If you are using an older version of Ubuntu, then there is good news for you: Ubuntu 24.04 LTS (Long-Term Support) has been officially released and is available for download. You can easily upgrade your old Ubuntu system to Ubuntu 24.04 LTS. Here is a detailed and comprehensive guide on how to upgrade from Ubuntu 22.04 LTS to Ubuntu 24.04 LTS.
You can check for upgrades using the Software Updater. However, the software updater may not display the option to upgrade your system. In that case, you need to change some settings to force your system to upgrade to Ubuntu 24.04 immediately. Before proceeding, check your Ubuntu version to ensure that you are using 22.04.
How to Upgrade to Ubuntu 24.04 LTS
Here, we will discuss two methods to upgrade your Ubuntu operating system to 24.04 LTS: using the graphical user interface (GUI) and terminal commands.
If you are already on Ubuntu 24.04 LTS, you can refer to our guide on how to update and upgrade the software repository.
Now, let’s delve into the upgrading process.
1. Upgrade to Ubuntu 24.04 using GUI
Here are the steps you can follow to Upgrade to Ubuntu 24.04 LTS from Ubuntu 22.04 LTS.
1. Ensure that you are running the latest version of Ubuntu on your system before upgrading to Ubuntu 24.04 LTS. You should be using the latest LTS version, 22.04.
2. If you’re unsure about the version installed on your system, go to Settings and click on the About tab to find out.
3. Next, open the Software and Updates and choose the Updates option at the top. As shown below, ensure that your system is subscribed to all updates and set to notify you of any new version.
4. After that, you can check for updates manually. For that, click on the Show Application option and search for Software Updater, and open it.
5. Here, it will check for the latest update, if you find this kind of window as shown in the image, click on the Upgrade button and enter your password, for authentication.
6. On the next window, read the release notes and click on the Upgrade button.
7. After that, wait for the update process to complete and restart your system.
Note
If you don’t see the availability of a new version, try running the command: sudo update-manager -d and try again to update your Ubuntu system.
2. Upgrade to Ubuntu 24.04 using Terminal
If the above methods do not work, then you can force your system to upgrade to Ubuntu 24.04 LTS using the Terminal.
Here are the steps to do so:
1. Open the Terminal app by pressing Ctrl + Alt + T keyboard shortcut.
2. Now, make sure that everything on your current installation is up to date. After that, run the following command to upgrade Ubuntu to 24.04 LTS
sudo apt update && sudo apt dist-upgrade
3. The system will check for and install any pending upgrades. If it asks you to restart your computer, simply click on the Restart button to continue.
4. After installing all the pending updates, you need to install the update manage core package. For that, follow the following command:
sudo apt install update-manager-core
5. Finally, run the following command to force an upgrade:
sudo do-release-upgrade
6. Now, click Upgrade, which will take some time to complete. It could also restart multiple times. All you have to do now is wait patiently for your system to download and install all of the necessary packages.
Conclusion
That’s it! By following the above-mentioned method you can easily upgrade to Ubuntu 24.04 LTS. However, if you encounter difficulties upgrading to Ubuntu 24.04 LTS for any reason, it’s time to rely on your backup. Perform a fresh installation of the new version and retrieve your data from the backup USB disk.
For that, you need a bootable Ubuntu USB driver. We have a detailed guide on creating a Ubuntu USB drive for Ubuntu 24.04 you can follow the guide.
