I want to upgrade from 18.04 to get to 21.04...what hurdles will confront me?

[Shobuz99]

Hi all

I want to upgrade my Ubuntu 18.04 LTS (64) to eventually get to 21.04 on my HP EliteBook 8460p.
I've been told that I should do it in steps, and I understand that.

1st I want to know if I have to go in small steps, like 18.04 LTS to 19.04 to 20.04 to 21.04,
Or can I skip 19.04, and go to 20.04 and then 21.04?

I've been an Ubuntu user since 2006 ver 6.10 and have upgraded to one whole LTS version in the past without many issues.
I've been told there are pros & cons to "skipping" versions now (with dependencies?).

I would also like to know what kind of issues I can possibly expect to see.

Of course, I will backup the existing 18.04 LTS before I do anything!

Thank you and I appreciate any help & firm advice.

Shobuz99

[deadflowr]

You can only go to 20.04 from 18.04.
And then you an only go to 21.04 from 20.04.
All other channels are now EOL and closed.
In a few weeks you might be able to jump from 20.04 to 22.04 when the update channel is in place and with using the development flag in the upgrade command.

I would also like to know what kind of issues I can possibly expect to see.

You would have to read the Release Notes for each to determine what common known issues are faced during each versions upgrades.

[Dennis N]

I've upgraded from 18.04 LTS to 20.04 LTS on two machines in one step. Those were successful.

Rules:
1 - STS (short-term support) releases only upgrade to the following release - regardless of whether it's an STS or LTS. They can't 'skip' an release.
2 - LTS releases can upgrade to next LTS, or the first supported STS.
Both your current version and target version for the upgrade must be still supported.

I believe you can possibly use "old-releases" repositories, and some here may advise how. You can ask. I've never done it.

If you want Ubuntu 21.10 with the newest gnome shell, you should do a new install.

[ActionParsnip]

I'd just upgrade to 20.04 then wait. 22.04 will be out in April next year (Codenamed "Jammy") and you can then upgrade direct from 20.04 to 22.04 as they Jammy is the next LTS from Focal (Ubuntu 20.04).

Personally I'd just wait for Jammy to come out. Buy a new SSD and install Jammy from USB. Feels like a new sweater. You can restore your user data from your backups

[ActionParsnip]

As with any large system change (Even going from 18.04 to 20.04) backup your data before starting then confirm you can restore the data on another system.

[Shobuz99]

Thank you! deadflowr.

[Shobuz99]

Thank you. Dennis N
I'll jump to 20.04 LTS and then wait for April to jump to 22.04 LTS.

[grahammechanical]

Open Software & Updates>Updates tab and set Notify me of new Ubuntu version to For Long Term Support versions and leave it there. In this way you can upgrade from 18.04 LTS to 20.04 LTS and then at the end of April 2022 upgrade further to 22.04 LTS. Stay on the Long Term Support versions.

Precautions? Back up any data you do not want to lose. Take the User Interface back to its default state as much as possible. Switch to using the open source video driver if you are at present using a proprietary video driver. If you are using applications installed through a PPA expect them not to work. May be they will. May be they wont. Expect the same thing for any application that was not installed through the Ubuntu software Center but by download from some web site. Update the OS before starting the Upgrade.

Regards

[Shobuz99]

Thank you. ActionParsnip

I'll jump to 20.04 LTS and then wait for April to jump to 22.04 LTS.

I don't use the SSD. I ordered it with a 250 HDD with Windows 10.
I switched out the Windows 10 HDD and replaced it with my Ubuntu 18.04 250 HDD.

I WILL however try the USB version for install.
As always, I backup everything using Deja Dup that comes with the system.
It works okay for me..

Thanks again
Shobuz99

[Shobuz99]

Thank you grahmmechanical!
Advice accepted.