How to Upgrade Ubuntu 7.10 to 8.10 (Via 8.04LTS)

I used Ubuntu 7.10 (Gutsy Gibbon) while waiting for 8.10 (Intrepid Ibex) to be released. According to Ubuntu Documentation, you should not skip versions when upgrading. Instead you should upgrade sequentially. For me that meant upgrading from 7.10 to 8.04LTS and then 8.10.

Trying out 8.10

Before upgrading I downloaded the 8.10 iso file so I could boot up from the live CD and test it out. After downloading the file, I made sure it was intact. A md5sum file check will display a hash, a string of alphanumberic characters. If the downloaded file’s hash matches the hash Ubuntu provides, the file is intact. You can check the hash on Ubuntu’s website. Then I burned the live CD.

Upgrading to 8.04LTS

I upgraded to 8.04LTS through the Update Manager (System> Admininstration> Update Manager). Because 8.04 is a Long Term Release and 8.10 is not, Ubuntu 8.04 is not configured by default to show a way to upgrade to 8.10. Ubuntu Documentation has a step by step guide to show normal releases (like 8.10) in 8.04 LTS. Go to System> Administration> Software Sources. Click on the Updates tab. Under the heading Release Upgrades choose Normal releases.

Tip: Disable Power Management. While I was downloading the update, Ubuntu would put my computer to sleep which paused the download until I woke it up. System> Preferences> Power Management. Put computer to sleep when inactive: Never.

Ubuntu 8.10

Ubuntu remembered most of my settings. I had to change the screen resolution. It remembered my Firefox bookmarks. Applications I installed in 7.10 were still there. One thing I noticed is that Firefox is more stable. Before sometimes it would crash if I had a flash video playing and I closed the tab.

Tip: Firefox 3 has a zoom capability that can make images appear pixelated and low resolution. To fix this, in Firefox go to View> Zoom and select Zoom Text Only.