latest release is do-release-upgrade. First, make sure that your system is set to look for LTS releases.
Configure Release Upgrades
Open the release upgrade configuration file:
sudo nano /etc/update-manager/release-upgradesMake sure the Prompt line says lts:
Prompt=ltsSave and quit the editor. To save and quit the editor use the shortcuts Ctrl+O, to save and Ctrl+X to exit.
3. Upgrade to Ubuntu 24.04 LTS
Now that your system is ready, you can launch the upgrade process.
Spawning Upgrade Process
Execute the following in your terminal to spawn the upgrade:
sudo do-release-upgradeThen follow the on-screen instructions. The tool will check if a new release is available and ask for your confirmation before proceeding. It will then fetch and install the required packages.
Issues That Could Happen During Upgrade
You will be offered to resolve package conflicts and configuration file changes. You can pretty safely accept the default proposed by the tool. But make sure you read the proposals to understand what changes are performed.
4. Post-Upgrade Tasks
Once the upgrade is complete, you should go through some post-upgrade tasks to ensure things go smoothly.
Reboot Your System
Once this process is complete, reboot your system to load the upgraded kernel along with other changes:
sudo rebootVerify the Upgrade
Once the reboot is complete, verify that the operating system has indeed been upgraded:
lsb_release -aThis should reflect that it is now Ubuntu 24.04 LTS.
5. Troubleshooting
Some common problems you may face during or after the upgrade, and ways you can work towards fixing those.
Log Files
Check the log files for any errors that might have occurred during the upgrade process with
less /var/log/dist-upgrade/main.log
less /var/log/dist-upgrade/apt.logFix Broken Packages
If some of the packages are broken, you can try running the next command to fix them.
sudo apt --fix-broken installConclusion
The above steps mean this should be a pretty smooth upgrade from Ubuntu 23.10 to Ubuntu 24.04 LTS. Preparing your system, making sure all of the current packages are upgraded, then using the do-release-upgrade tool will go a long way in allowing you to progress seamlessly to the latest Long-Term Support version. Therefore, remember to back up your data and make the upgrade if there was something that needed as quick of an action to resolve. Enjoy Ubuntu 24.04 LTS!