How To Upgrade Ubuntu 22.04 LTS or 23.10 To Ubuntu 24.04 LTS

This HowTo outlines the steps to upgrade both Desktop and Server editions of Ubuntu 22.04 LTS (Jammy Jellyfish) or Ubuntu 23.10 (Mantic Minotaur) to Ubuntu 24.04 (Noble Numbat) from a Command Line Interface (CLI).

In accordance with the Ubuntu Release Cycle, Long Term Support (LTS) releases are distributed every two years in April. Regarded as Enterprise Grade, LTS releases are widely adopted, constituting approximately 95% of all Ubuntu installations.

Between LTS versions, Canonical also releases interim versions of Ubuntu every six months, with 23.10 being the latest example. Interim are production-quality releases supported for 9 months, providing users with ample time to update. However, unlike LTS releases, interim releases do not receive long-term support commitments.

• Ubuntu 22.04 LTS released April 21, 2022 and is supported for 5 years until April 2027.
• Ubuntu 23.10 (interim) released October 12, 2021 and is supported for 9 months until July 2022.
• Ubuntu 24.04 LTS released April 25, 2024 and is supported for 5 years until April 2029.

Upgrading prior to the official release date may result in a Beta or Release Candidate installation. We strongly suggest checking Ubuntu.com for the current release status before beginning an upgrade and consider waiting for the point release of 24.04.1 LTS if system stability is your primary concern.

Update (2024-04-25): On release day, our upgrade test of 23.10 was successful, however, 22.04 to 24.04 upgrade failed with a "Oh no! Something has gone wrong" splash screen. Proceed with caution.

Update (2024-04-26): We're starting to receive reports of similar failed upgrades of 22.04 to 24.04.

Update (2024-04-27): Bug reports of failed upgrades from 22.04 to 24.04 are becoming more wide spread. Ubuntu developers will need time to address the issues. Do not attempt an upgrade until further notice.

Update (2024-05-18): Upgrades from 22.04 to 24.04 are still blocked due to several critical bugs.

Update (2024-08-12): The 24.04.1 point release has been delayed until August 29th due to several high-impact upgrade bugs.

Update (2024-08-29): 24.04.1 is now available. All upgrade blockers have been removed, resulting in a successful upgrade from 22.04 LTS.

Update (2024-09-05): Upgrades from 22.04 to 24.04 have been blocked again due to a critical bug in ubuntu-release-upgrader, Canonical is formulating an official announcement.

Update (2024-09-09): Upgrades from 22.04 to 24.04.1 LTS have been enabled, again.

These steps can be preformed as an in place upgrade on a live system from either a local terminal or remote SSH session.

Step 1

Prior to upgrading, make sure the current system is up-to-date by executing these three commands.

sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade
sudo apt dist-upgrade

Third-party software installed from a Personal Package Archive (PPA) will be disabled during the upgrade process. This may not apply to your system, so before starting, check for PPA .list files within the /etc/apt/sources.list.d/ directory. If present, you'll need to update these after the upgrade. Consult the software distributor for instructions, as software from outside the standard Ubuntu repositories may not support the new release.

Step 2

Upgrade to the latest release with this command, follow the on-screen instructions, and reboot when prompted.

sudo do-release-upgrade

If the command above returns the following notification message, it means you tried to upgrade before the official release or the "soaking period" is still in effect. The soaking period for 23.10 will last a few days, whereas for 22.04 LTS, it will last a few months (this summer), until the point release of 24.04.1 LTS.

Checking for a new Ubuntu release
There is no development version of an LTS available.
To upgrade to the latest non-LTS development release
set Prompt=normal in /etc/update-manager/release-upgrades.

If you'd still like to proceed, you can bypass this by adding the -d option to the command. Execute, then continue by following the on-screen instructions and reboot when prompted.

sudo do-release-upgrade -d

However, if the -d option returns the following notification message, it means the upgrade is intentionally being blocked upstream by the developers, most likely due to critical bugs. This reinforces our recommendation to consider postponing an upgrade until the point release.

Checking for a new Ubuntu release
Upgrades to the development release are only
available from the latest supported release.

Step 3

After reboot, verify the release has been upgraded.

lsb_release -a

Output will be similar to this.

No LSB modules are available.
Distributor ID: Ubuntu
Description:    Ubuntu 24.04 LTS
Release:        24.04
Codename:       noble

Step 4

Clear out the local repository of retrieved package files and dependencies that are no longer required.

sudo apt clean

sudo apt autoremove