So, you've got a working Ubuntu Jaunty install, but you're excited about the Karmic Koala release and you want to upgrade to it. This article will walk you through that.

Pre-upgrade Notes

You should know that this upgrade will require a reboot of your Cloud Server. Do not start the upgrade process until you are ready to reboot. We also recommend backing up your server using the backup tool in the Control Panel before performing this upgrade.

If you aren't logged in as root, please switch to root by executing the following command:

sudo -i

Preparing the Cloud Server

All right, now we're at a command prompt for root.

First thing we're going to do is get the most recent package list from Ubuntu's repository servers. We do this by executing this command:

apt-get update

Now we've got our package list updated. Time to do the version updater:

apt-get install update-manager-core

This should download and install the upgrader. You should see something similar to this, although the actual packages downloaded/updated may vary.

root@jauntyupgrade:~# aptitude install update-manager-core
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree       
Reading state information... Done
Reading extended state information      
Initializing package states... Done
The following NEW packages will be installed:
  iso-codes{a} python-apt{a} python-central{a} python-gnupginterface{a} 
  python-support{a} update-manager-core update-motd{a} 
0 packages upgraded, 7 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
Need to get 2406kB of archives. After unpacking 16.8MB will be used.
Do you want to continue? [Y/n/?] y
Writing extended state information... Done
Get:1 http://archive.ubuntu.com jaunty/main iso-codes 3.6-1 [1774kB]
Get:2 http://archive.ubuntu.com jaunty/main python-central 0.6.11ubuntu7 [45.4kB]
Get:3 http://archive.ubuntu.com jaunty/main python-apt 0.7.9~exp2ubuntu10 [359kB]
Get:4 http://archive.ubuntu.com jaunty/main python-support 0.8.7ubuntu4 [28.7kB]
Get:5 http://archive.ubuntu.com jaunty/main python-gnupginterface 0.3.2-9ubuntu2 [19.0kB]
Get:6 http://archive.ubuntu.com jaunty-updates/main update-manager-core 1:0.111.9 [172kB]
Get:7 http://archive.ubuntu.com jaunty/main update-motd 1.11.1 [8092B]
Fetched 2406kB in 2s (895kB/s)             
Selecting previously deselected package iso-codes.
(Reading database ... 12797 files and directories currently installed.)
Unpacking iso-codes (from .../iso-codes_3.6-1_all.deb) ...
Selecting previously deselected package python-central.
Unpacking python-central (from .../python-central_0.6.11ubuntu7_all.deb) ...
Selecting previously deselected package python-apt.
Unpacking python-apt (from .../python-apt_0.7.9~exp2ubuntu10_amd64.deb) ...
Selecting previously deselected package python-support.
Unpacking python-support (from .../python-support_0.8.7ubuntu4_all.deb) ...
Selecting previously deselected package python-gnupginterface.
Unpacking python-gnupginterface (from .../python-gnupginterface_0.3.2-9ubuntu2_all.deb) ...
Selecting previously deselected package update-manager-core.
Unpacking update-manager-core (from .../update-manager-core_1%3a0.111.9_amd64.deb) ...
Selecting previously deselected package update-motd.
Unpacking update-motd (from .../update-motd_1.11.1_all.deb) ...
Setting up iso-codes (3.6-1) ...
Setting up python-central (0.6.11ubuntu7) ...

Setting up python-apt (0.7.9~exp2ubuntu10) ...

Setting up python-support (0.8.7ubuntu4) ...

Setting up python-gnupginterface (0.3.2-9ubuntu2) ...

Setting up update-manager-core (1:0.111.9) ...

Setting up update-motd (1.11.1) ...

Processing triggers for python-support ...
Reading package lists... Done             
Building dependency tree       
Reading state information... Done
Reading extended state information      
Initializing package states... Done
Writing extended state information... Done

We should be back at a command prompt now. Since Karmic isn't an LTS release, we need to make sure that Ubuntu is allowed to upgrade itself to a non-LTS release. We do this by checking the release-upgrades file. You'll want to open it up in the text editor of your choice. I prefer vim.

vim /etc/update-manager/release-upgrades

Make sure that:

Prompt=normal

If it does, great! However, if it instead says:

Prompt=lts

...you'll need to change it to Prompt=normal, and save the file. Exit your text editor.

Upgrade time!

All right, the server is all prepped, and we're ready to actually run the upgrade. Execute the following command:

do-release-upgrade

You should see the following:

Choose y, then hit enter. At this point, the updater will go through and set up the repositories for the Karmic release, and you'll come to another prompt. The number of packages and total size of the upgrade may vary depending on what you have installed on your Cloud Server.

Choose y to continue, then hit enter. Your server will begin the upgrade process. This may take a while to complete depending on how many packages need updating.

You may see a package configuration screen that looks like this:

Choose UTF-8, then hit enter.

You may also see a configuration screen related to grub-pc.

Leave it blank, and hit Enter, and you'll see this screen:

Hit enter again, and the upgrade will resume. You'll likely come to another screen for configuring libc6:

Leave the entry (ssh cron) as it is, then hit Enter. The upgrade will resume itself again. Depending on any other packages you have installed, you may see other screens like the ones above come up. We suggest leaving the default settings entries, unless you know of a specific change that would need to be made for your services or applications.

Cleanup

At this point, you should be at a prompt asking you if you want to remove obsolete packages. We recommend saying yes. Obsoleted packages are no longer supported by Ubuntu's developers, and may have security holes due to no longer being upgraded.

Choose y to continue, then hit enter.

Now, you'll be prompted for a reboot.

DO NOT REBOOT YOUR CLOUD SERVER AT THIS TIME! Choose n for no, then hit enter.

Check the kernel version

Now, we want to make sure that the kernel that you're using will run Karmic on our system. Find this out by running the following command:

uname -r

The output should be as follows:

root@jauntyupgrade:~# uname -r
2.6.31-302-rs

If your kernel version is older than 2.6.31, please skip to the Older Kernels section.

If this the output you get, you're good to go! Reboot the system by issuing the following command:

shutdown -r now

Older Kernels

DO NOT ATTEMPT TO UPGRADE YOUR KERNEL YOURSELF!

If you have an older kernel version than 2.6.31, you'll want to contact our Technical Support team, as your Cloud Server may require a kernel upgrade in order to function on our system. Come into live chat or give us a call! You can also open a ticket within the Control Panel. You'll want to ask your support technician if you need a kernel upgrade in order to finish your Ubuntu Jaunty to Karmic upgrade. This requires a reboot (which your upgrade requires anyways), and after the support technician upgrades your kernel, your Cloud Server will reboot.

Verifying the Upgrade

Once your server is back up, log in via SSH, and execute the following command:

cat /etc/lsb-release

You should get the following output:

Voila! You now have a fully functional Karmic Koala Cloud Server.