The upgrading process from Ubuntu 20.04 to Ubuntu 21.10 takes some time, but it’s a straightforward process if you stick close to the steps below. Before taking any actions please make sure that you have completed the Prerequisites section. Let’s make dirty our hands.
Prerequisites
Important: Make sure that you have created a backup of your data. Or if you are using a virtual machine create a snapshot.
- Ubuntu 20.04
- sudo privileges
Upgrade Ubuntu 20.04 to Ubuntu 21.10
Step 1. To check your current version, run:
lsb_release -a
Output:
No LSB modules are available.
Distributor ID: Ubuntu
Description: Ubuntu 20.04 LTS
Release: 20.04
Codename: focal
Step 2. Update system packages.
sudo apt update
Step 3. Upgrade the dist packages.
sudo apt dist-upgrade
Step 4. Execute the following command to check if there is a new Ubuntu version to update it:
sudo do-release-upgrade -c
You may see the following output:
Checking for a new Ubuntu release
There is no development version of an LTS available.
To upgrade to the latest non-LTS development release
set Prompt=normal in /etc/update-manager/release-upgrades.
Step 5. As mentioned in the Output above change the Prompt to normal.
sudo nano /etc/update-manager/release-upgrades
Find the Prompt line and change it to normal.
Step 6. Again, run:
sudo do-release-upgrade -c
Output:
New release 21.10 available
Step 7. Finally, kick off the Upgrade process.
sudo do-release-upgrade --allow-third-party
This will take some time and ask you for some confirmation.
Step 8. Once the upgrade is done, it will ask you to reboot the system to complete the upgrade. Type y and hit enter.
Step 9. When the reboot is done you can immediately spot the new system skin. To make sure that everything is fine, open the Terminal and check the version again.
lsb_release -a
Output:
No LSB modules are available.
Distributor ID: Ubuntu
Description: Ubuntu 21.10
Release: 21.10
Codename: impish
Cheers!!! Welcome to Ubuntu 21.10 impish.
Conclusion
The same process can be done through the ubuntu software update manager, but I prefer the CLI. Feel free to leave a comment below and if you find this tutorial useful, follow our official channel on Telegram.