Upgrade path from 16.04=> 20.04?

Support & Help Requests
#1

Hello Folks.
I have some elderly friends whose NB PCs I set up with 16.04 before they moved far away.
They have been quite happy with what they have and since its been some years they are ready for newer PCs.

Now that 20.04 has arrived, I'm wondering if it is doable to upgrade directly from 16.04 to 20.04 - or, if it must be done with the added step of 18.04 in between ??

Since these folks are very comfortable and accustomed to their setups as-is, it seems best to cause as little uproar as possible from upgrading.

I am aware that I could copy /home and start again with a fresh install, etc., but before traveling any upgrade road I prefer to examine the available options carefully.

Thanks for any helpful replies !!

#2

Unfortunately, the design of Ubuntu's upgrade path means that you'd have to upgrade to 18.04 and then 20.04.

I suppose a really dirty approach would be to change all the /etc/apt/sources* list files from xenial to focal but this could end up with broken packages.

Either way, it would be a good idea to backup the root partition in case it needs to be rolled back. There's no rush, since the base Ubuntu 16.04 packages are still supported until April 2021.

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#3

Thanks for replying LAH7 !!
As it happens, I have an older NB PC with 16.04 that works fine, so I told it to do the upgrade - and after some hours...it still works fine.
Updater says that it is up to date now.

Reading here and there about 18.04 & 20.04 has revealed some interesting little tidbits - like some users up in arms due to the increased reliance upon snaps - and others citing that there will be 10 years of support for LTS versions starting with 18.04 - which has also been refuted in other places.

Personally I would love to see U/M LTS releases get a full 5 years for everything - and for these older folks 10 years might see them through for as long as they are around - heck, 10 years is likely longer than I'll even be around as well.

Here is a nifty little article which highly compliments U/M:

It may be best in this instance to just upgrade their PCs to 18.04 & call it good, but if things drag on until ~ mid-June I will be watching to see how it all goes & will be keeping that option under consideration.

The PC I'm writing this on uses U/M 18.04 & it has served me quite well - there are a few oddities that I've posted about, most of which have no apparent solutions - and perhaps some will be made better in the later release...we'll see I guess.

Thanks Again.