Upgrading from Fossa to Noble

[sports fan Matt]

OK, so I’ve been struggling trying to install Noble for about the last three days. Finally got a Clean ISO of Fossa - Question is, Should I upgrade directly to Noble, or stop at Jammy.

Is anybody running jammy in lieu of Noble?

Matt

[guiverc]

There is no upgrade path from 20.04 (focal) to 24.04 (noble).

Ubuntu 20.04 LTS has a single upgrade path now, to Ubuntu 22.04 LTS (jammy) given the other non-LTS options are all EOL. https://help.ubuntu.com/community/JammyUpgrades

Ubuntu 22.04 LTS has no supported upgrade path open currently, the upgrade path to Ubuntu 24.04 LTS is expected to open very soon, but it's not currently a supported upgrade path, thus needs to be forced so upgrades can occur for Quality Assurance purposes. https://help.ubuntu.com/community/NobleUpgrades

If you want to explore the upgrade blockers on the 22.04 to 24.04 upgrade path; you can visit https://discourse.ubuntu.com/t/noble...tracking/46972 and watch them being crossed off as they're dealt with. If you open launchpad and explore, you can also see more too, as the blocker bugs are those that need to be addressed before 22.04 to 24.04 upgrades will officially open.

[sports fan Matt]

Thanks for that so should I upgrade or hang tight? I guess I could upgrade to jellyfish.

[Dennis N]

...should I upgrade or hang tight? I guess I could upgrade to jellyfish.

If 20.04 LTS meets your needs, there is no need to upgrade. In fact, you can extend the support period from 5 to 10 years by enrolling in the Ubuntu Pro services.

On the possibility of upgrading 22.04 LTS to the latest, 24.04 LTS, I see notifications on 22.04 LTS that directly upgrading to 24.04 is now possible. See the screenshot.

[guiverc]

You've given few specifics; so I provided on factual data as I see it.

I have no idea if you're asking about a Server or Desktop install, as there are differences between them, nor flavor; which changes packages that get installed & your defaults. The release used at install sets many defaults.

You mention "Finally got a Clean ISO of Fossa" which implies this is a new system, without data.

Ubuntu 20.04 LTS Desktop used the `ubiquity` installer, which was available until the 23.10 release (it was the legacy installed option for 23.04 & 23.10) and isn't an installer available for 24.04, so attempted install(s) of 24.04 were using a different installer; if your issue was with the installer, using a 22.04 ISO with `ubiquity` makes more sense to me.

Ubuntu 20.04 LTS will have older kernel stacks installed; but as I don't know what media you used (Server? Desktop? what update level? etc) I can't know what kernel you used & installed. Ubuntu 20.04 LTS media exists with 5.4 (GA), 5.8, 5.11, 5.13 & 5.15 (HWE) kernels (or OEM kernels too maybe possible); and that default kernel stack will influence what a release-upgrade will have you using. Sure you can boot live systems to explore the effects, but as I don't know Server/Desktop detail I can't really advise here on effects.

I'll always boot live systems and test out the new release, especially the kernel stack options available (ie. LTS releases have kernel stack options; and you can download an ISO with a specific stack for testing on it; 22.04 Desktop media currently exists with 5.15 (GA), 5.19, 6.2, 6.5 (HWE current) & 6.8 (HWE proposed) kernels for example) and actually test it on your your actual hardware BEFORE installing anything... but I don't know if you're using Server/Desktop, as what options exist or more particularly how easy they are differ.

Live testing would be what I'd recommend first; as it lets you test on your actual hardware; and adjust that testing to be as close as you can for your expected use-case.

[sports fan Matt]

This is a desktop. do I need to upgrade now would be nice to be current, yes. I kept using the ISO from the website. Apologies for the lack of information. It was a long day at work and my brain was fried.

Typically, I’ll look at the system that is new and play around a little bit ~ But because everything had gone flawlessly, I was like I don’t think I need to. I need to from now on I suppose.

I’ve been with Ubuntu since Gutsy 7.10. (Anybody remember those days?)

I’m upgrading to jellyfish But I will stop there.

[pantazi]

I'm using Ubuntu 20.04 and it has been rock solid for my needs. I thought about upgrading to 22.04 just to be current (at the time) so I installed it into a VM and had a good play around with it but couldn't find any advantages over 20.04 to justify the upgrade.

My suggestion based on your comments would be to install 22.04, run 24.04 in a VM and test for your needs.