Distribution upgrade problem "No new release found"

Question

I'm using Ubuntu 11.04. The update manager once found the new release 'oneiric', and still shows up this screen when I log on use ssh:

Welcome to Ubuntu 11.04 (GNU/Linux 2.6.38-14-generic x86_64)

 * Documentation:  https://help.ubuntu.com/

0 packages can be updated.
0 updates are security updates.

New release 'oneiric' available.
Run 'do-release-upgrade' to upgrade to it.

Last login: Wed Apr 25 16:22:48 2012 from ***

But I didn't upgrade then, and change my apt sources. And now I cannot upgrade to 'oneiric'. do-relase-upgrade shows:

$ sudo do-release-upgrade
Checking for a new ubuntu release
No new release found
$

And apt-get dist-upgrade shows:

$ sudo apt-get dist-upgrade
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
Calculating upgrade... Done
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
$

I can successfully update all my packages.

---

File contents of source.list:

$ cat /etc/apt/sources.list
## See sources.list(5) for more information, especialy
# Remember that you can only use http, ftp or file URIs

deb http://mirrors.tuna.tsinghua.edu.cn/ubuntu/ natty main universe restricted multiverse
deb-src http://mirrors.tuna.tsinghua.edu.cn/ubuntu/ natty main universe restricted multiverse
deb http://mirrors.tuna.tsinghua.edu.cn/ubuntu/ natty-security universe main multiverse restricted
deb-src http://mirrors.tuna.tsinghua.edu.cn/ubuntu/ natty-security universe main multiverse restricted
deb http://mirrors.tuna.tsinghua.edu.cn/ubuntu/ natty-updates universe main multiverse restricted
deb-src http://mirrors.tuna.tsinghua.edu.cn/ubuntu/ natty-updates universe main multiverse restricted
deb http://mirrors.tuna.tsinghua.edu.cn/ubuntu/ natty-backports universe main multiverse restricted
deb-src http://mirrors.tuna.tsinghua.edu.cn/ubuntu/ natty-backports universe main multiverse restricted


# deb http://ubuntu.dormforce.net/ubuntu/ lucid main universe restricted multiverse
# deb-src http://ubuntu.dormforce.net/ubuntu/ lucid main universe restricted multiverse
# deb http://ubuntu.dormforce.net/ubuntu/ lucid-security universe main multiverse restricted
# deb-src http://ubuntu.dormforce.net/ubuntu/ lucid-security universe main multiverse restricted
# deb http://ubuntu.dormforce.net/ubuntu/ lucid-updates universe main multiverse restricted
# deb-src http://ubuntu.dormforce.net/ubuntu/ lucid-updates universe main multiverse restricted

# CDROMs are managed through the apt-cdrom tool.
# deb http://archive.canonical.com lucid partner
# deb http://archive.canonical.com lucid-security partner
# deb http://archive.canonical.com lucid-updates partner
# deb-src http://archive.canonical.com lucid partner
# deb-src http://archive.canonical.com lucid-security partner
# deb-src http://archive.canonical.com lucid-updates partner


#medibuntu repo
# deb http://packages.medibuntu.org/ lucid free non-free
# deb-src http://packages.medibuntu.org/ lucid free non-free

# deb http://extras.ubuntu.com/ubuntu maverick main #Third party developers repository
deb http://mirrors.sohu.com/ubuntu/ natty main restricted multiverse universe
deb-src http://mirrors.sohu.com/ubuntu/ natty main universe restricted multiverse #Added by software-properties
deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ natty-security universe main multiverse restricted
deb-src http://mirrors.sohu.com/ubuntu/ natty-security universe main multiverse restricted
deb http://mirrors.sohu.com/ubuntu/ natty-updates universe main multiverse restricted
deb-src http://mirrors.sohu.com/ubuntu/ natty-updates universe main multiverse restricted

File contents of /etc/update-manager/meta-release:

$ cat /etc/update-manager/meta-release
# default location for the meta-release file

[METARELEASE]
URI = http://changelogs.ubuntu.com/meta-release
URI_LTS = http://changelogs.ubuntu.com/meta-release-lts
URI_UNSTABLE_POSTFIX = -development
URI_PROPOSED_POSTFIX = -proposed

What may be the problem of this?

Answer 1

Check /etc/update-manager/release-upgrades

Prompt=lts

will cause upgrade to fail if the release you are currently on is not an LTS one.

Solution:

Change Prompt=lts to Prompt=normal and save the changes

Do the required upgrades until you have installed a LTS release.

Then change back to Prompt=lts

Done.

Answer 2

To upgrade from Ubuntu 11.10 or Ubuntu 10.04 LTS on a server or system: install the update-manager-core package if it is not already installed; launch the upgrade tool with the command sudo do-release-upgrade -d; and follow the on-screen instructions. Note that the server upgrade is now more robust and will utilize GNU screen and automatically re-attach in case of e.g. dropped connection problems.

Answer 3

One possible reason is that the release available stamp file hangs around incorrectly. The following fixes this issue:

sudo rm /var/lib/ubuntu-release-upgrader/release-upgrade-available

This file is safe to remove as it will be regenerated next time the motd script runs if appropriate.

---

Reason: this issue came up for me in 13.04 after a partially completed release upgrade which I completed with apt-get distupgrade. If the stamp file in /var/lib/ubuntu-release-upgrader/release-upgrade-available exists and has a message that a new release is available, it is shown on every login via the motd script: /etc/update-motd.d/91-release-upgrade, which calls /usr/lib/ubuntu-release-upgrader/release-upgrade-motd to update the stamp if it's empty. See these files for more info on why this hangs around.

Answer 4

This can also happen if apt is configured to use a proxy and the proxy does not work properly. In my case the file /etc/apt/apt.conf.d/01proxy contained the line

Acquire::http::Proxy "http://proxy.local:9999";

and the server proxy.local was not responding. Removing this line fixed the "No new release found" issue with the graphical and terminal update tool.

Answer 5

In my case, a running 12.04 will not offer to upgrade to 12.10. The reason is because there are compatibility issues with my video hardware in 12.10. The tools told me after I tried to force the upgrade.

Answer 6

I had the problem with 12.04 - > 13.04 and it was fixed by using -d option as guided coleman/Kagan above i.e.:

do-release-upgrade -d

Answer 7

For old releases that have reached their EOL cycle, you can try this:

Download the meta-release info locally with this instruction: https://askubuntu.com/a/502485/34298

Answer 8

It's possible to happen if you are using do-release-upgrade under socks client (proxychains or tsocks command). Your socks server or socks client does not support DNS lookup. Workaround for this is adding host entries to /etc/hosts file while distribution upgrade:

91.189.88.17    old-releases.ubuntu.com
91.189.92.201   archive.ubuntu.com
91.189.91.15    security.ubuntu.com
91.189.95.36    changelogs.ubuntu.com