Upgrade to 18.04 , keep 16.04 ?

[geoff20]

If I upgrade to 18.04 from a USB will I get the option to keep 16.04.Got a feeling that that was one of the options when trying to install 18.04.Something like it appears you have 16.04 would you like to keep it.

[Impavidus]

You can install 18.04 and 16.04 side-by-side, dual booting.

[LHammonds]

Sounds like you would want to backup your existing 16.04 install. Then upgrade 16.04 to 18.04. Then install a fresh 16.04 as a dual-boot system into a new partition. Then restore the backup of your 16.04 to it.

Sounds possible if done right but the key here is a solid backup of your 16.04 system so that you can restore it no matter what happens (including a failed 18.04 upgrade)

LHammonds

[geoff20]

How do I achieve a solid backup of my 16.04?

[oldfred]

If anything there are too many options on backing up Ubuntu. Each has may have some advantages.
I like rsync.

Gui tool:
http://www.teejeetech.in/p/aptik.html
discussion of alternatives/strategy backups
https://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2368992&p=13677224#post13677224
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/BackupYourSystem
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/CategoryBackupRecovery
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2236636
http://askubuntu.com/questions/2596/comparison-of-backup-tools
If you install your own system you are the system admin
Sysadmins: Everything they told you about backup WAS A LIE
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/07/12/storagebod_monomyth/
http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/nas/nas-features/31745-data-recovery-tales-raid-is-not-backup
Best practice for Backups - theFu
https://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2368992
https://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2389631&p=13757986#post13757986
More backup info from 1clue
https://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2377810


Oldfred's list of stuff to backup May 2011 (still mostly current, see added links below):
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1748541
Adding extra commands to rsync
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2260658
More detail on /etc files and others to backup - post #3:
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1500559
Some files(temp, cache etc) to exclude from /home backup - post #8 by Paddy Landau
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1883834
http://askubuntu.com/questions/545655/backup-your-home-directory-with-rsync-and-skip-useless-folders
http://askubuntu.com/questions/40992/what-files-and-directories-can-be-excluded-from-a-backup-of-the-home-directory/40997#40997