Upgrading Ubuntu 21.3 to 22.2: A Comprehensive Guide for revWhiteShadow

Welcome to revWhiteShadow, your dedicated source for in-depth technical insights. We understand that navigating the complexities of operating system upgrades can sometimes feel like a puzzle, especially when you’ve already performed standard update procedures. You’ve run sudo apt upgrade and sudo apt update, a crucial first step, but you’re wondering if there’s a more direct and comprehensive command to transition your Ubuntu system from version 21.3 to 22.2. This guide is crafted to provide exactly that: a detailed, actionable roadmap to ensure a smooth and successful upgrade. We will delve into the intricacies of the Ubuntu release cycle and the specific commands and considerations required for this particular jump, aiming to equip you with the knowledge to confidently manage your system’s evolution. Our objective is to provide a resource so thorough and accurate that it becomes the definitive answer for anyone seeking to perform this upgrade, effectively outranking existing content through sheer depth and clarity.

Understanding Ubuntu Release Cadence and Upgrade Paths

Before we dive into the specific commands, it’s vital to understand how Ubuntu releases function. Ubuntu operates on a predictable release schedule. Typically, there are two releases per year: a standard release every six months and a Long-Term Support (LTS) release every two years.

  • Standard Releases: These are released in April and October. They are supported for nine months. Upgrading from one standard release to the next is generally straightforward, often achievable through the standard apt commands if within the supported upgrade path.
  • Long-Term Support (LTS) Releases: These are released in April of even-numbered years and are supported for five years (or even longer with extended security maintenance). LTS releases are the bedrock for many servers and enterprise environments due to their extended support period and stability.

Ubuntu 21.3 was a standard release, codenamed “Hirsute Hippo.” It was released in April 2021 and reached its End of Life (EOL) in January 2022. Ubuntu 22.2, however, is not a standard Ubuntu release designation. It is highly probable that you are referring to Ubuntu 22.04 LTS, codenamed “Jammy Jellyfish,” which was released in April 2022. This is a significant LTS release, and the upgrade path from a prior standard release like 21.3 to 22.04 LTS is a common and well-supported procedure.

The fact that 21.3 is past its EOL means that running sudo apt update and sudo apt upgrade will no longer fetch packages for that specific release. Instead, you need to explicitly tell your system to upgrade to a newer, supported release. The commands you’ve used are excellent for maintaining a current release, but they don’t initiate a version jump to a different Ubuntu release.

The Primary Command for Ubuntu Version Upgrades

The cornerstone command for initiating a distribution upgrade in Ubuntu is do-release-upgrade. This tool is specifically designed to manage the process of transitioning your system from one Ubuntu release to another. Unlike apt upgrade, which only updates the packages within your current release, do-release-upgrade handles the complex task of replacing system packages, repositories, and configurations to match the target Ubuntu version.

When you execute sudo do-release-upgrade, the system checks for available newer releases. By default, it usually targets the next available standard release or the next LTS release if you are on an LTS release. However, you can also explicitly specify a target release if needed, though for a jump from a recent standard release to an LTS, the default behavior is usually what you want.

Preparing for the Upgrade: Essential Pre-Upgrade Steps

Before you even consider running sudo do-release-upgrade, thorough preparation is paramount. Skipping these steps can lead to a broken system, data loss, or an incomplete upgrade.

1. Back Up Your Critical Data

This cannot be stressed enough. While Ubuntu upgrades are generally robust, unforeseen issues can arise. Always back up all your important files, documents, configurations, and any data that you cannot afford to lose. You can use external hard drives, cloud storage, or network attached storage for this purpose. Ensure the backup is complete and verified before proceeding.

2. Ensure Your Current System is Fully Up-to-Date

You’ve already performed sudo apt update and sudo apt upgrade. It’s good practice to also run:

sudo apt dist-upgrade

The dist-upgrade command is similar to upgrade but is more intelligent about handling dependencies and intelligently handles changing Depends fields of packages. It may install new packages or remove existing ones if necessary to resolve conflicts or satisfy new dependencies introduced by updates. This ensures your current 21.3 system is in the best possible state before the major version change.

3. Remove Unused Packages and Clean Up

A cleaner system is less prone to upgrade issues. Use the following commands to remove obsolete packages and clean your package cache:

sudo apt autoremove
sudo apt clean
  • sudo apt autoremove: This command removes packages that were automatically installed to satisfy dependencies for other packages and are now no longer needed.
  • sudo apt clean: This command clears out the local repository of retrieved package files. It empties /var/cache/apt/archives/, which can free up disk space.

4. Check Your Release File

Ubuntu uses a file called /etc/update-manager/release-upgrades to determine which types of upgrades it should offer. The relevant line to check is Prompt.

  • Prompt=normal: This setting will prompt you for any new version release (standard or LTS).
  • Prompt=lts: This setting will only prompt you for new LTS releases.

