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I'm very new to Linux; I've been using Lucid for about 5 months and really like it. What is the best way to update to Maverick without losing all my settings? Will just running the update manager actually do a full kernel update?

fossfreedom
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EmmyS
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4 Answers4

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Yes! Your settings for the most part are stored in your home directory. Any changes required by the upgrade outside of this are fairly minimal and will be handled by the upgrade process (NTP, Network, etc).

Nerdfest
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Hello and welcome to the Ubuntu community!

Yes if you update using the Update Manager you should not lose any of your settings.

However if you did a 'clean install' from downloading a CD and installing, you would lose your settings (and files) by default.

8128
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  • Just to clarify; the update manager will do a full kernel update from Lucid to Maverick, right? I don't have to do a clean install to get the new features available in 10.10. – EmmyS Oct 12 '10 at 19:59
  • You are 100% Correct :) (Assuming you get a notification in the Update Manager asking if you want to upgrade to 10.10) – 8128 Oct 12 '10 at 20:01
  • @EmmyS: No, you don't need to do a clean install to get all the updates. Some people prefer to do it for particular reasons, but you don't need to. – Ricardo Reyes Oct 12 '10 at 20:02
  • @fluteflute - I haven't run the update manager yet this week, but would there be a reason I wouldn't get the notification asking if I want to upgrade? Do I need to have some kind of preference set somewhere? – EmmyS Oct 12 '10 at 22:15
  • @EmmyS You may need to change a setting first - see http://askubuntu.com/questions/6092/how-do-you-update-ubuntu-10-04-to-ubuntu-10-10/6095#6095 – 8128 Oct 13 '10 at 16:17
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Please read this information regarding upgrade. In a nutshell, you won't loose your personal stuff.

bioShark
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You can always upgrade from one version to the next, on the fly and without loosing anything. If you've installed software from "outside of Ubuntu", such as PPAs, compiled from source or some other installer, then you might have to reinstall after the upgrade.

Personal data is never touched. Personal settings are not changed if you've changed them yourself, unless of course it is necessary for the system to work, but in that case, you'll be notified in advance. It is very rare, though, and it's very unlikely to happen when upgrading from 11.10 to 12.04 since the big transition is behind us.

In addition to being able to upgrade from one version to the next, you can also upgrade from LTS to the next LTS, such as from 10.04 to 12.04 and from 12.04 to 14.04, eventually.

Jo-Erlend Schinstad
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