Is it still possible to upgrade from 18.04LTS?

[Engineeringtech]

I've been dealing with a host of health problems the last year, and because of that, never proceeded with any of the updates from 18.04LTS. Just a few weeks back I was getting notices offering upgrades to 20..??LTS. Or was it 22.??LTS? Now I get no upgrade notifications and when I open up the software updater, I see the message, "Failed to Download Repository Information". Does this mean I no longer have any chance of upgrading my machine?

I'm a novice user, 69 years old and in poor health. I'm just looking to update my machine so I can get on the internet safely. I am not interested in spending the next six months learning all about the intricacies of Ubuntu or the command line syntax.. It's a neat operating system, and I appreciate all the effort people have made creating it. But frankly, I have my doubts that I will live long enough to get educated...

Is there a place where I can download an ISO image for 20.??LTS or 22.??LTS? And will it allow an upgrade, instead of a format and install that will destroy my data and the few applications I have added (mostly Windows programs running under Wine)? I'm ashamed to admit I don't even have a good way to backup my computer. I'd like my relatives to be able to access my files should I pass.

[grahammechanical]

When a Ubuntu version reaches end of life support its software repositories are moved to a different internet address. That is why you are getting the "Failed to Download Repository Information" There is a file that is called <sources.list> that has the addresses of the repositories. That file still has the old 18.04 repository addresses.

As you do not want to mess with the command line it is not possible to help you any more than I have already. Yes, we can download an ISO image of Ubuntu 20.04 LTS, 22.04 LTS and 24.04 LTS, but we cannot upgrade from it. We can only re-install from these ISO images. It should be possible to install to the existing partitions without marking the partition to be formatted. That should leave the personal files in the /home/username folder untouched.

It would also be possible to run the Ubuntu Try Ubuntu mode of the installer and access the files on the hard disk and copy them to another place. As you can tell, your options are getting complicated and complicated is not what you want.

By the way I am 76 years old and 14 years ago I had a serious heart operation. So, I understand that when you are ill - you are ill. But I have also been using Ubuntu since 2007 and visiting Ubuntu forums even before I first installed Ubuntu, So, I have learnt one or two things.

I cannot decided which is the easiest option for you. This link will explain how to update the sources.list file to the present location of the 18.04 repositories. That will allow you to update 18.04 and then do an online upgrade to 20.04.

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/EOLUpgrades

You decide which option you wish to go for and we will try to help get the job done.

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/EOLUpgrades

P.S. I have just thought of another option. Does you machine have a USB port? Purchase a pre-formatted USB memory stick and use 18.04 to copy your personal data to the USB memory stick. If the stick is formatted with a Windows format then your relatives with Windows machines will be able to access what you have put on the USB stick.

Regards

[Engineeringtech]

When a Ubuntu version reaches end of life support its software repositories are moved to a different internet address.
As you do not want to mess with the command line it is not possible to help you any more than I have already.

How have you "already" helped me? I already knew the repositories have been moved. I never said I objected to entering some commands at a prompt. But I prefer not to spend days or weeks learning some arcane process about how Linux upgrading works. Right now in particular my free time is in short supply. I'm only interesting in using my PC for browsing and writing documents. I followed the link you provided with the instructions about editing the sources file. It is NOT self explanatory to a novice like me. This seems to be the case every time I'm force to "look under the hood" of Linux. The mechanic demands that I learn all about the operation of the motor before helping me. He can't just say, "you flooded it" and tell me how to start the motor. It feels like an initiation to a fraternity.

Sorry about your heart problem. But rather than brag about your experience with Linux, and belittle my lack of knowledge, why don't you actually TRY and help me upgrade? I would appreciate it, and pray for you.

[Dennis N]

Just a few weeks back I was getting notices offering upgrades to 20..??LTS. Or was it 22.??LTS? Now I get no upgrade notifications and when I open up the software updater, I see the message, "Failed to Download Repository Information". Does this mean I no longer have any chance of upgrading my machine?

It seems to be possible, but maybe only in some cases (see below). I do get the upgrade notice to 20.04.5 LTS with Software Updater. (see screenshot, from 18.04 today, Jul 19).
Also, do-release-upgrade also tells me that this upgrade is available:

dmn@Sydney:~$ do-release-upgrade -c
Checking for a new Ubuntu release
New release '20.04.5 LTS' available.
Run 'do-release-upgrade' to upgrade to it.

By saying some cases, I wonder if this only works when the system is enrolled in Ubunto Pro. Mine is enrolled and gets updates to the OS.
You might see if you can enroll your 18.04 in Ubuntu Pro, let it upgrade the system, and then see if the upgrade to 20.04 is offered.

If you manage to enroll in Pro, security updates are then provided until 2028, so you would not need to upgrade to 20.04.5 if you don't care to.

[yancek]

To download Ubuntu go to their site. For a specific release, do an online search wit the name of the release version (24.04, 22.04). Links to both below.

https://ubuntu.com/download/desktop

https://releases.ubuntu.com/jammy/

If the instructions for changing the sources.list seem to complicated, you could install a newer version over the older version and if you already have a separate /home or data partition, selecl to use it during the install but do NOT format it. If your hard drive is large enough, you could create another partition or partitions for a new install of Ubuntu. You could post the output of either command below and someone could make a suggestions.

sudo parted -l
sudo fdisk -l

[Tadaen_Sylvermane]

It is possible to upgrade from that all the way through assuming the old-releases repositories are still valid. This is my sources.list that I upgraded via the Debian method from jammy directly to noble before it was available for standard upgrade.