Since you’re moving from a standard release (21.3) to a likely LTS release (22.04), Prompt=normal is typically what you’d want. However, after the EOL of 21.3, the system might not automatically offer 22.04 if you haven’t explicitly upgraded before. We’ll cover how do-release-upgrade handles this.

You can view the content of this file using:

cat /etc/update-manager/release-upgrades

If you need to edit it (though do-release-upgrade often handles the targeting implicitly), you would use:

sudo nano /etc/update-manager/release-upgrades

And ensure Prompt=normal is set. Crucially, remember to save and exit nano (Ctrl+X, then Y, then Enter).

5. Ensure Sufficient Disk Space

Upgrades, especially to a new major version, download a significant number of new packages and install them. Ensure you have ample free disk space on your root partition (/) and potentially /boot if it’s a separate partition. A good rule of thumb is to have at least 5-10 GB of free space.

6. Stable Internet Connection

A stable and reasonably fast internet connection is essential for downloading all the necessary packages. An interruption during the download or installation phase can corrupt the upgrade process.

7. Disable Third-Party Repositories (PPAs)

Third-party repositories (PPAs) can sometimes conflict with the official Ubuntu upgrade process. It’s highly recommended to disable them before upgrading. You can do this by:

  • Going to “Software & Updates” in your system settings, navigating to the “Other Software” tab, and unchecking the boxes for PPAs.

  • Alternatively, you can manually edit or move the .list files in /etc/apt/sources.list.d/. It’s a good practice to back up these files before making changes. For example:

    sudo cp -r /etc/apt/sources.list.d/ /etc/apt/sources.list.d_backup_$(date +%Y%m%d_%H%M%S)

    Then, you can comment out the PPA lines by adding a # at the beginning of each line or move the .list files to a different directory temporarily.

After disabling PPAs, remember to update your package list:

sudo apt update

8. Review Installed Packages

Consider reviewing custom software or packages you’ve installed outside of the standard Ubuntu repositories. Ensure they are compatible with Ubuntu 22.04 LTS. Sometimes, packages installed manually might need to be reinstalled or reconfigured after the upgrade.

Executing the Ubuntu 21.3 to 22.04 LTS Upgrade

With all preparations in place, we can now proceed with the upgrade itself.

While do-release-upgrade will check automatically, you can sometimes get a preview or ensure your system is configured to see the target release by running:

sudo update-manager -c -d
  • -c: Checks for upgrades.
  • -d: Checks for development releases. This flag can sometimes be necessary if the target release isn’t yet officially offered as the next upgrade path from your current End-of-Life release. However, as 21.3 is EOL, it should ideally see the next available stable release. If this command doesn’t offer 22.04 LTS, you might need to force it.

Step 2: Initiate the Distribution Upgrade

This is the core command. Ensure you are connected to a reliable power source (if using a laptop) and have a stable internet connection.

sudo do-release-upgrade

What this command does:

  1. Checks Release Availability: It contacts Ubuntu’s release servers to see if a newer, supported version is available.
  2. Identifies Target Release: Based on your system’s configuration (/etc/update-manager/release-upgrades) and the available releases, it determines the next recommended upgrade path. Since 21.3 is EOL, it should naturally point to 22.04 LTS if it’s the next available LTS or even the next standard release if that path is prioritized by the system.
  3. Informs You: It will inform you of the new release, its features, and the estimated download size.
  4. Asks for Confirmation: It will ask if you want to proceed. You will need to type y and press Enter to confirm.
  5. Downloads Packages: It begins downloading all the necessary new packages for Ubuntu 22.04 LTS. This can take a considerable amount of time depending on your internet speed and the number of packages.
  6. Installs Packages: Once downloaded, it proceeds to install them, replacing older versions and configuring the new system.
  7. Handles Configuration Changes: During the installation, it may prompt you about configuration files that have been modified locally and ask whether you want to keep your modified version or install the package maintainer’s version. In most cases, it’s safer to review these changes and choose the maintainer’s version unless you have specific, critical customizations you absolutely must preserve. You can often choose to view the differences.
  8. Removes Obsolete Packages: After the new packages are installed, do-release-upgrade will identify and prompt you to remove packages that are no longer supported or needed in the new release.
  9. Final Reboot: Once the installation is complete, you will be prompted to reboot your system to finalize the upgrade.

Step 3: Reboot and Verify the Upgrade

After the upgrade process completes and you are prompted to reboot, do so:

sudo reboot

Once your system restarts, you should be greeted by the Ubuntu 22.04 LTS login screen.

To verify your current Ubuntu version, you can use:

lsb_release -a

This command should now show:

No LSB modules are available.
Distributor ID: Ubuntu
Description:    Ubuntu 22.04.x LTS
Release:        22.04
Codename:       jammy

You can also check the kernel version:

uname -r

Troubleshooting Common Upgrade Issues

While the do-release-upgrade command is robust, issues can sometimes occur.

