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i have a teamspeak voice server and sinus bot running on my vps with ubuntu 20.04 TLS installed and i would like to upgrade to the latest version 22.04 or even 22.10.

Since i already configured both servers and invested quite some time i would like to upgrade without loosing any data and configuration on my server and of course the voice server and sinusbot should work after the upgrade. I guess a full backup of my machine would be a good idea but i have no idea how to do that.

Can you guys help me through the process to make a backup and how i can properly upgrade to the latest version without loosing files or corrupting my server ? Thank you :)

Kind regards

  • Did you read any of the announcements which included links to upgrade instructions etc., eg. https://help.ubuntu.com/community/JammyUpgrades You don't want to move to 22.10 unless you're planning to subsequently release-upgrade to 23.04 given EOL warning notices are already out (https://fridge.ubuntu.com/2023/06/14/ubuntu-22-10-kinetic-kudu-reaches-end-of-life-on-july-20-2023/) as 22.10 isn't the latest. I'd always start by reading announcements https://fridge.ubuntu.com/2023/02/24/ubuntu-22-04-2-lts-released/ + release notes etc as many useful links are provided – guiverc Jun 17 '23 at 22:32
  • Does this answer your question? How do I upgrade to a newer version of Ubuntu? – guiverc Jun 17 '23 at 22:34
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    FYI: I'm involved with QA (desktops though, not servers) and we QA test all supported upgrade paths, and all issues we discover get documented & if they cannot be fixed and maybe problematic for end-users, they are documented in the release notes & upgrade instructions - why not just read some of those prepared notices! (due to space in prior comment not all were provided). Probably most important is the release notes for the release you're wanting to go to (ie. https://discourse.ubuntu.com/t/jammy-jellyfish-release-notes/24668 which was in ~all links anyway) – guiverc Jun 17 '23 at 22:37

1 Answers1

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The basic workflow of a successful release upgrade is this:

  1. Backup your data.
  2. Return your system to as close to stock install as possible. Disable all non-Ubuntu sources, and uninstall all the packages that came from those sources.
  3. Run a final sudo apt update and sudo apt upgrade. Fix ALL errors. Release-upgrades rarely fix package errors, but often make those errors worse.
  4. [Optional] Prepare a LiveUSB installer. The "Try Ubuntu" environment is invaluable for fixing upgrade problems.
  5. Run the release-upgrade. do-release-upgrade. Make sure you are on mains power (not battery), and on a reliable and fast network connection. Allow plenty of time (1-2 hours). Check the screen every few minutes -- the upgrader might pause awaiting your answer to a question.
  6. Reboot into the newly-upgraded release of Ubuntu. Test your functions: Stream a movie to test your network, video, and audio. Test printing, webcam, microphone.
  7. Review all of your add-on sources and applications. Some might be in the Ubuntu repositories now (no new source needed). Some might be no longer needed at all. Some sources might be incompatible with the new release of Ubuntu. Reinstall your add-on applications from trusted, compatible sources. Keep notes on what you added, and from where -- it really helps Step #2 next time.
  8. Your data should be untouched by the upgrade. Check that your data is compatible with the new versions of your applications.

The most common problem encountered during a release-upgrade is NOT lost/corrupted data. The most common problem encountered is a package version conflict. Steps #2 and #7 might seem like a lot of work, but that's how you prevent the most common problem. DON'T skip these steps or take shortcuts.

If something goes very badly wrong, Steps #1 and #4 ensure that you can rebuild a working system from bare metal with all your data intact. Being prepared for problems is the best way to ensure that you don't encounter those problems.

user535733
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  • Thank you very much. That helps a lot.

    Since i am using a VPS with a panel that just lets me reinstall Ubuntu with a mouse click, if something goes very wrong, i could just put all my important files (e.g the files from my voice server and bot that i installed) in a tar.bz2 archive so it also saves permissions and just download the tar.bz2 file with sftp to my home computer as a backup. Would that work ? In case i have to reinstall the os i can just upload that tar.bz2 file and restore the files including permissions.

     –  Jun 18 '23 at 01:59
  • Alright thank you. Sorry for not clarifying that. So just to make sure, when i put all my important files i want to backup in a tar.bz2 archiev and download that file, store it somewhere, i could just reupload it to the vm, unpack it and have all my files restored including permissions, right ? Becausee if this works that would be very helpful and especially convenient. –  Jun 18 '23 at 02:09
  • Good plan. Try it! Spin up a VM and test it! That's what the smart folks do: Test their idea in a safe place first. If something goes wrong, nothing is lost and knowledge is gained. Kudos for realizing that a simple archive file is all you really need. – user535733 Jun 18 '23 at 02:11