The other day I thought I’d give the Ubuntu 6.06 LTS to 8.04 LTS direct upgrade path a try on my Ubuntu 6.06 server. It ran smoothly (over ssh no less), until I ran into one bug at the end. I reported it, with a reply back the next day. Two days later it has been fixed and I tried an upgrade again. I’m happy to say that the direct upgrade path worked perfectly on a fresh install of Ubuntu 6.06 Server. Here is how I did it:
Ubuntu 6.06 to Ubuntu 8.04 Upgrade (Server)
I verified that my current install was completely up to date:
sudo aptitude update
sudo aptitude upgrade
sudo aptitude dist-upgrade
Also, to be thorough, this is what my sources.list looked like (each ‘deb’ entry should be one single line):
deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu dapper main restricted universe multiverse
deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu dapper-updates main restricted universe multiverse
deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu dapper-security main restricted universe multiverse
deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu dapper-proposed main restricted universe multiverse
deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu dapper-backports main restricted universe multiverse
Once I had applied all updates (if you’re already up to date, you don’t need a reboot) I then installed the server-based update utility:
sudo aptitude install update-manager-core
Once this is installed you’re ready to begin the upgrade process. You can start the upgrade using:
sudo do-release-upgrade -d
note: once Ubuntu 8.04 final is released the -d option will no longer be needed.
At this point it’ll do some checking, verify and update the newer repository and ask you a few questions along the lines of “There is no going back from here, are you sure you want to upgrade?” After that its smooth sailing.
If you do run into any issues during the upgrade please report them against the update-manager-core package in Launchpad.
Yeah, I did a do-release-upgrade from dapper to hardy on my NAT box here about a month ago. I hit a few minor snags that I think required me to hook up a monitor and keyboard to work through (maybe some change in the madwifi driver or the dhcp3-server), but overall very smooth for a pre-beta multi-release upgrade.
Test
did release-upgrade today via ssh… now it will not let me back in either on port 22 or on other port that the installer suggested – so it is hook up monitor etc here as well.
Selected new config scripts when asked by upgrade script, so expect to have to redo mysql etc. configs, but not expecting any major issues. Otherwise upgrade went smooth
I thought release-skipping wasn’t supported? Is this a supported upgrade since it is for servers or if it’s from LTS to LTS?
Release skipping is only supported between LTS releases, yes.
Has someone did an upgrade from Ubuntu 7.04 Server to 8.04LST? Should i risk one?
@Radu – only direct upgrades from 7.10 and 6.06 are supported. Upgrade to 7.10 first or fresh install is my suggestion.
Have now attempted the following:
====================
sudo aptitude update
sudo aptitude upgrade
sudo aptitude dist-upgrade
sudo aptitude install update-manager-core
sudo do-release-upgrade
=======================
It upgrades to 6.06.2 but not 8.04.
I tried complete reinstall of 6.06.1 from my original disk. Wiped all partitions with the new install. Wasn’t sure how to setup networks so skipped that stage. It said it couldn’t set up dhcp server.
Ran upgrade procedure again:
====================
sudo aptitude update
====================
Got the following messages:
=============================
Reading package lists… Done
Building dependency tree… Done
Reading extended state information
Initializing package states… Done
Building tag database… Done
Err http://security.ubuntu.com dapper-security Release.gpg
Temporary failure resolving security.ubuntu.com
Err http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com dapper Release.gpg
Temporary failure resolving gb.archive.ubuntu.com
Err http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com dapper-updates Release.gpg
Temporary failure resolving gb.archive.ubuntu.com
Reading package lists… Done
=============================
Do I ignore this and carry on with:
=====================
sudo aptitude upgrade
sudo aptitude dist-upgrade
sudo aptitude install update-manager-core
sudo do-release-upgrade
=======================
Well, I followed the instructions and it worked, but I got this at the end and had to run aptitude to finish off install.
dpkg: error processing slapd (–configure):
subprocess post-installation script killed by signal (Interrupt)
A fatal error occured
Please report this as a bug and include the files
/var/log/dist-upgrade/main.log and /var/log/dist-upgrade/apt.log in
your report. The upgrade aborts now.
Your original sources.list was saved in
/etc/apt/sources.list.distUpgrade.
Traceback (most rec…
Something wrong with LDAP? Or may be it didn’t like me editing ldap.conf during install?
@Will – I am not running ldap on any of the machines I tested, but I would suggest reporting the bug, including the files listed. Best way to get it fixed is to let them know about it.
Just a thought, but if you wanted to do it remotely through an SSH connection.
sudo do-release-upgrade
I did
screen sudo do-release-upgrade
So if something screwed up during the install You can reconnect locally by typing in
screen -r
This upgrade from Dapper to Hardy was a long and shitty trip. Don’t do it if Dapper still works for you. I have never experienced or seen a linux upgrade go without a snag.
Thanks! This tutorial has worked twice for me without issue. I just have to carefully monitor which files it wants to overwrite. Usually I let it overwrite the file after seeing what I will need to change back. I change them back in another SSH window right afterwards. That way I get the new default configurations with just the minor changes I need. Thanks again!
This was awesome! I tried it and it actually worked … WOW!
I could no longer put off upgrading Dapper and was dreading the nightmare it would be. I am so glad I was proven wrong, I think I'll pack it in for the night and watch some cartoons.
YAY!