This article provides details on upgrading to Ubuntu 11.04 (code name “Natty Narwhal”) for desktop computers. To perform the upgrade you are required to run an graphical user interface like Gnome or KDE.

General upgrade information

An upgrade is the process of going from an earlier version of Ubuntu to a newer one. Skipping versions is not advised as it may cause damage to your system.

If you are using an earlier version, and want to ‘skip’ a version, the safest way is to backup your data and do a fresh installation, or to progressively upgrade to each successive version.

The following table contains a list of supported upgrade paths:

Requirements

• X11 is running with Gnome or KDE
• You can upgrade to Ubuntu 11.04 from release 10.10 only.
• Be sure that you have all updates applied to your system before you upgrade.
• Read the release notes for Ubuntu 11.04.
• Perform a backup of your system! At least all data files, database contents, custom applications, application configurations and custom system configurations should be included. If there are a lot of additional applications installed via apt_get or aptitude, you should consider to dump a list of all software packages installed in your system.

Configure your Upgrade Path

Depending on your system settings the upgrade path will be determined automatically.

The configuration may be performed via GUI or at command line (take a look at section Define your upgrade path). On the Gnome Desktop open then menu System / Administration. The Application is called Update Manager.

Click on the button labeled ‘Settings…’ and a new dialog will open. Selct the Updates tab. At the bottom you will find the proper configration setting.

The configuration setting at the bottom of this configuration tool should be set to normal or lts.

Perform the Upgrade

You can easily upgrade over the network with the following procedure.

1. Start System/Administration/Update Manager.
2. If there are any updates to install, use the Install Updates button to install them, and press Check again after the upgrade process has been compreted.
3. A message will appear informing you of the availability of the new release.
4. Click the Upgrade button.
5. Follow the on-screen instructions.
   

Upgrade from CD/DVD

If your network connection is not fast enough, not reliable, Ubuntu DVD images are provided in your LAN or if you just prefer to perform an upgrade from a local installation source, you can perform the following steps to uprade your system.

1. Download the alternate installation CD
2. It is not required to burn image files to a CD / DVD. Just mount the image file as a file from your desktop or by executing the following command line statement.

   123	# mount the image file$ sudo mount -o loop ~/Desktop/ubuntu-11.04-alternate-xxxx.iso /media/cdrom0

3. A dialog will be displayed offering you the opportunity to upgrade using that CD.
   
4. Follow the on-screen instructions.
5. If the upgrade dialog is not displayed for any reason, you may also run one of the following commands by pressing Alt+F2.

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   # if you are running Gnome$ gksu "sh /cdrom/cdromupgrade" # or if you are running Kubuntu$ kdesudo "sh /cdrom/cdromupgrade"

    

Related articles:

• Upgrade to Ubuntu 11.04 Using the Alternate CD / DVD
• Online Upgrade to Ubuntu 11.04 at Command Line
• Guide to Upgrade from Ubuntu 10.10 to 11.04
• Configure Update Interval for Ubuntu Updates
• Print Release Number of Your Ubuntu Installation