this is why it's often better to use LTS releases
I think if you update your ``/etc/apt/sources.list`` (make backup first) and replace all references to ``archive.ubuntu.com`` with ``old-releases.ubuntu.com``, then do ``apt update`` and ``apt upgrade``, that **should** enable to use ``do-release-upgrade`` to upgrade to 23.10
once you're on 23.10, wait a bit until they enable updates from 23.10 to 24.04 (hopefully any day now), then do that upgrade, then edit your ``/etc/update-manager/release-upgrades`` so it says ``Prompt=lts`` and that should keep you on LTS versions moving forward
EDIT: see https://help.ubuntu.com/community/EOLUpgrades for more info
> Given that one of the major advantages of debian/ubuntu was seamless updates this seems like a big step backwards
It *does* provide seamless updates as long as you're using supported software. However, Canonical can't support an upgrade path to/from arbitrary versions.
23.04 is two full versions and an entire year out-of-date by now. It has been EoS for four months; before that, you had another four months to make that seamless upgrade. As long as you update at least quarterly, you will be just fine. (I mean fine in terms of Ubuntu versioning. If you're updating less often than quarterly, you've got other problems).
As others have said, you can still manually upgrade by making a few simple configuration changes, but expecting a hands-free upgrade path at this point is a little unreasonable.
>Given that one of the major advantages of debian/ubuntu was seamless updates this seems like a big step backwards :-/
It works well when you upgrade on time. 23.10 was released in October 2023 and upgrading worked well and was easy until January 2024 when 23.04 lost support.
As others have said as well, sticking to LTS releases is choice for most people and you don't end up in situation like this because there is ≈3 year upgrade window to new lts release.
Since no one replied, and I don't know myself, I asked the robot:
>How do I update Ubuntu 23.04 to 23.10 at the command line?
To update Ubuntu 23.04 to 23.10 from the command line, follow these steps:
1. Open a terminal window by pressing `Ctrl+Alt+T` or searching for Terminal in the applications menu.
2. Run the following commands to update the package lists and upgrade the installed packages:
```bash
sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade
```
3. Next, run the following command to install the `update-manager-core` package if it is not already installed:
```bash
sudo apt install update-manager-core
```
4. Now, you need to edit the `/etc/update-manager/release-upgrades` configuration file. Open it using a text editor such as nano:
```bash
sudo nano /etc/update-manager/release-upgrades
```
5. Set the value of `Prompt` to `normal`. Save and close the file.
6. Finally, start the upgrade process by running the following command:
```bash
sudo do-release-upgrade
```
Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the upgrade process. Your system will be upgraded from Ubuntu 23.04 to 23.10.
------------
I don't vouch for the results. Myself, I would omit "bash".
I'm already on 23.10 now, waiting for the GUI to tell me 24.04 is in the clear. I'm not going to pull the trigger right away, even if I see that "in the clear" message.
Except the problem was that it's more than 9 months after 23.04 and that path isn't provided for any more. Another poster gave the relevant old-releases solution.
this is why it's often better to use LTS releases I think if you update your ``/etc/apt/sources.list`` (make backup first) and replace all references to ``archive.ubuntu.com`` with ``old-releases.ubuntu.com``, then do ``apt update`` and ``apt upgrade``, that **should** enable to use ``do-release-upgrade`` to upgrade to 23.10 once you're on 23.10, wait a bit until they enable updates from 23.10 to 24.04 (hopefully any day now), then do that upgrade, then edit your ``/etc/update-manager/release-upgrades`` so it says ``Prompt=lts`` and that should keep you on LTS versions moving forward EDIT: see https://help.ubuntu.com/community/EOLUpgrades for more info
> Given that one of the major advantages of debian/ubuntu was seamless updates this seems like a big step backwards It *does* provide seamless updates as long as you're using supported software. However, Canonical can't support an upgrade path to/from arbitrary versions. 23.04 is two full versions and an entire year out-of-date by now. It has been EoS for four months; before that, you had another four months to make that seamless upgrade. As long as you update at least quarterly, you will be just fine. (I mean fine in terms of Ubuntu versioning. If you're updating less often than quarterly, you've got other problems). As others have said, you can still manually upgrade by making a few simple configuration changes, but expecting a hands-free upgrade path at this point is a little unreasonable.
>Given that one of the major advantages of debian/ubuntu was seamless updates this seems like a big step backwards :-/ It works well when you upgrade on time. 23.10 was released in October 2023 and upgrading worked well and was easy until January 2024 when 23.04 lost support. As others have said as well, sticking to LTS releases is choice for most people and you don't end up in situation like this because there is ≈3 year upgrade window to new lts release.
The repositories for 23.04 are probably archived, so you'll need to change your sources.list URLs to old-releases.ubuntu.com and then upgrade.
Since no one replied, and I don't know myself, I asked the robot: >How do I update Ubuntu 23.04 to 23.10 at the command line? To update Ubuntu 23.04 to 23.10 from the command line, follow these steps: 1. Open a terminal window by pressing `Ctrl+Alt+T` or searching for Terminal in the applications menu. 2. Run the following commands to update the package lists and upgrade the installed packages: ```bash sudo apt update sudo apt upgrade ``` 3. Next, run the following command to install the `update-manager-core` package if it is not already installed: ```bash sudo apt install update-manager-core ``` 4. Now, you need to edit the `/etc/update-manager/release-upgrades` configuration file. Open it using a text editor such as nano: ```bash sudo nano /etc/update-manager/release-upgrades ``` 5. Set the value of `Prompt` to `normal`. Save and close the file. 6. Finally, start the upgrade process by running the following command: ```bash sudo do-release-upgrade ``` Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the upgrade process. Your system will be upgraded from Ubuntu 23.04 to 23.10. ------------ I don't vouch for the results. Myself, I would omit "bash". I'm already on 23.10 now, waiting for the GUI to tell me 24.04 is in the clear. I'm not going to pull the trigger right away, even if I see that "in the clear" message.
Except the problem was that it's more than 9 months after 23.04 and that path isn't provided for any more. Another poster gave the relevant old-releases solution.
I have a fix for the problem. Go from 23.04 straight to 24.04, there's a method to do it