With the latest release stacked with new features, you may be looking to upgrade to Ubuntu 24.10 from Ubuntu 24.04 LTS but wondering exactly how.
“I just wait for Ubuntu to tell me, right?” – Er, no.
As Ubuntu 24.04 is a long-term support (LTS) release it will not ask you if you want to upgrade to Ubuntu 24.10. This is because LTS releases are configured to only notify of new LTS releases (next one is due 2026) and Ubuntu 24.10 is a short-term release.
Fret not; you can do a direct upgrade to Ubuntu 24.10 from 24.04 LTS, but you first need to tell your system you don’t want to wait for the next LTS to arrive.
Think carefully before doing this. Ubuntu 24.10 gets just 9 months of guaranteed support compared to the (at least) 5 years of support Ubuntu 24.04 LTS will receive. LTS releases are generally considered more reliable, dependable, and undergo more QA.
If a new Linux kernel and updated graphics drivers is your only motivation for wanting to upgrade to Ubuntu 24.10, you don’t need to: Linux kernel 6.11 is being back-ported to Ubuntu 24.04 LTS users early next year, installable as a software update.
However, if it’s all of the other Ubuntu 24.10 features you’re angling after, and you’re happy to ride the interim wave, here’s how to get going.
You can perform a direct upgrade from Ubuntu 24.04 LTS to 24.10. You do not need to download an ISO, wipe your system, lose all your apps and data, and create a new user account. Upgrades are in-place meaning all of your apps and files are carried over.
There are some exceptions though, which I’ll get to in a moment.
You can not upgrade to Ubuntu 24.10 from Ubuntu versions older than 24.04 LTS. If you use Ubuntu 22.04 you must upgrade to 24.04, and then from 24.04 to 24.10. However, you may find it less hassle (and faster) to just do a fresh install.
Yet Ubuntu LTS users are often confused when they hear a new Ubuntu release is out but find when they run a software update check it says “all software is up-to-date”, and they have the latest release.
This is entirely by design.
Because of this you will not get an upgrade notification for Ubuntu 24.10 on Ubuntu 24.04 unless you tell your system it should check for any Ubuntu upgrade, not just LTS ones.
To do that do the following:
- Open Software & Updates
- Select the Updates tab
- At the bottom is ‘Notify me of a new Ubuntu version’
- Change ‘For long-term support versions’ to ‘For any new version‘
- Click ‘Close’
Now you are all set.
You can wait Ubuntu to notify you that an upgrade is available (which won’t be immediately) or open the Software Updater app, run an update check, and click ‘upgrade’ on the dialog1 above.
The upgrade process itself is largely automated. Read the on-screen information that appears, making sure you understand what’s it’s telling you is about to happen before you click ‘next’ or ‘yes’, and the process will:
- Show you information on the new release
- Disable all 3rd-party PPAs/APT repos
- Check installed packages
- Change 24.04 repos to 24.10
- Calculate changes and ask you to confirm
- Perform the upgrade
If you have the Firefox DEB, Thunderbird DEB, or Chromium DEB installed you should be aware that as the upgrade process disables third-party repos Ubuntu will re-install/replace the DEB versions with snap versions.
Upgrade to Ubuntu 24.10 (CLI)
You don’t need to use the graphics upgrade tool to make the leap as you can do it from the command-line too.
Assuming you’ve followed the steps above (to set Ubuntu to notify for all new releases, not just long-term support ones), and you’ve installed all pending updates, open a Terminal window and run:
sudo do-release-upgrade -cThis command checks for a new release. So long as it can ‘see’ the new release, proceed to upgrade by running:
sudo do-release-upgradeAll PPAs and 3rd-party repos are disabled, the noble repos changed to oracular ones, the upgrade package set calculated, and then you’ll be asked to continue by pressing y.
If you’re happy to upgrade, do so.
On-screen instructions will keep you informed as to what’s happening and how long is left, but do pay attention since you may be asked to confirm replacing a package or configuration file.
Note: do not cancel the do-release-upgrade process unexpectedly. If you do, you will need to re-enable the noble repos (24.04) in your sources list by hand. Forgetting to “fix” this does result in a broken system – be aware!Post update content.
Once the upgrade completes you’ll be told to reboot.
Before you upgrade, read this!
Before you upgrade to Ubuntu 24.10, from either the graphical upgrade tool or the command-line, I recommend you backup important files and folders first. Ideally, back them up to a different partition/device.
All 3rd-party PPAs, APT repositories, etc are disabled prior to upgrade. These are not automatically re-enabled after. You will need to manually re-enable each repo (assuming they support Ubuntu 24.10) from the Software & Updates > Other Software tab.
Finally, if you use GNOME Shell extensions you may find some are not (yet) compatible with GNOME 47 – though almost all of the most popular are, including Dash to Panel, ddterm, Blur My Shell, JustPerfection, Tiling Shell, Astra Monitor, Arc Menu, and many others.
- If you have other pending updates available you may need to install those first, then re-run the check for the upgrade notice to appear ↩︎