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I have Ubuntu 22.04 LTS and want to upgrade to 24.04 LTS without losing data or applications or their settings from my machine.

I realise that I can wait till August and then an automatic upgrade window will emerge during my regular system updates.

But I would like to upgrade now if there is an easy and reliable way to do this . . .

I have an ongoing (hourly) backup for my data and for my 22.04 LTS system.

EDIT

I tried the info link provided by guiverc. But only 23.10 is offered as an update.

Info screenshot

EDIT 2

Caution on 22.04 to 24.04 upgrades!

Read this article for details.

Trunk
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    Have you read the documented instructions? https://help.ubuntu.com/community/NobleUpgrades though of course ensure you read the BLOCKER bugs recorded in the tracking doc (https://discourse.ubuntu.com/t/noble-numbat-24-04-release-status-tracking/44043) and even maybe evaluate the other non-blocking graded bugs (for upgrade path) tracked on launchpad & assess how safe it'll be for your machine pre-release-upgrade. – guiverc May 03 '24 at 11:07
  • Maybe it's not worth the risk . . . – Trunk May 03 '24 at 11:22
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    The upgrade from 23.10 to 24.04 opens AFTER the release of Ubuntu 24.04 LTS and the Ubuntu Release team decide the upgrade path is stable and thus safe for users to use. The upgrade from the prior LTS (prior two year development cycle) will open only AFTER 24.04.1 LTS has been released & the safe for users determination has been made (ie. its not automatic on release of ISO, but occurs days after usually, at worst weeks after). This is normal, and was covered in release announcements/statements. – guiverc May 03 '24 at 11:41
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    Just as an aside... my backup strategy if I have problems is to just non-destructively re-install the system, which is I consider rather easy on Desktop systems (Ubuntu & flavors), as I've written about in a answer here, which alas is currently not available for ISOs using the ubuntu-desktop-installer on 24.04 (see last comment on my answer; though its available if you use a flavor using calamares but that's still not idea for Ubuntu Desktop users) so waiting is safest. – guiverc May 03 '24 at 12:03
  • Did switchover to 24.04.1 from 22.04.4 on 30 August 2024. Not without incident but no data files lost at least. – Trunk Sep 05 '24 at 16:17
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    UPDATE Serious crash after 2 weeks of 24.04.1 - boot-up failed. System restores useless as the system state for all 24.04 snapshots was inherently faulty. Unable to accept update to new kernel. A fresh install of 24.04 required and subsequent recovery of data and - where possible - app settings afterwards. This Ubuntu LTS was not ready on its upgrade date and Canonical likely knew so. – Trunk Oct 01 '24 at 17:11
  • Is this still the case? From 22 to 24.04.1? Not recommended? – Jorge Campos Jan 17 '25 at 18:18
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    @Jorge Campos I haven't heard otherwise - so please do not risk it. – Trunk Jan 17 '25 at 23:28
  • @Trunk Thank you!! – Jorge Campos Jan 20 '25 at 16:19

2 Answers2

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Before August 15th you’d need to go to 23.10, then to 24.04. See https://www.cyberciti.biz/faq/how-to-upgrade-from-ubuntu-22-04-lts-to-ubuntu-24-04-lts/

After 24.04.1 is out and has been marked safe, the direct LTS to LTS upgrade path opens.

This is true for all LTS releases: You can directly upgrade LTS to LTS after the .1 release is out and has been deemed safe.

EDIT

It's now 29 August. Wayland issues ?

Trunk
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Thorsten Behrens
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    Delayed again until September 12th?

    Source: https://discourse.ubuntu.com/t/ubuntu-22-04-5-final-point-release-delayed-until-september-12/47480

     – Jaded Antiquary Sep 04 '24 at 17:29
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    They should have delayed it till October or later if that was what it took to get it right. In the end my "upgrade" to 24.04 LTS from 22.04 LTS was a disaster. A whole new fresh 24.04 install had to be done and I had all the usual hassles w.r.t. installed apps, app settings and so forth. Of course I had separate disks for the backup system snapshots and the data files. but the timing of this system failure was awkward for me - perhaps for many other people too as September is busy for many. – Trunk Oct 01 '24 at 20:55
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For the "easy way", you will have to wait until the Ubuntu developpers deem the upgrade sufficiently tested and safe to roll it out to the general public.

In the mean time, upgrading through the command line is possible. As this involves copying 3 commands, then answering four prompts, that path also could arguably be called rather easy.

If you want to be easy and on the safe side, just follow the distribution's policy.

vanadium
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