85

How do I upgrade to the unreleased version of Ubuntu for testing?

5
  • 1
    In my opinion you should re-install if you want to use a beta. And it is a lot quicker than upgrading (plus you can still keep your old files).
    – Rinzwind
    Mar 20, 2014 at 9:00
  • @datanela please, this question is a generic "how I can upgrade" don't use version specific tags for non-hardware related questions!
    – Braiam
    Mar 20, 2014 at 23:24
  • From LTS to LTS it's always possible to upgrade, but only after there's a point release, I don't recommend you to upgrade to beta yet.
    – Braiam
    Mar 20, 2014 at 23:25
  • @LuísdeSousa that is not what he's asking, he's asking if he can upgrade from a LTS to LTS.
    – Braiam
    Mar 20, 2014 at 23:26
  • ^^ this is the right way Mar 20, 2014 at 23:27

5 Answers 5

87

The truly command line way is (e.g. if you don't have a gui):

sudo do-release-upgrade -d

where -d means update to a development version

do-release-upgrade [options]

DESCRIPTION

   Upgrade  the  operating system to the latest release from the command-line.
   This is the preferred command if the machine has no graphic environment
   or if the machine is to be upgraded over a remote connection.

OPTIONS

   -h, --help
          show help message and exit

   -d, --devel-release
          Check if upgrading to the latest devel release is possible
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  • 5
    This works for me (Kubuntu) while update-manager does not (not present).
    – sje397
    May 2, 2011 at 0:00
  • Checking for a new Ubuntu release Get:1 Upgrade tool signature [198 B] Get:2 Upgrade tool [1,148 kB] Fetched 1,148 kB in 6s (58.3 kB/s) authenticate 'trusty.tar.gz' against 'trusty.tar.gz.gpg' extracting 'trusty.tar.gz' Can not run the upgrade This usually is caused by a system where /tmp is mounted noexec. Please remount without noexec and run the upgrade again. May 3, 2014 at 5:20
  • 4
    Editing /etc/update-manager/release-upgrades to prompt=normal will let you get non-LTS releases that should be more stable than the latest devel release.
    – syvex
    Feb 17, 2016 at 21:36
  • This solution does not work for me, it tells me that there is no new release.
    – user364819
    Sep 3, 2016 at 19:12
  • 3
    As syvex mentions, edit /etc/update-manager/release-upgrades and change prompt=lts to prompt=normal otherwise the dev release will not be offered. This should be added to the answer...
    – Cas
    Dec 20, 2016 at 17:03
58

Press Alt + F2 and type update-manager -d. On the top of the window you will see an info of the new Ubuntu+1 "release".

enter image description here

However, upgrading to a development release is not recommended, as it is a unstable release.

See this question for tips when you have problems: There's an issue with an Alpha/Beta Release of Ubuntu, what should I do?

2
  • 2
    This won't work if you don't have the software-sources correctly configured.
    – Lucio
    Aug 9, 2013 at 5:00
  • This solution does not work for me. It just tells me that there is no new release to upgrade to.
    – user364819
    Sep 3, 2016 at 19:17
29

There are two ways to upgrade:

  • Upgrade using update-manager
  • Upgrade using alternate cd

However note it is not recommended to upgrade it to Ubuntu+1, since it is not stable.

Upgrade using update-manager:

Press Alt+F2 and then type update-manager -d. When update manager appears then click on upgrade.

alt text

Upgrade using alternate cd:

You can also upgrade using the alternate cd. After downloading the latest build then press Alt+F2 and enter gksu /cdrom/cdromupgrade.

Because it is a development release, you will almost certainly have problems. See: There's an issue with an Alpha Release of Ubuntu, what should I do?

0
19

From 11.04 onwards,when you boot the LiveCD and start installing there will be an option to upgrade.

It will automatically detect installed Apps and install the updated version of your Apps.

live CD : Allocate drive space

Source

6

you can always download the upcoming Ubuntu release ISO file at

http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/daily-live/current/

The link is perpetual ... its always pointing to the follow-on release

After you download the ISO file then burn onto a USB using unetbootin at https://unetbootin.github.io/ and boot off this USB stick (or burn ISO onto a DVD)

instructions on how to burn ISO file onto USB memory stick :

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:gezakovacs/ppa
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install unetbootin

plug in your USB memory stick - formatted for FAT

sudo unetbootin  #  then choose ISO and pick local ISO file

now pick Diskimage (not Distribution) and pull up the ISO file you just downloaded

To boot up from this USB stick may require you to hit ESC key on a reboot to get into your BIOS settings to have it boot from the USB instead of normal SSD/harddrive

Once booted launch the Upgrade application which gives you options like install new OS along side existing OS


Alternatively to perform an upgrade in place issue these after you backup critical documents

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get dist-upgrade
sudo apt install update-manager-core;

then make this edit

vi /etc/update-manager/release-upgrades

Prompt=normal     # to allow upgrade to next available
# Prompt=lts      # <-- to go from current LTS to next one ... say 16.04 to 18.04 

sudo do-release-upgrade -d

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