Upgrade Ubuntu 12.04 LTS to Ubuntu 14.04 LTS

Upgrade Ubuntu 12.04 LTS to Ubuntu 14.04 LTS

First things first: make sure that you are fully up-to-date. Double check by opening the Update Manager application from the dash and installing all updates listed.

When that’s done, open the Dash again and launch the Terminal application. When it opens click inside the window and type the following command carefully:

sudo update-manager -d

Hit the return/enter key and, if prompted, enter your user password.

The Update Manager application will open after a few seconds with a prompt to upgrade. Click this button to begin the process.

I tested this just now.

$ lsb_release -a

No LSB modules are available.

Distributor ID: Ubuntu

Description: Ubuntu 12.04.5 LTS

Release: 12.04 Codename: precise

Then:

$ sudo do-release-upgrade

Checking for a new Ubuntu release

Get:1 Upgrade tool signature [198 B]
Get:2 Upgrade tool [1,156 kB]
Fetched 1,156 kB in 0s (0 B/s)

authenticate 'trusty.tar.gz' against 'trusty.tar.gz.gpg' extracting 'trusty.tar.gz'

Also, while an LTS-to-LTS upgrade should preserve all your files it would be prudent to make a backup of any important documents, folders and photos before you begin. It’s rare for ‘direct upgrades’ to go wrong, but never say never.