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I'm getting the following list of errors when trying any kind of apt-get commends. For example, sudo apt-get update eventually gives me

Reading package lists... Done
E: The repository 'http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu zesty Release' does no longer have a Release file.
N: Updating from such a repository can't be done securely, and is therefore disabled by default.
N: See apt-secure(8) manpage for repository creation and user configuration details.
E: The repository 'http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu zesty-updates Release' does no longer have a Release file.
N: Updating from such a repository can't be done securely, and is therefore disabled by default.
N: See apt-secure(8) manpage for repository creation and user configuration details.
E: The repository 'http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu zesty-backports Release' does no longer have a Release file.
N: Updating from such a repository can't be done securely, and is therefore disabled by default.
N: See apt-secure(8) manpage for repository creation and user configuration details.
W: The repository 'http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu zesty-security Release' does not have a Release file.
N: Data from such a repository can't be authenticated and is therefore potentially dangerous to use.
N: See apt-secure(8) manpage for repository creation and user configuration details.

So there are a number of solutions here which involve changing to a different mirror, but that fails for me. I switch to the main server, no change. I ask the system to pick the best server for me, and I get a window "No suitable download server was found, check your internet connection". Well, I can ping google (and ask this question!), so it seems the internet is not the issue.

Anyone have any thoughts?

$ lsb_release -a
No LSB modules are available.
Distributor ID: Ubuntu
Description:    Ubuntu 17.04
Release:    17.04
Codename:   zesty
karel
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levitopher
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    Popos is off topic, regardless, and Ubuntu 17.04 reached end of life two weeks ago. – mikewhatever Jan 25 '18 at 20:40
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    Totally agree, but the entire reason I am in this situation is I tried to update to 17.10 and got these message. I'll edit the title a bit. – levitopher Jan 26 '18 at 02:09
  • I am afraid that this site is quite strict on these things, so your question has been closed as it is not an official Ubuntu distribution. But asking your question instead on Unix & Linux the AU sister site should answer your question. –  Jan 27 '18 at 12:42
  • Oh, I see, someone already answered! Good timing! –  Jan 27 '18 at 12:44
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    I'm voting to reopen this, even though it would probably reclosable as a duplicate. It shouldn't have been closed as off-topic for asking for help upgrading 17.04 to 17.10. This is what the [help/on-topic] says about EOL questions, which appears in the list under "Questions that you should avoid": "Support for versions for Ubuntu releases past their Support or "End of Life" (EOL) — unless the question is asking how to upgrade to a supported release." (Another possible reason to consider it off-topic was mentioned, but 4/5 close voters voted to close it as EOL and it applies fully to Ubuntu.) – Eliah Kagan Apr 27 '18 at 22:48
  • Possible duplicate of https://askubuntu.com/questions/91815/how-to-install-software-or-upgrade-from-an-old-unsupported-release – David Foerster Apr 28 '18 at 00:11
  • Off topic because Pop OS. – Organic Marble Jun 16 '20 at 13:14
  • @OrganicMarble: Or maybe it's on-topic because someone's Ubuntu-specific answer completed solved the problem, as I expected. Would you have complained if I was running Xubuntu? The Pop_OS! help pages even provide a "guide to Ubuntu"! – levitopher Jun 17 '20 at 02:29
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    No complaint, just voting per the rules and being courteous enough to say why. Xubuntu is explicitly on-topic, pop is explicitly off-topic. I could create my own OS and 'provide a guide to Ubuntu', but that wouldn't make it on-topic. I notice someone edited out the reference to pop. It used to say "The distribution is actually Pop!_OS, which I believe is just vanilla Ubuntu with particular software choices." – Organic Marble Jun 17 '20 at 12:32

1 Answers1

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First we will fix your repositories:

sudo sed -i -re 's/([a-z]{2}\.)?archive.ubuntu.com|security.ubuntu.com/old-releases.ubuntu.com/g' /etc/apt/sources.list

This should adjust your /etc/apt/sources.list to look similar to this:

deb http://old-releases.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ zesty-updates main
deb http://old-releases.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ zesty-backports main
deb http://old-releases.ubuntu.com/ubuntu zesty-security main
deb http://old-releases.ubuntu.com/ubuntu zesty main universe restricted multiverse

Then run:

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get dist-upgrade
Zanna
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TelamonAegisthus
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    Consider adding a paragraph explaining why those repositories changed, and that the user really should be using a supported release of Ubuntu. – user535733 Jan 25 '18 at 23:46
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    I mean, if I miss the update window by a couple weeks the updating fails? I'm just surprised by that behavior, but I guess it's just something I didn't know about Ubuntu LTS vs "bleeding edge". – levitopher Jan 26 '18 at 02:14
  • @levitopher unless you have (unwisely) disabled the alert, your system has been pinging you every day for three months that this was going to happen. There is NO REQUIREMENT for you to agree to the update, and there is also no requirement for Ubuntu to expend resources to maintain repos beyond the long-advertised date of closure. – user535733 Jan 28 '18 at 20:15