How to Upgrade Ubuntu to new release

colinl

Hi, I am running Ubuntu 14.04 (trusty) on a VPS and want to upgrade it to 16.04 and then 18.04.  Can I just use
do-release-upgrade
in the normal way?

Regina

Hi Colin,

We do not recommend to make whole operating system release upgrade this way. It is possible to upgrade it, but it is high risk something will be broken and the server won't start. The best way is to make a backup of your VPS and make a fresh reinstall with a higher version of Ubuntu.

colinl

Hi Regina,

Thanks, if I do that then presumably I will need to reinstall all the packages I have installed again, setup the firewall, startup scripts etc etc.  Or is there a shortcut to that?

Regina

Currently, there is no workaround for the server configuration. After fresh reinstall, it needs to be done again.

colinl

Would it be possible for me to rent a new VPS on a monthly basis to get the new system up and running, then once it was ok move the account for my main server (which is yearly) across to the new one?  I don't mean move the data across but move the account so the new one would continue on the yearly contract and the old one would lapse at the end of the month?

Regina

Yes, it is possible. We can add the remaining amount of old server into Affiliate bonus of your account, which can be used for renewal of other server. Just create a ticket via Client Area with a request.

colinl

OK, thanks.

matthiasl

How can I update Ubuntu 16.04 to Ubuntu 22.04 in the storage VPS servers? 16.04 dropped support 2 years ago and the software I need to use dropped support for (among other things) PHP 7.x. PHP 8.x and the necessary Apache libraries are not available for 16.04 and I am not experienced enough to work around/compile these things by myself. And to be honest, even though I hate updates, I feel like an OS for which support was dropped 2 years ago might need an update.

JoeEthan

Yes, you can use do-release-upgrade, but keep in mind that upgrading directly from Ubuntu 14.04 to 16.04, and then to 18.04, may require a couple of steps. First, ensure that your system is fully updated (sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade). Then, run sudo do-release-upgrade to upgrade to 16.04, followed by another upgrade to 18.04. However, upgrading through multiple releases might introduce some complications, so it's always a good idea to back up your system and review the release notes for each version before proceeding.