by ·104 Comments

The BETA of the new Upgrade Tool is now available for testing.

It can be used to upgrade LMDE 4 to LMDE 5.

To install it refresh your cache and install the mintupgrade package:

apt update
apt install mintupgrade

The Upgrade Tool is graphical but it is launched from the command line:

sudo mintupgrade

Follow the instructions on the screen.

When the tool is done and the upgrade is successful uninstall it and reboot your computer.

apt remove mintupgrade
sudo reboot

Use the comment section to seek help or to give us your feedback.

Bugs can be reported at https://github.com/linuxmint/mintupgrade/issues (include a screenshot of the window and the output of the terminal in your bug reports).

Notes:

  • If anything goes wrong all changes can be reverted using Timeshift.
  • If you close the tool for any reason, you can run it again no matter how far you went in the upgrade.
  • This BETA is only available for LMDE. Do not test this tool in Linux Mint 20 (the Linux Mint 21 package base isn’t stable yet).

by ·105 Comments

It is now possible to upgrade Linux Mint 20, 20.1 and 20.2 to version 20.3.

If you’ve been waiting for this we’d like to thank you for your patience.

1. Create a system snapshot

You can use Timeshift to make a system snapshot before the upgrade.

If anything goes wrong, you can easily restore your operating system to its previous state.

Launch Timeshift from the application menu, follow the instructions on the screen to configure it and create a system snapshot.

2. Prepare for the upgrade

  • Disable your screensaver
  • If you installed Cinnamon spices (applets, desklets, extensions, themes), upgrade them from the System Settings

3. Upgrade the operating system

Upgrading to Linux Mint 20.3 is relatively easy.

In the Update Manager, click on the Refresh button to check for any new version of mintupdate or mint-upgrade-info. If there are updates for these packages, apply them.

Launch the System Upgrade by clicking on “Edit->Upgrade to Linux Mint 20.3 Una”.

Follow the instructions on the screen.

If asked whether to keep or replace configuration files, choose to replace them.

4. Change themes (optional)

The following themes were discontinued:

  • Mint-Y-Darker (the Gtk theme and its color variants)
  • Mint-Y-Dark (the metacity titlebar theme)

They remain however available in the repository package “mint-themes-legacy”. To install them, open a terminal and type:

apt install mint-themes-legacy

If you were using some of these themes, you can switch to the Legacy themes or the new official alternatives via the “Themes” preferences.

5. Reboot the computer

Once the upgrade is finished, reboot your computer.

Commonly asked questions

  • If the upgrade is not available to you, check that you have the latest versions of mintupdate (5.7.8 or higher) and mint-upgrade-info (1.1.9 or higher) and restart the Update Manager by launching it again from the applications menu.
  • If the latest versions of mintupdate and mint-upgrade-info are not yet available in your mirrors, switch to the default repositories.
  • This happens rarely, but if you ever got locked and were unable to log back in, switch to console with CTRL+ALT+F1, log in, and type “killall cinnamon-screensaver” (or “killall mate-screensaver” in MATE). Use CTRL+ALT+F7 or CTRL+ALT+F8 to get back to your session.

by ·282 Comments

It is now possible to upgrade Linux Mint 20 and 20.1 to version 20.2.

If you’ve been waiting for this we’d like to thank you for your patience.

1. Create a system snapshot

You can use Timeshift to make a system snapshot before the upgrade.

If anything goes wrong, you can easily restore your operating system to its previous state.

Launch Timeshift from the application menu, follow the instructions on the screen to configure it and create a system snapshot.

2. Prepare for the upgrade

  • Disable your screensaver
  • If you installed Cinnamon spices (applets, desklets, extensions, themes), upgrade them from the System Settings

3. Upgrade the operating system

Upgrading to Linux Mint 20.2 is relatively easy.

In the Update Manager, click on the Refresh button to check for any new version of mintupdate or mint-upgrade-info. If there are updates for these packages, apply them.

Launch the System Upgrade by clicking on “Edit->Upgrade to Linux Mint 20.2 Uma”.

Follow the instructions on the screen.

If asked whether to keep or replace configuration files, choose to replace them.

4. Convert the system with usrmerge

We recommend you convert your system with usrmerge. This is done already for all fresh installations of Linux Mint 20.1 and 20.2.

For information on usrmerge, read https://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/Software/systemd/TheCaseForTheUsrMerge/.

To convert your system, open a terminal and type:

apt install usrmerge

5. Reboot the computer

Once the upgrade is finished, reboot your computer.

Commonly asked questions

  • If the upgrade is not available to you, check that you have the latest versions of mintupdate (5.7.3 or higher) and mint-upgrade-info (1.1.8 or higher) and restart the Update Manager by launching it again from the applications menu.
  • If the latest versions of mintupdate and mint-upgrade-info are not yet available in your mirrors, switch to the default repositories.
  • This happens rarely, but if you ever got locked and were unable to log back in, switch to console with CTRL+ALT+F1, log in, and type “killall cinnamon-screensaver” (or “killall mate-screensaver” in MATE). Use CTRL+ALT+F7 or CTRL+ALT+F8 to get back to your session.