How to Upgrade to Ubuntu 23.10 ‘Mantic Minotaur’ – Tipsbeginners

Looking to upgrade to Ubuntu 23.10 from Ubuntu 23.04?

Good news: you can!

If you’re full up-to-date and you have an active internet connection you can upgrade to Ubuntu 23.10 ‘Mantic Minotaur’ directly. There’s no need to download an ISO, flash it to a USB, wipe your existing install, etc.

Ubuntu 23.04 won’t reach end-of-life until January, 2024 but anyone still using it after that date will need to upgrade to Ubuntu 23.10 to keep getting updates. So why wait?

Note: Ubuntu 23.10 was released on October 12 but the official upgrade path only opened in November. Why the delay? A bug was causing on-screen text to become corrupted during the upgrade process, making it difficult to track the status. All fixed now, though!

Upgrading to Ubuntu 23.10 is Easy

To upgrade to Ubuntu 23.10 you must meet all of the following requirements:

• You are using Ubuntu 23.04
• You have installed all pending updates
• You have a stable internet connection

If you do, you’re good to go!

While it is possible to upgrade Ubuntu 22.04 to 23.10 you can’t do it directly. Instead, you first upgrade to 22.10, then 23.04, then 23.10. It is faster and easier to download an Ubuntu 23.10 ISO, make a bootable USB, and do a fresh install.

Upgrading via Software Updater

To upgrade to Ubuntu 23.10 from 23.04 all you have to do is 1) install all pending updates (and I do mean all) and 2) either wait for Update Manager to notify you about the new release or run Software Updater (after you’ve installed all updates) for it to detect it.

Here-out, it’s easy.

Click “Upgrade…” to, well, upgrade.

Follow the on-screen instructions (all fairly straightforward stuff) and, before you know it you’ll be running the latest release.

After which you reboot, and enjoy.

Upgrading from the command line

You don’t have to upgrade to Ubuntu 23.10 using Software Updater, or wait for a dialog prompt to appear. You can upgrade to Ubuntu 23.10 from the command line any time you like.

To get going open a new Terminal window and run:

sudo do-release-upgrade -c

This command checks for a new release and, assuming one is available, displays information about it, asks you to press y to proceed, and then upgrades to it (assuming you want to, of course).

A list of packages that will be upgraded, new packages to be installed, and, in some situations, packages to be removed is displayed. You’ll be asked to confirm you wish to proceed.

If you’re happy to upgrade, keep calm and carry on!

The on-screen text whisks you through the whole process.

Small tip: don’t leave your device unattended in hopes it’ll all be done when you get back. You may be required to press y at some point during the upgrade (especially if your system has lots of third-party software installed on it).

Once the upgrade completes you’ll be told to reboot. Do what you’re told. When your system boots up, you will be able to log in and explore the Mantic Minotaur!

Before upgrading read this!

Backup important files and folders before you upgrade. This way, if something goes awry during the upgrade process you won’t lose anything critical.

3rd-party PPAs and repos get disabled during upgrade. You need to manually re-enable these (if they support Ubuntu 23.10) once the upgrade completes.

Unpin all pinned packages (e.g., Firefox from the Mozilla Team PPA) before upgrading or it could fail.

Let me know how you get on down in the comments!