Should I use "do-release-upgrade"?
When I log in I see:
Welcome to Ubuntu 18.04.5 LTS (GNU/Linux 5.12.2-x86_64-linode144 x86_64)
* Documentation: https://help.ubuntu.com
* Management: https://landscape.canonical.com
* Support: https://ubuntu.com/advantage
New release '20.04.2 LTS' available.
Run 'do-release-upgrade' to upgrade to it.
Does 'do-release-upgrade' work or should we avoid this command? Is it a replacement for 'apt dist-upgrade'?
My server just runs a few mostly static Bootstrap and WordPress websites… nothing very complex at all.
Please advise.
Thanks,
Al
4 Replies
“apt dist-upgrade” upgrades all packages, including allowing new packages to be installed to satisfy dependencies, where necessary.
However it always keeps you on the same release (18.04, 18.10 etc.)
“do-release-upgrade” is a tool that upgrades you between releases - e.g. 18.04 to 20.04, for example. It requires you to have apt update’d all your packages for your current release first.
This is a potentially more breaking change than either apt update or apt dist-upgrade, especially if you’re going between LTS releases. You’d be wise to have taken a snapshot of your Linode first, just in case.
Distros will eventually reach EOL (end of life) by a specific date. What that means is, they will no longer receive updates.
18.04 LTS EOL is April 2023.
Whether or not you should upgrade now isn’t really based on what your server does. It’s more about if the OS upgrade has newer package versions that may be recommended or even required by the software you are running.
For example, Wordpress requires at least a certain version of PHP. I think it’s currently 7.3, but I’m not a 100 percent sure.
I would look at first if upgrading will bring in new package versions that you may need or would be more beneficial.
If so, I would perform a backup before upgrading. Upgrades can also break things, so you want to have an option to restore if need be.
FYI I did the "do-release-upgrade" from Ubuntu 18 to 20 this evening by following the directions from this site:
https://linuxhandbook.com/upgrade-ubuntu-server-version/
It took about 8-10 minutes… and all the websites on the server work just fine.
i had problem to do the "do-release-upgrade" from Ubuntu 19.04 to 19.10 and 20.04, any more had this problem?
i tried manually upgrade following this guide: https://butlerraines.com/code-stuff/upgrading-end-life-eol-ubuntu-version-ubuntu-1904
But when i run the script aler:
./focal
Unable to init server: Could not connect: Connection refused
Unable to init server: Could not connect: Connection refused
Unable to init server: Could not connect: Connection refused(focal:20408): Gtk-CRITICAL **: 23:37:58.659: >_gtk_style_provider_private_get_settings: assertion >'GTK_IS_STYLE_PROVIDER_PRIVATE (provider)' failed
(focal:20408): Gtk-CRITICAL **: 23:37:58.659: >_gtk_style_provider_private_get_settings: assertion >'GTK_IS_STYLE_PROVIDER_PRIVATE (provider)' failed
(focal:20408): Gtk-CRITICAL **: 23:37:58.659: >_gtk_style_provider_private_get_settings: assertion >'GTK_IS_STYLE_PROVIDER_PRIVATE (provider)' failed
Segmentation fault (core dumped)