Ubuntu Dapper to Ubuntu Edgy upgrade how-to
Ubuntu Dapper was my desktop OS for a last half year, and I’m totally happy with this OS. I’ve use a lot of Linux distributions, and I’m sure what Ubuntu is best for desktop.
I’m start thinking about update as soon as Edgy was released. I have read a lot of unsuccessful stories about upgrades. But i should try, because KDE 4 is coming soon, and upgrade from Dapper to next Ubuntu release with KDE 4 will be much harder. So i need some intermediate release to have chance to get fresh KDE on my desktop.
Below i will post brief how-to, but please note, that is not 100% recipe, and this can not work for your system, and I’m not responsible for any data loss ;-)
First of all you need check what you have enough free space in /var. You need about 1-2Gigs, because apt store all files in it’s cache in /var/cache/apt. Next you need install update-manager package. Next you need run it with root privileges using kdesu or gksu or sudo:
$ kdesu "update-manager -c"
You need upgrade existing packages first. You can do this by pressing “Install Updates” button. When your current system is up2date you can start upgrade process.
On the top of the update-manager window you will see message, what new release is available. Press “Upgrade” on the right from this message (sorry i forget to make screeshots). Update-manager will start to download/install upgrades. Update speed depends on your internet connection speed. On my 1Mbps ADSL line it takes about 2.5 hours.
When process is finished, you just need reboot into your new system. Thats all.
P.S. Please do not forget to make backups before upgrade. Also a good idea to have /home as separate partition. In this case even if your upgrade will be unsuccessful, you can easy reinstall previous version from CD, and you will keep all your settings/data untouched.
If you have some questions, you can ask me, and i will try to help you.