Update Ubuntu (& WSL Ubuntu) to 23.04 NOW (Full Guide)

Published: Apr 5, 2023
Last Edit: Apr 5, 2023

508 Words, 2 Minutes.

It’s early

(At the time of writing) The next version of Ubuntu, 23.04, is only releasing in a few days… You can upgrade to it early though.

This guide shows you how to upgrade to the latest version right away, and even works if you’re on Ubuntu WSL under Windows.

First, make sure you know what you’re doing, especially if sensitive data is on your system.

Try updating

First, try updating normally to see if it’s already out and ready.

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sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade
sudo apt dist-upgrade

Running these commands should update all packages, and then try a distribution upgrade. This should work, but assuming you run something like neofetch and are still on the same version of Ubuntu, we may need to force an upgrade - especially if you’re early to a release.

Forcing an upgrade

First, we need to change from the LTS branch to the normal branch, if you’re not already there.

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sudo sed 's/lts/normal/g' /etc/update-manager/release-upgrades

Then we need to point packages to the new source, lobster, instead of jammy.

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sudo sed -i `s/jammy/lunar/g` /etc/apt/sources.list

Now we can run the update commands again and a ton of packages should be updated.

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sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade
sudo apt dist-upgrade

This time, you may see something that looks like the following. You should be able to answer “y” and hit enter, though make sure you know what you’re doing, especially if sensitive data is on your system.

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Configuration file '/etc/update-manager/release-upgrades'
 ==> Modified (by you or by a script) since installation.
 ==> Package distributor has shipped an updated version.
   What would you like to do about it ?  Your options are:
    Y or I  : install the package maintainer's version
    N or O  : keep your currently-installed version
      D     : show the differences between the versions
      Z     : start a shell to examine the situation
 The default action is to keep your current version.
*** release-upgrades (Y/I/N/O/D/Z) [default=N] ?

Verify

Run neofetch if you have it installed (if not run sudo apt install neofetch).

You should see something like the following:

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tcno@TCNO-PC:~$ neofetch
            .-/+oossssoo+/-.               tcno@TCNO-PC
        `:+ssssssssssssssssss+:`           ------------
      -+ssssssssssssssssssyyssss+-         OS: Ubuntu Lunar Lobster (development branch) on Windows 10 x86_64
    .ossssssssssssssssssdMMMNysssso.       Kernel: 5.15.90.1-microsoft-standard-WSL2
   /ssssssssssshdmmNNmmyNMMMMhssssss/      Uptime: 13 mins
  +ssssssssshmydMMMMMMMNddddyssssssss+     Packages: 624 (dpkg)
 /sssssssshNMMMyhhyyyyhmNMMMNhssssssss/    Shell: bash 5.2.15
.ssssssssdMMMNhsssssssssshNMMMdssssssss.   Theme: Adwaita [GTK3]
+sssshhhyNMMNyssssssssssssyNMMMysssssss+   Icons: Adwaita [GTK3]
ossyNMMMNyMMhsssssssssssssshmmmhssssssso   Terminal: Relay(10)
ossyNMMMNyMMhsssssssssssssshmmmhssssssso   CPU: 13th Gen Intel i9-13900K (32) @ 2.995GHz
+sssshhhyNMMNyssssssssssssyNMMMysssssss+   GPU: ec28:00:00.0 Microsoft Corporation Basic Render Driver
.ssssssssdMMMNhsssssssssshNMMMdssssssss.   Memory: 527MiB / 64137MiB
 /sssssssshNMMMyhhyyyyhdNMMMNhssssssss/
  +sssssssssdmydMMMMMMMMddddyssssssss+
   /ssssssssssshdmNNNNmyNMMMMhssssss/
    .ossssssssssssssssssdMMMNysssso.
      -+sssssssssssssssssyyyssss+-
        `:+ssssssssssssssssss+:`
            .-/+oossssoo+/-.

Assuming you see Lunar Lobster, then congratulations you have updated!

What next?

From here you can upgrade your kernal as well to the latest version. If you’re on WSL, then you likely won’t be able to do much here, otherwise if you’re on bare metal there are lots of guides to follow!