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Upgrading from 24.04 LTS to 26.04 LTS

1Full backup

Dump /etc, /home, and your databases at minimum; servers should keep IPMI or a console as fallback.

2apt full-upgrade

Bring the existing 24.04 packages fully up to date so the upgrader starts from a clean baseline.

3do-release-upgrade

Trigger the cross-release upgrade; accept defaults with Y when prompted and do not interrupt power.

Note

26.04.1 was released on August 27, 2026, the point at which automatic upgrade prompts for 24.04 LTS open. Canonical says a rust-coreutils regression fix must land first, so the automatic prompt is expected about two weeks after the release (early September 2026); in the meantime, sudo do-release-upgrade -d works immediately.

Ubuntu supports direct LTS-to-LTS upgrades. This article provides a detailed guide for upgrading from Ubuntu 24.04 LTS (Noble Numbat) to 26.04 LTS.

Prerequisites

  • Current system is Ubuntu 24.04 LTS with all updates installed
  • At least 5 GB of free disk space
  • Stable network connection
  • Data backup completed
  • For remote servers, ensure you have out-of-band management (such as IPMI, cloud console) as a backup access method
Warning

A version upgrade is a major operation with risks of failure or software incompatibility. Be sure to complete a full data backup before upgrading. For servers, ensure you have out-of-band management or other backup access methods. Do not interrupt power or network connections during the upgrade process.

Pre-Upgrade Preparation

1. Confirm Current Version

lsb_release -a
cat /etc/os-release

2. Update the Current System

sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade -y
sudo apt dist-upgrade -y
sudo apt autoremove -y

3. Ensure update-manager-core Is Installed

sudo apt install update-manager-core -y

4. Check Upgrade Policy

cat /etc/update-manager/release-upgrades

Confirm that Prompt is set to lts:

[DEFAULT]
Prompt=lts

If the value is not lts, change it:

sudo sed -i 's/^Prompt=.*/Prompt=lts/' /etc/update-manager/release-upgrades

5. Handle Third-Party Sources and PPAs

# List all third-party sources
grep -r "^deb " /etc/apt/sources.list.d/ 2>/dev/null
apt-cache policy | grep -v ubuntu.com
 
# It is recommended to disable all PPAs before upgrading
sudo add-apt-repository --remove ppa:example/ppa
# Or manually comment out third-party sources

The upgrade tool will automatically disable third-party sources, but handling them in advance can reduce potential issues.

6. Record Current System State

# Record installed packages
dpkg --get-selections > ~/packages-before-upgrade.txt
 
# Record running services
systemctl list-units --type=service --state=running > ~/services-before-upgrade.txt
 
# Record network configuration
ip addr > ~/network-before-upgrade.txt
cat /etc/netplan/*.yaml > ~/netplan-before-upgrade.txt 2>/dev/null
 
# Record kernel version
uname -r > ~/kernel-before-upgrade.txt

Performing the Upgrade

Desktop System

# Graphical interface upgrade
sudo do-release-upgrade -f DistUpgradeViewGtk3

Or wait for the system to automatically display an upgrade notification.

Server / Command Line

# Upgrade via SSH
sudo do-release-upgrade

If 26.04 was just recently released, you may need to add the -d flag:

sudo do-release-upgrade -d

Interactions During the Upgrade

Several prompts will appear during the upgrade process:

  1. Upgrade confirmation - Confirm to proceed with the upgrade
  2. SSH port - The upgrade tool will start a backup SSH service on port 1022 in case port 22 is interrupted
  3. Configuration file conflicts - When a configuration file has been modified, you need to choose whether to keep the local version or use the new version
    • For critical files (like SSH configuration), it is recommended to keep the local version
    • When unsure, keep the local version and manually merge after the upgrade
  4. Remove obsolete packages - Choose whether to delete packages that are no longer needed
  5. Restart confirmation - Restart the system after the upgrade is complete

Special Considerations for SSH Upgrades

# The upgrade tool will prompt to run a backup SSH on port 1022
# If the main SSH connection drops, use:
ssh -p 1022 user@server-ip
 
# Allow port 1022 through the firewall
sudo ufw allow 1022/tcp
 
# It is recommended to run the upgrade in screen or tmux
sudo apt install screen -y
screen -S upgrade
sudo do-release-upgrade
 
# If disconnected, reattach:
screen -r upgrade

Post-Upgrade Verification

1. Confirm Version

lsb_release -a
# Should display Ubuntu 26.04 LTS
 
cat /etc/os-release
uname -r

2. Check System Status

# Check for broken packages
sudo dpkg --audit
sudo apt --fix-broken install
 
# Check for held-back packages
apt list --upgradable
 
# Complete remaining updates
sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade -y

3. Check Service Status

# View failed services
systemctl --failed
 
# Compare with the pre-upgrade service list
systemctl list-units --type=service --state=running

4. Cleanup

# Remove old kernels (keep current and previous version)
sudo apt autoremove --purge -y
 
# Clean package cache
sudo apt clean
 
# Re-enable needed third-party sources (update to 26.04 version)
# Note: The version codename in PPA URLs needs to be updated

5. Restore Third-Party Sources

# After upgrade, third-party sources are disabled with .distUpgrade suffix
ls /etc/apt/sources.list.d/*.distUpgrade
 
# Check if the PPA supports 26.04
# If it does, re-add it
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:example/ppa

Common Issues

Upgrade Process Interrupted

# If the upgrade is interrupted, try to resume
sudo dpkg --configure -a
sudo apt --fix-broken install
sudo do-release-upgrade

“No new release found”

# Confirm the Prompt setting is correct
cat /etc/update-manager/release-upgrades
 
# Try the -d parameter
sudo do-release-upgrade -d
 
# Check network connectivity
ping changelogs.ubuntu.com

Package Dependency Conflicts

# View conflict details
sudo apt -f install
sudo dpkg --audit
 
# Force configure unfinished packages
sudo dpkg --configure -a
 
# View logs
cat /var/log/dist-upgrade/main.log
cat /var/log/dist-upgrade/apt.log

System Won’t Boot After Upgrade

If the system fails to boot after upgrading:

  1. Select an older kernel from the GRUB menu
  2. Enter Recovery Mode
  3. Check logs in /var/log/dist-upgrade/
  4. Repair broken packages: dpkg --configure -a && apt --fix-broken install

Upgrade Logs

All upgrade logs are saved in the /var/log/dist-upgrade/ directory:

ls -la /var/log/dist-upgrade/
# main.log      - Main log
# apt.log       - APT operation log
# apt-term.log  - APT terminal output
# history.log   - Upgrade history
# lspci.txt     - Hardware information snapshot
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