#deb http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu jammy main restricted universe multiverse
#deb http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu jammy-security main restricted universe multiverse
#deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ jammy-security main restricted universe multiverse 
#deb http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu jammy-updates main restricted universe multiverse

#deb http://old-releases.ubuntu.com/ubuntu kinetic main restricted universe multiverse
#deb http://old-releases.ubuntu.com/ubuntu kinetic-security main restricted universe multiverse
#deb http://old-releases.ubuntu.com/ubuntu kinetic-updates main restricted universe multiverse

#deb http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu lunar main restricted universe multiverse
#deb http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu lunar-security main restricted universe multiverse
#deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ lunar-security main restricted universe multiverse
#deb http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu lunar-updates main restricted universe multiverse

#deb http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu mantic main restricted universe multiverse
#deb http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu mantic-security main restricted universe multiverse
#deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ mantic-security main restricted universe multiverse
#deb http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu mantic-updates main restricted universe multiverse

deb http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu noble main restricted universe multiverse
deb http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu noble-security main restricted universe multiverse
deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ noble-security main restricted universe multiverse
deb http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu noble-updates main restricted universe multiverse

Notice the Kinetic lines. Assuming 18.10, 19.04, 19.10 are still online in that location you can upgrade one step at a time although there are no guarantees with this method as it is not supported by Ubuntu officially. The process is simple and not hard to understand.

Make sure current system fully updated and upgraded to whatever is available.

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade && sudo apt full-upgrade && sudo apt clean

Then comment out the current 18.04 repos in this case, and uncomment 18.10. Then the same command as above. Repeat in series until you hit 24.04, or 20.04, or 22.04 depending on your goal. 22.04 would be the minimum as 20.04 will stop being supported next year unless you enable Ubuntu Pro.
Again there are no guarantees with this method. In my case I upgraded a fresh chroot installation from Jammy > Noble one step at a time and have no problems. A fully installed system may cause some issues. Make sure to backup before doing it. In the future you should always try to keep on the current LTS before it goes offline / EOL. Any third party repositories or PPA's will likely cause issues with this method. Repair or fix any issues as you go, before moving to the next upgrade process.

But I prefer not to spend days or weeks learning some arcane process about how Linux upgrading works.

There is no arcane process. Rather the process isn't arcane unless you don't upgrade in time. They won't keep the easy mode upgrade around forever. So you put yourself in this situation. Your computer told you to upgrade, you chose not to. Happens every day. Your frustrations are misplaced. Don't be pissed at people here trying to help you. In the future keep up to date and you won't have problems like this again. Many folks have this idea that they can install it once and never touch it again. To a degree true but like anything it requires maintenance. Nothing can be left alone to it's own devices, at least when it's on the internet.

[aljames2]

ditto all. As mentioned throughout. Just doubling down on the "backup your stuff first". Then you have the peace of mind if it blows up, a fresh install is quick & simple.
Probably your /home directory is all you would need, unless you also have some custom configs, scripts, or other that you made yourself in some system location like /etc /usr/local /opt etc.

Let us know if you need help backing up your /home directory.

I think we all would like to see you succeeed. Be well

[guiverc]

I'll respond, but apologies if this detail is already understood, or repetitive.

Yes you can release-upgrade UNTIL the release you want to upgrade is itself EOL, for Ubuntu 18.04 LTS, the upgrade path is to 20.04 which is still OPEN thus you can upgrade.

Ubuntu 18.04 LTS is EOL or EOSS depending on architecture, which I didn't see mentioned.

EOSS releases may NOT require you to use http://old-releases.ubuntu.com/ so do NOT make changes unless necessary. If using a country mirror, you may need to switch manually to the main archive or another mirror though (that handles EOSS).

However not all MIRRORS may provide support; so some of your sources may no longer exist, or have been moved, so correct these manually (if corrections are required).

Other complications can also exist; eg. if your system has outdated security certificates, you'll need to fix those yourself, or if using ESM just apply security fixes normally and the issue will resolve.

EOL = End of Life; eg. 18.04 i386 and armhf are now EOL
EOSS = End of Standard Support; eg. amd64 has ESM or extended support

FYI: I'm a desktop user, and if a release goes EOL or EOSS, I often just non-destructively re-install a supported release, as it allows me to jump to whatever release I want to, but there can be complications with this method (esp. if you're using lots of 3rd party software), and its not intended for Server apps/installs. I also tend to use this method if I lack disk space, or am just in a hurry; as this is actually rather fast. It's an option anyway (if you're using Desktop).

[Engineeringtech]

Thank you both. I've been wanting and trying to reply, but have been sick and my computer has been frozen. Type a letter and it takes 3 minutes to appear on screen. Click on a button or link and it takes multiple clicks and multiple minutes for the computer to act. This is going on at the desktop, and all applications. I don't know how to fix it. Another reason why I want to upgrade. I will see if I can follow your code and do the update. I don't have Ubuntu Pro. Can you tell me what it is and how to update it?

[Engineeringtech]

Thanks, but, some of your instructions are over my head. I feel so stupid sometimes. 69 years old an in poor health. I just want my computer to work for my family should I become hospitalized.