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I have installed Ubuntu 18.04 (Bionic Beaver), which my PC was upgraded to after it had 32 bit Ubuntu 16.04, because the system suggested me to do so.

Today I discovered that there's no .iso with Ubuntu 18.04 LTS 32 bit on the official Ubuntu sites, including http://releases.ubuntu.com/18.04/.

Also, I have read a little bit about mini.iso aka Netboot. But, for Ubuntu upgrade I haven't used a piece of extra media like USB or CD, it went in a usual desktop environment. Related: How come Ubuntu 18.04 LTS has a 32bit iso installer?

The question is: why I have an official Ubuntu 18.04, which does not exist on the official Ubuntu download webpage? How it works?

uname -a output:

Linux mathway-GA-970A-DS3 4.15.0-112-generic #113-Ubuntu SMP Thu Jul 9 23:41:06 UTC 2020 i686 athlon i686 GNU/Linux

Screenshot

pomsky
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mathway
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    There is no Ubuntu 18.04 LTS desktop ISO, that was announced years ago and hasn't changed. Yes Ubuntu 18.04 LTS is supported on x86 (flavor ISOs exist, plus netboot), but there is no i386/x86 desktop ISO except for amd64. Sorry I don't understand you actual question (some flavors supported 18.10 fully too for x86, and continued into the 19.04 cycle for alpha ISOs, which had fully upgraded packages for 19.04 if actually installed). – guiverc Aug 08 '20 at 01:01
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    18.04 is the last LTS that will do an 32 bit for upgrading. 20.04 will not allow/do upgrade from a 32 bit system. They have stopped the 32 bit ISO images to do installs with 18.04, some favours are still available as 32 bit. Think your CPU is 64 bit capable(you have to check) so you will need to do a clean install for next upgrade. Need to back up first to save data. – crip659 Aug 08 '20 at 01:12
  • Why don't you install a 64-bit release? – Pilot6 Aug 08 '20 at 10:07
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    @Pilot6 This PC lay in dust many years until recently. There was somehow 32bit Windows 7 and I though the processor was too. Now I know it isn't, so I gonna switch to 64 soon :) – mathway Aug 08 '20 at 13:17

1 Answers1

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There is no Ubuntu 18.04 LTS desktop ISO, that was announced years ago and hasn't changed (wasn't any for 17.10 either).

Yes, Ubuntu 18.04 LTS is supported on x86 (flavor ISOs exist, plus netboot), but there is no i386/x86 desktop ISO except for amd64.

Some flavors (e.g. Lubuntu & Xubuntu) supported 18.10 fully for x86, and even continued into the 19.04 cycle for alpha ISOs (last ISO was very early Dec-2018 for Xubuntu, late Dec-2018 for Lubuntu) which had you installed either, your system would have had all upgraded packages for the life of 19.04.

The x86 upgrades were disabled completely just prior to 19.10's actual release (https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/1845714)

If you're using x86/32-bit though, your best supported bet is 18.04 LTS, as it'll have 5 years of support for main repository (server, default desktop) and 3 years for flavors.

pomsky
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guiverc
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  • Actually I bet if you added other desktops to 18.10/19.04 systems including ubuntu-desktop they may have run, however I didn't try as I was testing supported desktops, and using i386 on pentium M, D & 4 boxes so running GNOME and heavier desktop just didn't make any sense anyway. Likewise it made no sense on my hardware on the 18.04 system (Unity 7 on 16.04 struggled) so I never tried default GNOME ubuntu-desktop on x86. – guiverc Aug 08 '20 at 01:28
  • We are currently testing bionic 18.04.5 ISOs (http://iso.qa.ubuntu.com/qatracker/milestones/415/builds) and I have a i386 image being updated (zsync) as I write this for test. x86 is still supported and ISOs still being generated you'll note for bionic – guiverc Aug 08 '20 at 03:01
  • Well, but I have a typical Ubuntu, not a flavor or netboot, and it is 32 bit. – mathway Aug 08 '20 at 13:51
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    @math.way What the answer says is Canonical Ltd. (the Ubuntu company) just does not provide an Ubuntu 18.04 LTS desktop ISO, but upgrading from Ubuntu 16.04, 32-bit to Ubuntu 18.04 is very much allowed. – pomsky Aug 08 '20 at 14:04
  • @pomsky Ok, but I find it strange that to get a 32 bit Ubuntu 18.04 I should firstly download a 32 bit Ubuntu 16.04 and then upgrade from it to the Bionic Beaver, instead of directly downloading iso from the official site. – mathway Aug 08 '20 at 14:35
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    @math I don't find it strange, it is a very reasonable strategy of phasing out 32-bit versions imo (as opposed to pulling the plug all of a sudden). – pomsky Aug 08 '20 at 14:41
  • @pomsky Hmm... Yeah, from this point of view I cannot disagree. – mathway Aug 08 '20 at 14:52