Linux Mint has officially announced the latest stable Long Term Support (LTS) version Linux Mint 20.3 ‘Una’ with support till 2025.
This article describes the process to update the system using GUI mode. The upgrade process for all three Linux Mint editions i.e. Cinnamon, MATE and Xfce is same. Before proceeding ahead, please ensure that the computer has a working internet connection and uninterrupted power supply during entire upgrade process.
Step 0: Check existing Linux Mint version
Open built-in “System Info” utility from Linux Mint Applications Menu. The same is displayed in below image as an illustration:
As visible in below image, the system has Linux Mint 20.2 edition (some system may have even older versions):
If you have an older version you can upgrade it to latest version option provided by Linux Mint using three easy steps below:
Step 1: Create a snapshot using ‘Timeshift’ utility
What is a snapshot?
A snapshot is a read only copy of the state of a system at a particular point of time.
Before upgrading, it is recommended to create a snapshot of the existing working system. It is a precautionary measure, in case, the up-gradation fails. The Linux Mint upgrade process may fail due to certain interrupts such as internet or power failure. The snapshot will help users to return to the stable state of their operating system, if required. In case of failure, you can use a Linux Mint bootable USB and restore your stable system from the saved snapshot. The user may restart Linux Mint upgrade process again after restoring snapshot in case of upgrade failure.
For creating a snapshot, launch “Timeshift” utility from the application Menu as visible in below image:
Provide user password for authentication if prompted. “Timeshift” is a built-in system backup and restore utility in Linux Mint. Select ‘RSync’ as snapshot type and click on ‘Next’ to proceed as shown below:
The setup wizard will estimate system size and display available hard disks. Select the hard drive and click on ‘Next’. It is advisable to choose an option to schedule system snapshots at regular intervals. You may choose snapshot at regular intervals as per your requirements. But limit the copies to optimize on disk space. Select appropriate schedule interval and number of snapshot copies as visible in below image:
Then proceed by clicking on ‘Next’ and then ‘Finish’. Click on “Create” button to start the snapshot creation. The same is shown in image below as an illustration:
As visible in below image, the system will start creating a snapshot of current system:
After successful creation of snapshot, type a name for this snapshot in the “comments” column for recognition. For e.g. “Stable Linux Mint version”. The same is highlighted in below image:
Close the “Timeshift” application.
Step 2: Disable Screensaver before Linux Mint Upgrade
After taking the snapshot, disable the screensaver to prevent interruption during Linux Mint upgrade process. Follow the following steps to disable screen saver:
- Launch “Screensaver” utility from the application Menu
- Go to “Settings”
- Set “Delay before starting the screensaver” to “Never”
- Close the Application
The same can be seen as an illustration in screenshots below:
Step 3: Upgrade Linux Mint Packages using ‘Update Manager’
To upgrade packages, Launch “Update Manager” utility from Application Menu as visible in below:
The Update Manager application will open. If wizard displays welcome message, click ‘OK’. Update Manager will display a message to switch to local mirror for faster download. Click on “Yes”. If there are update available click on “Apply the Update”. Then click ‘Refresh’ button followed by clicking on “Install Updates” as visible below:
The wizard will update the package cache and install updates. There may be scenario when all packages do not download at once due to inter-dependency on other packages. You will see red highlights while package download is in progress followed by an error message at the end. In that case, re-click on “Install Updates”. Repeat this process until all packages download successfully.
On successful download, the installation of packages will begin and system will display a message “Your System is up to date” on successful updating of packages.
Now, click on “Edit” → “Upgrade to “Linux Mint 20.3 Una”.
The updater setup will launch and provide instructions to upgrade existing system. Click on “next” on “Introduction”, “Release notes” and “New features” page in the updater. On “Requirements” page select the check box mentioning “I understand the risk. I want to upgrade to Linux Mint 20.3 Una” and click on “Apply”.
Before clicking on “Apply” ensure that you have taken backup of your important data on the PC. The upgrade setup will start upgrading your operating system.
On successful upgrade of Linux Mint the terminal will ask you to restart the system. Restart the system for all changes to take effect. Upon restart your computer will have latest Linux Mint Long Term Support version i.e. Linux Mint 20.3 ‘Una’. Enjoy updates and improvements in your latest version Operating System. You may re-check your Operating System version using “System Info” utility.
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I have a question about the “mintupgrade” command. I am currently on Mint 18.3. Will this command update me to Mint 20, thus skipping the Mint 19 series? I have quickly tested (meaning connect to network, play a video, make sure audio works) USB-stick versions of 19 and 20, and both seem to work just fine on my 3 1/2 year old desktop hardware. Can you confirm this command will upgrade to Mint 20, and there is no harm in skipping the 19 series alltogether? Thanks.
Mintugrade command was not available untill 19.3. For upgrading till 19.3 we used to update using update manager only. I think update manager in 18.3 will upgrade option till 19.3 only. Then you will have to follow the above procedure only. Or it will be better to have a fresh install.
The official instructions for upgrading from 18.3 to 19 specifically say to use the “mintupgrade” command. You can’t go from 18.3 to 19 via the Update Manager.
https://community.linuxmint.com/tutorial/view/2416
Ohhh. Actually I started using Mint from version 19. I can suggest u to install Mint 18.3 in a virtual box and try upgrading it. This will ensure that your host machine is not distributed.
The conclusion I have reached after some further investigations about the upgrade process is that the display driver wont be changed itself. However, if there is a newer version of the nouveau open source display driver it might upgrade the version but remain the driver itself. Further investigation about the config file issue is clear that the choice should be “keep the current” config file version during the upgrade process.
Hello, I have x2 questions about the Linux Mint in place upgrade process.
1) The upgrade process asks me if I want to keep or replace the configuration file. a) I don’t know what effect replacing the configuration file will have. Could you explain this?
2) Will the upgrade process change my display driver. I am using the open source Nouveau drivers which work better than the proprietary Nvidia drivers on my system. I would like to keep my current display drivers. I’m guessing that even if the driver gets changed I should be able to change it back from the display driver manager?
It needs to be tested as it is very subjective issue. I would like to suggest to install Linux Mint old version in virtual box (guest machine) then check out the effects it has after upgradation. If upgradation is fine then you may proceed ahead with upgrading host machine.
I am running 19.3 Mate. This guide has a few items that are not correct, or at least do not match what I see on my test computer.
1. there is no longer the option to select “never” for the screensaver.
2. so far there is no option to upgrade to 20 presented in the upgrade utility. I have run the index update, and even done it from the command line.
This is a generic upgrade process to upgrade to latest version Linux Mint. The upgrade is not yet released by Linux Mint. The same thing is mentioned in the beginning of the article. As soon as the upgrade option is enabled by Linux Mint you will see the similar objects in your Linux Mint system. However, people still having older version can upgrade till 19.3 version using this method.
Hello John, The upgrade option hasn’t been released yet by the MINT team but it should appear in the update manager, edit option menu in the next few days or weeks. Certainly before the end of July I’ve read. ONLY after this appears can you run the in place upgrade.
The upgrade process is now released. This time it’s not through update manager. The is incorporated in this Article. Users can now check this updated article to upgrade their Linux Mint.