Ubuntu 23.10, code-named Mantic Minotaur is the latest version of Ubuntu. It comes with nine (9) months of security updates and maintenance updates and is supported till July 2024, i.e., it is a short-term release. Additionally, the system requirements to use Ubuntu 23.10 are the same as those of Ubuntu 22.04. Ubuntu 23.10 comes with many new features and improvements that increase user experience. Linux 23.10 introduces features like GCC 13 compiler, GNOME 45, Linux kernel 6.5, and a new flutter-based app center. This article will demonstrate how to upgrade from Ubuntu 22 to Ubuntu 23.

How to Upgrade from Ubuntu 22 to Ubuntu 23?

Ubuntu is the most popular Linux distribution that offers a variety of features, such as free-to-use, resource-friendly, and secure. It is recommended to back up the data before starting the upgrade process. To Upgrade from Ubuntu 22 to Ubuntu 23, execute the following steps:

Step 1: Update System Repositories

Before upgrading to Ubuntu 23.10, ensure that the current Ubuntu version is up to date. To update system repositories, run the following command:

$ sudo apt update

Step 2: Upgrade Packages

After updating system repositories, upgrade packages to their respective latest versions. To upgrade packages, run the following command:

$ sudo apt upgrade

Press Y to continue with the upgrade process. The Upgradation of packages takes time depending on the number of packages to update and the speed of the internet:

Next, reboot the system by executing the following command:

$ sudo reboot

To verify the system has been upgraded to the latest version of Ubuntu, execute the following command to check the version of Ubuntu:

$ cat /etc/os-release

The above output indicates that the latest version of Ubuntu, i.e., 22.04.03 is upgraded. Now the system is ready to upgrade to Ubuntu 23.10.

Step 3: Install the Update Manager

The “Update Manager” enables you to upgrade to a newer version of Ubuntu without the need to uninstall the previous version. To install the update manager, run the following command:

$ sudo apt install update-manager-core

Step 4: Configure the Update Manager

To configure the update manager, edit the /etc/update-manager/release-upgrades configuration file by accessing it via nano text editor:

$ sudo nano /etc/update-manager/release-upgrades

This above command will launch the /etc/update-manager/release-upgrades in Nano text editor:

Edit the /etc/update-manager/release-upgrades file and replace “prompt=lts” with “prompt=normal”:

Prompt=normal

Save and Exit the Nano text editor by pressing Ctrl+O and Ctrl+X respectively.

Step 5: Update the “source.list” File

The source.list is a package resource list for APT (Advance Package Tool). The Ubuntu 22.4 version code name is jammy while the Ubuntu 23.10 version code name is mantic. Therefore, in order to update Ubuntu 22.04 to Ubuntu 23.10, replace all occurrences jammy with mantic and update the “source.list” file. To update the “sources.list” file via the sed command, execute the following:

$ sudo sed -i ‘s/jammy/mantic/g’ /etc/apt/sources.list

Step 6: Update System Repositories

Next, update the sources to update the packages using the “sources.list” file that was updated in the previous section. The system repositories will be updated using mantic packages instead of jammy packages:

$ sudo apt update

The system repositories will take some time to update depending on the number of packages to be updated and the speed of the internet:

The above output indicates that 1375 mantic packages are updated.

Step 7: Upgrade Packages

To sync the changes once the mantic packages are updated, upgrade the system repositories by executing the following command:

$ sudo apt upgrade

Press “Y” to continue with the upgrade process:

The user will be prompted to restart the service. Press “Yes” to continue:

After the reboot, the following window pops up, which is undergoing the process of unpacking the packages for Ubuntu 23:

Once the packages are unpacked, reboot the system by executing the following command:

$ sudo reboot

After the reboot, The Ubuntu starts in Ubuntu 23.10, as depicted in the following snippet:

Step 8: Verify the Upgrade

To verify the system is upgraded to Ubuntu 23.10, execute the following command to check the version of Ubuntu:

$ cat /etc/os-release

The above output indicates that Ubuntu has successfully upgraded to 23.10.

Conclusion

To upgrade from Ubuntu 22 to Ubuntu 23, first update and upgrade repositories. Then, install the update manager by executing the “sudo apt install update-manager-core” command. Next, configure the update manager and update the “source.list” file by the “sudo sed -i ‘s/jammy/mantic/g’ /etc/apt/sources.list” command. After that, update, upgrade, and reboot the system. Finally, the system will be rebooted in Ubuntu 23. This article demonstrated how to upgrade from Ubuntu 22 to Ubuntu 23.