Upgrading from Ubuntu 14.04 to 16.04

Question

How do I upgrade from Ubuntu 14.04 to 16.04 with the help of CD. Further, will my old programs from release 14.04 work after I upgrading to 16.04?

Answer 1

The steps you should follow are:

1. Backup your previous install,
2. Insert cd or dvd and reboot system
3. You should see this image:

src: https://sites.google.com/site/easylinuxtipsproject/upgrade

--NOTE: Please don't choose the second option, i.e. the option crossed out in the image.

4. The first option is the right one.

Another method would be to run this from the terminal sudo update-manager -d enter password when asked, and hit return. Your will be checked for its readiness to upgrade and if all goes well a dialog box will appear asking to proceed with the upgrade. Click upgrade.

On Ubuntu Xenial Xerus the .deb packages currently do not launch so install gdebi package manager that would help.

Go here for further instructions on what has changed, might be worth reading first before upgrading. Most of your programs still work but some won't so read the changes here first before upgrading. Hope this helps.

Answer 2

General advice

To deal with OS upgrade/reinstall I always have a separate mount separate partition to /home. And the same way for any data you want it to survive over something big like OS reinstallation. One more thing is to backup /etc directory so you can refer to your old configuration later.

For additional information about backup: How to backup settings and list of installed packages

It's really worth to invest time, reading and work on the backup. You will be thankful to yourself in many cases of big and small problems.

Many people will jump right on trying new versions (i.e. Ubuntu 16.04) even though they may not be very experienced in the old version. These cases will result in tough learning experiences (I did). The good advice is to try the new thing on something unimportant first. For example, install it on a virtualbox machine or another computer; explore and see how it is before applying the changes to the important computer.

Regarding the upgrade

With the general advice above in mind, and that you've done something to follow it (at least make a list of installed software), you can choose the upgrade option. However, I would recommend doing the upgrade from the command-line terminal without the need of a CD/DVD/USB. It is not that hard and actually more convenient. Just read though the process first. Some good references are:

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Upgrades

Upgrading from the command line?

FYI, I've managed to maintain a server since Ubuntu 10.04 till now (14.04) via command line upgrade. Still, I don't feel the urge to upgrade to 16.04.