How to Upgrade Ubuntu 18.04 LTS or 19.10 to Ubuntu 20.04 LTS “Focal Fossa”

With the Ubuntu 20.04 LTS (Focal Fossa) release out the door, many users will consider upgrading their systems from either Ubuntu 18.04 LTS (Bionic Beaver) or Ubuntu 19.10 (Eoan Ermine).

Ubuntu 20.04 LTS introduces numerous new features and improvements, so upgrading is probably the first thing you’ll want to do as you don’t need to download an ISO file.

Well, the good news is upgrading from either Ubuntu 18.04 LTS or Ubuntu 19.10 is easy. But before I guide you through the upgrade process, ensure your system is up to date.

The bad news is 32-bit Ubuntu 18.04 LTS systems cannot be upgraded to Ubuntu 20.04 LTS. Therefore, you will need to install a fresh copy of Ubuntu or keep your installation as Ubuntu 18.04 LTS is supported until April 2023.

After you’ve installed all available updates, open the Software & Updates utility, go to the third tab called “Updates” and make sure the “Notify me of a new Ubuntu version” drop-down menu is set to “For long-term support versions” on Ubuntu 18.04 LTS or “For any new version” on Ubuntu 19.10.

Now close the Software & Updates app, press ALT+F2 or open the Terminal app and paste or type the following command and hit the Enter key.

update-manager -c -d

The Update Manager utility will pop up to prompt you that Ubuntu 20.04 LTS “Focal Fossa” is now available, so just click on the “Upgrade” button to start the upgrade process.

All you have to do now is follow the on-screen instructions for a successful upgrade, which should take up to a couple of hours, depending on your Internet connection and hardware specifications.

To upgrade an Ubuntu Server system, you will first need to install the update-manager-core package if it’s not already installed. Then set the Prompt line in /etc/update-manager/release-upgrades to “lts” or “normal” depending on if you’re upgrading from Ubuntu 18.04 LTS or Ubuntu 19.10.

After that, launch the upgrade tool with the sudo do-release-upgrade -d command and follow the on-screen instructions. That’s it, you’re now running Ubuntu 20.04 LTS (Focal Fossa), so enjoy its new features!

Last updated 4 years ago

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