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I have a 64-bit machine. Way back, over a decade ago, when I first installed Ubuntu, the 32-bit version was recommended, so that is what I installed. I have kept it upgraded and have had no problems at all. Nice system.

Now I want to upgrade to 20.04. What do I do?

I don't want to be stuck due to a decision that was recommended!!!

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2 Answers 2

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Get a Live disc of 20.04 or 20.10 to make sure it works with your machine. Use usb-creator-gtk if you want to use it with USB.

If the Live disc doesn't work on your system... upgrade or downgrade to 18.04. That should give you a few years to figure out how to get 64-bit Ubuntu working on your system or find another distro that works.

If the Live disc checks out...

  • Boot back into your 32-bit system.

  • Save a list of packages on your system: apt-mark showmanual > packages.txt

  • Backup /opt, /etc, /home, and any other folders that might have data you want to save.

  • Boot the Live disc to install the 64-bit system.

    • Let the installer format /.
    • If /home is on a separate partition, you can leave it alone.
    • It should be safe to use the same home directory, but you may choose to create a new one. It's up to you.

  • Boot into the installed system (now 64-bit). Use the package list to install packages. You might have to edit the list to get this to work properly.

    sudo apt install `cat packages.txt`

    Or look through the list to pick out packages you want to install separately.

  • When reconfiguring the system, use /etc backup as reference, but don't just copy it over.

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  • I started with version 11.04. I never made the change to 64-bit because (1) people wrote that it was horrendously difficult, and (2) 32-bit was working fine.
    – Scott McCaskill
    Oct 29, 2020 at 17:23
  • I'm pretty sure I was using 64-bit before 2009. I'd characterize it as mildly inconvenient. To run 32-bit programs, you have to install i386 libraries. I think the biggest problem was getting Flash to run in 64-bit browsers. But then they released a 64-bit version, and now it's gone.
    – xiota
    Oct 29, 2020 at 18:00
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    Result -- I followed your directions EXACTLY and it worked well. The 'apt install' failed, but I just manually installed the packages I needed, no problem. I copied in my entire saved /home, and nearly everything worked fine. Firefox needed a little tweaking. The whole procedure took less than a day. Thank you very much for your help.
    – Scott McCaskill
    Nov 1, 2020 at 18:20
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Recommendations change over time.

The pool of Ubuntu contributors who run 32-bit desktops has shrunk. There are now too few 32-bit Desktop contributors to test, troubleshoot bugs, and provide support.

Feel free to recruit more 32-bit Desktop contributors. There's no rule or policy that 32-bit Desktops are being abandoned forever.

The only decision so far is that Canonical won't replace those missing community contributors with it's paid engineers. The result of that decision is that nobody is making 32-bit Desktop releases anymore. That result can be changed with more community involvement.

Ubuntu 18.04 32-bit is still fully supported until 2023, so you have some time to start organizing and contributing toward the (hypothetical) 22.04 release.

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