Jun
26
A Reminder About Upgrading Ubuntu…
Filed Under Installation, Upgrade | 2 Comments
I have seen a few questions in IRC and the forums lately regarding upgrading Ubuntu machines. I thought I would toss out a reminder on the best, supported, methods of upgrading your machine and how to avoid (hopefully) some common pitfalls.
Upgrade Preparation
The first step towards an upgrade is to backup any mission-critical data that you may need. Things like your documents, presentations, homework, etc. I have never had an issue with an installer breaking and losing my data, but its simply just a good idea. I’d hate to not have done the “just-in-case” and look back in regret.
Back up all your data by copying or archiving everything from /home/username, including those hidden folders. This will include your personal files and personal configuration and settings.
Upgrade Requirements
It is worth pointing out that two things are required before you’ll be able to cleanly upgrade your machine.
- Your machine is completely up to date on its current release.
- You understand that upgrading is only supporting between single releases or LTS to LTS releases. (ie; 7.04 -> 7.10 -> 8.04 is OK, 6.06 -> 8.04 is OK)
Once you understand these simple requirements you’re ready to begin.
Upgrading Your Machine
I have outlined upgrade steps in the past, which you may want to refer to for further details (a lot of feedback in the comments section), and I’ll also review them here.
No matter the version you are currently using you can be automagically offered an upgrade by using the Update Manager tool. This tool can be found via “System > Administration > Update Manager” or via launching it by way of the Run Application Dialog:
ALT+F2 "update-manager"
As mentioned above you need to make sure your machine is up to date on its current release before you’ll be offered the new version. Do this by clicking “Check” to check for any available updates.
Apply all available updates (these should not normally be delayed, very rarely do updates cause any breakages).
Repeat the update process until you are notified that a new release is available. You’ll see something similar to this:
If you are still on a previous version of Ubuntu the “available release” may vary, of course.
Remember, if you are upgrading from Ubuntu 7.10 you can upgrade directly to the latest release of 8.04. If you are using anything previous to that you’ll need to repeat these steps for each release until you arrive at 8.04. Yes, this might take some time if you are very far behind.
If you are using Ubuntu 6.06 you should be notified that 8.04 is available and you can upgrade directly.
I post tutorials very regularly on this site. You may want to consider subscribing to the RSS feed. Or if you'd prefer these tips sent to your inbox you can use Email Subscriptions.
Apr
25
Ubuntu 8.04 “Hardy” Rocks My Servers Socks!
Filed Under Upgrade | 7 Comments
I just finished the upgrade on this server from Ubuntu 7.10 ‘Gutsy’ to Ubuntu 8.40 ‘Hardy’ and all I have to say is Ubuntu 8.04 Rocks My Socks! Here is a bit how things played out…
I spent a bit of time backing things up and preparing for the upgrade (you know, just in case). I then switched my repository to a faster mirror than the local one I had been using and I installed the required package to handle upgrades (update-manager-core). After this I ran sudo screen do-release-upgrade and watched the fun happen. (Yeah, I ran it in screen because I didn’t know how long it might take and I wanted to be able to detach if needed..)
Guess how long it took? Less than nine minutes! In less time than it normally takes to even download the CD I was upgraded, rebooted and back in production! So far things are running great, the upgrade went as smooth as can be, and my world has been rocked by Ubuntu Server!
I just have to say, if you or your company has been wondering whether Ubuntu is ready for the server, all I have to say is HELL YEAH IT IS! Try to upgrade a production machine from one release to the next and have it back in production in less than 10 minutes another “Enterprise” Linux distribution. Ohh, and do it while its still in production without any CDs.. I dare ya!
Apr
25
This is the last of my servers / desktops / laptops that is not yet running Ubuntu 8.04 “Hardy”. In my testing on non-production machines and semi-production machines the upgrades have worked absolutely perfectly. I wanted to post an announcement / warning that I would be upgrading this server to Ubuntu 8.04 at some point today. I’ll post on the progress. Heads up however. If the blog manages to disappear altogether you’ll know what happened 
Apr
24
Upgrade To Ubuntu 8.04
Filed Under Upgrade | 3 Comments
Ubuntu 8.04 “Hardy Heron” is released! Definitely cause for celebration with many, many new features and improvements! I figure a hot search item for the next little bit will be regarding how to upgrade. I thought I’d share a collection of links that will hopefully cover enough of the bases to cover everyone. Remember, the interweb tubes are going to be fairly clogged today so don’t be surprised if core Ubuntu sites take forever to load or don’t load at all. I notice the Ubuntu Wiki is already overloaded this morning. I’m hoping I’ve covered enough of the bases with recent posts to get everyone covered.
I’ve also linked posts from previous releases. The steps are generally similar enough to give you a good idea. Feel free to use them as a reference but not pure-gospel.