Issue: Checking for a new Ubuntu release message doesn’t appear.

This can happen if your system is configured not to check for new releases, or if the release-upgrades file is not set up correctly, or if the specific transition isn’t being offered directly from your EOL release.

  • Solution:

    1. Ensure your /etc/apt/sources.list and files in /etc/apt/sources.list.d/ are pointing to valid Ubuntu repositories. For an EOL release like 21.3, they might be pointing to old URLs. You might need to temporarily revert to a working state if you can’t access the internet for the upgrade.

    2. Manually edit /etc/update-manager/release-upgrades and ensure Prompt=normal.

    3. Try forcing the upgrade to a specific release if you know the codename. For Ubuntu 22.04 LTS, the codename is jammy.

      sudo do-release-upgrade -c -d

      If that still doesn’t work, and you are certain 21.3 should be able to upgrade to 22.04 LTS directly, you might need to temporarily configure your sources.list to point to the archive repositories for 21.3 and run sudo apt update and sudo apt dist-upgrade again to ensure all 21.3 packages are as up-to-date as possible before attempting the do-release-upgrade to 22.04. However, this is usually not necessary if the Prompt setting is correct.

Issue: Upgrade process fails or gets stuck.

This can be due to a variety of reasons, including a corrupted download, a package conflict, or an unstable internet connection.

  • Solution:
    1. Do NOT reboot immediately unless prompted. If it’s stuck during package installation, try to figure out which package it’s stuck on.
    2. If it seems irrevocably stuck, you might need to force it to exit and then attempt to fix the broken packages:
      sudo dpkg --configure -a
sudo apt --fix-broken install
    3. After attempting to fix broken packages, you may need to re-run sudo do-release-upgrade. If it continues to fail at the same point, you might need to investigate the specific package causing the issue (e.g., search online for errors related to that package and Ubuntu 22.04).
    4. If the system is in a severely broken state, you might need to consider reinstalling Ubuntu 22.04 LTS and restoring your data from the backup. This is why backups are crucial.

Issue: Missing drivers or hardware not working after upgrade.

Sometimes, new kernel versions or system updates can introduce regressions or require updated drivers.

  • Solution:
    1. Check for proprietary driver updates. Open “Software & Updates” and go to the “Additional Drivers” tab. See if any new drivers are available and install them.
    2. Ensure your kernel modules are up-to-date.

Issue: System boots but is unstable or has critical services not starting.

This usually indicates a more serious configuration problem or package incompatibility.

  • Solution:
    1. Check system logs for errors: journalctl -xe. This command provides detailed system logs and can help pinpoint the cause of the instability.
    2. If specific services are failing, check their individual log files (e.g., /var/log/apache2/error.log for Apache, /var/log/syslog for general system messages).
    3. Re-enable any PPAs you disabled after ensuring the core system upgrade is stable. Then, update and check for specific package updates related to those PPAs.

Post-Upgrade Tasks: Ensuring a Smooth Transition

Once your system is successfully running Ubuntu 22.04 LTS, there are a few essential tasks to perform:

  1. Re-enable PPAs and Third-Party Repositories: If you disabled PPAs, now is the time to re-enable them. Make sure they are compatible with Ubuntu 22.04 LTS (Jammy Jellyfish). You may need to update the repository sources to point to the correct Ubuntu version. For example, if a PPA line in /etc/apt/sources.list.d/my-ppa.list was deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/some/ppa/ubuntu focal main, you’ll need to change focal to jammy. After re-enabling and updating the source file, run:

    sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade

  2. Install Any Missing Software: If you removed or noticed any essential software missing, install it now.

  3. Check System Settings: Review your system settings to ensure everything is configured as you prefer. This includes display settings, network configurations, user accounts, and application defaults.

  4. Test Your Applications: Launch your most frequently used applications to confirm they are working correctly.

  5. Perform a Final System Update: Run a final round of updates to ensure all packages are at their latest versions for 22.04 LTS:

    sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade

    And then:

    sudo apt dist-upgrade
sudo apt autoremove

By following these detailed steps, you are not just performing an upgrade; you are meticulously managing the evolution of your Ubuntu system. The jump from a standard release like 21.3 to the robust Ubuntu 22.04 LTS (Jammy Jellyfish) is a significant one, and while the do-release-upgrade command is the primary tool, the preparation and post-upgrade checks are what ensure a truly seamless and stable experience. At revWhiteShadow, we believe in providing complete, actionable knowledge, empowering you to maintain your systems with confidence and precision. This comprehensive guide aims to be your definitive resource for this specific upgrade path, ensuring you bypass outdated information and achieve the best possible outcome for your Ubuntu environment.