Upgrade Ubuntu 6.06 or 7.10 to Ubuntu 8.04
Upgrade 7.10 “Gutsy” to Ubuntu 8.04 “Hardy” (ubuntu-tutorials)
Upgrade 6.06 “Dapper” to Ubuntu 8.04 “Hardy” (ubuntu-tutorials)
Upgrade from Ubuntu Release Candidate to Ubuntu 8.04 Final (ubuntu-tutorials)
Upgrade Ubuntu Images to Final with Jigdo (ubuntu-tutorials)
Upgrade Ubuntu 6.06 “Dapper” Server to Ubuntu 8.04 “Hardy” Server (ubuntu-tutorials)
Upgrade Ubuntu 7.10 (Gutsy Gibbon) to Ubuntu 8.04 LTS (Hardy Heron) Beta (ubuntu geek)
Ubuntu Community Wiki Upgrade Notes (community wiki)
Previous Release Steps
How To Upgrade to Ubuntu 7.10 (ubuntu-tutorials)
Upgrade Ubuntu 7.04 Server to Ubuntu 7.10 (ubuntu-tutorials)
Upgrade Problems? Try A Different Repository Mirror (ubuntu-tutorials)
Caching Upgrade for Multiple Machines with Apt-Cacher
If you plan on upgrading multiple machines on a single network using the above options please, for your sake and for the sake of the interweb tubes, set up something like Apt-Cacher to make your upgrades more bandwidth efficient! Basically, if you’ve got two or three machines you plan on upgrading, Apt-Cacher will pull down all the required packages for the first machine & then cache them for the remaining machines. The second and third (and fourth.. and fifth..) will upgrade tremendously faster and you’ll help unclog the interweb tubes for everyone else 
Apr
23
How To Upgrade Ubuntu 7.10 to Ubuntu 8.04
Filed Under Upgrade | 23 Comments
Ubuntu 8.04 “Hardy Heron” is now almost final and I want to congratulate the entire team and community for a great accomplishment! This is another fine release and I feel proud to be part of this community.
For those that now want to upgrade from Ubuntu 7.10 “Gutsy Gibbon” to Ubuntu 8.04 “Hardy Heron” you can follow the steps below.
Upgrade Using Update Manager
Step 1: First make sure your machine is current for Ubuntu 7.10. Launch the Update Manager tool and “check” for any remaining updates.
Press Alt-F2 and type
update-managerClick the Check button to check for new updates.
Apply any remaining updates before you continue to Step 2.
Step 2: If your machine is already completely up to date you can then relaunch the Update Manager tool and upgrade to the next release, Ubuntu 8.04 “Hardy Heron”.
Press Alt-F2 and type
update-manager
Click the Check button to check for new updates.
A message will appear informing you of the availability of the new release.
Click Upgrade
Follow the instructions as the Update Manager utility will walk you through each step of the upgrade. You will still have a chance to back out after clicking Upgrade if you feel you’re not yet ready.
It should be noted that this will upgrade your machine via your internet connection and can take quite some time. If you have access to a fast mirror it can be faster, but immediately after a release the interweb tubes tend to clog up. You’ve been warned.
For more information and suggestions from the Wiki see: Upgrade Notes
Apr
21
Upgrading From Beta To RC And Beyond…
Filed Under Upgrade | 4 Comments
I keep seeing this question pop up in IRC so I thought I’d post something about it…
“How do I upgrade from Ubuntu Beta to Ubuntu RC (and eventually to Final)?”
If you’ve installed Beta and want to upgrade to RC (and eventually Final) simply continue to update your machine. There isn’t anything special that needs to be done, just run Update Manager and apply any available updates. Updating your machine in this way will take you from Beta to RC to Final.
I hope that helps for anyone still wondering. Also, for those of you that are still on Ubuntu 7.10 “Gutsy” that are going to be updating I’ll have instructions on that over the next two days.
Apr
18
Updating Ubuntu Images With Jigdo
Filed Under Upgrade | 5 Comments
Well its that time again, the Ubuntu community is just about ready to launch another fantastic release and with that release the worlds interweb tubes are going to get clogged as everyone upgrades. It’s about this time that I always start thinking about ways to be more efficient with my bandwidth.
Bittorrent, of course, is a great improvement over the traditional direct download method but in some cases there are potentially more efficient methods to use. I’d like to outline (as I do with every release) how to update your current ubuntu images using Jigdo.
Jigdo, if you’re not familiar, takes a current Ubuntu image and compares its contained packages with the packages within an updated image (ie; alpha vs beta, beta vs RC, RC vs final). Using this method you’re only downloading the packages that have *changed* between images and not the entire image again. The morning RC was released I used jigdo against my local ubuntu package mirror and had the new image in about a minute!
Installing Jigdo
Jigdo is available within the Ubuntu repositories. To install Jigdo you can run the command:
sudo aptitude install jigdo-file
Using Jigdo
Jigdo requires a .jigdo file, which outlines what the latest image *should* have, which is then compared to the previous image file that you already have on the machine. The previous image can be burned and in the drive or loop-mounted (mount -o loop file.iso /mnt). So, to begin you’ll need to start Jigdo and give it the path to a .jigdo file:
jigdo-lite http://us.releases.ubuntu.com/hardy/ubuntu-8.04-rc-alternate-i386.jigdo
The .jigdo file can be found on most download sites, look for it just below the .iso or .torrent files.
Jigdo will then download that .jigdo file and read the contents of what package versions should be in the latest release. It will then ask you for the image you want to compare it to, which you can point it to your loaded disk or mounted .iso.
If not much has changed between the images (its *really* efficient for updating dailies!) it should be finished pretty quickly. The more changes there are the more packages it’ll have to download. When it has being able to find, or has downloaded the required updated packages, it’ll create a new .iso image for you. Tada! You have an upgraded image and you’ve used much less bandwidth than traditional methods.
note: using Jigdo to compare a 7.10 image vs an 8.04 image is not going to offer any improvements–everything has been changed. It is best used for incremental updates, like beta to RC, RC to final, etc.
For more information on using Jigdo for updating Ubuntu images see the JigdoDownloadHowTo Wiki page.
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