How to upgrade from Linux Mint 19.3 to Linux Mint 20

 Many unavoidable bugs and glitches with any new release have been fixed in Mint 20, and its speed and efficiency are growing faster than ever.

Read the following article to learn how to safely complete the Linux Mint upgrade without losing your files or configurations!

Step 1: Review the system requirements

There are several prerequisites for upgrading to Linux Mint 20.

- First, you must be running Mint 19.3, whose codename is "Tricia". If you are using 19.2 or above, you need to upgrade to 19.3 or install new 20.

Second, your PC must have a 64-bit architecture. If you're not sure if you have one, you can find out by entering this command in the Terminal:

dpkg --print-architecture

1. If recording output amd64, then you have 64-bit architecture and you are ready to move on.
2. If the command returns i386 instead, you are on a 32-bit architecture PC that will not be able to upgrade. You will have to stick with 19.3 or find another distro that supports 32-bit machines.

The Mint team also recommends that your computer be equipped with the following:

1. 2GB RAM or above
2. 20GB or more of free disk space
3. Resolution 1024 × 768

At a minimum, you should have 1GB of RAM and 15GB of free disk space. If version 19.3 is working on your PC, then at least you can meet that standard. However, you should double-check to see if you meet the requirements before proceeding.

Step 2: Run general update

Make sure you have updated all your current system packages to the latest version before trying to upgrade to Mint 20. You can do so by looking for Update Manager in the Start menu, then clicking Refresh at the top. After the update list refreshes, click Install Updates.

Alternatively, you can use the following command sequence that will perform the same task through Terminal:

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt full-upgrade

After the update is complete, restart the computer for the system to fully apply all package updates.

Step 3: Create a system snapshot

This is a precaution in case Mint 20 doesn't work on your system. If that happens, you might no longer be able to use your PC. In such cases, the system snapshot will allow you to restore your PC to the state it was in before the upgrade.

Mint by default includes a system recovery tool called Timeshift. If your PC is unavailable for some reason, you can always install Timeshift through Software Manager or with the following command:

sudo apt-get install timeshift

Once installed, open Timeshift from the Start menu and follow the prompts to create a system image.

If you want to use a system recovery program other than Timeshift, enter the following command:

echo "{}" | sudo tee /etc/timeshift.json

This command will delete the configuration file so that Timeshift does not conflict with the behavior of other applications.

Whatever you are using, make sure to save the system image before moving on to the next step.

Step 4: Delete additional archives

This step is optional, but does it at your own risk.

PPAs and other third-party repositories may provide apps and device updates in addition to those offered by Mint and its base repository. Some of those repositories may conflict with the upgrade and cause problems, so it's a good idea to delete them before you upgrade. Do this by completing the following steps:

Open Software Sources from the Mint menu and click the Additional repositories tab. Disable all repositories listed there by unchecking them.

Click on the PPA tab and deselect all the repositories listed there. Then refresh the cache.

Select the Maintenance tab and click Downgrade Foreign Packages. Once the list of packages has been aggregated select all of them and click Downgrade. This will revert any apps that had an update that wasn't originally offered by Mint 19.3.

Click Remove Foreign Packages in the Maintenance menu and re-select all the packages there. Click Remove to remove the conflicting packages.

If there are packages listed that you really do not want to remove, you can of course choose not to do so, but there is a chance the upgrade will fail.

However, keep in mind that you can always re-add PPAs and other packages after the upgrade is complete.

Step 5: Install MintUpgrade

Enter the following command in Terminal to install the upgrade tool:

apt install mintupgrade

If you get an error that says the upgrade cannot be found, you may need to change the copy (mirror). Open Software Sources from the Mint menu and switch your copy to default Linux Mint copy. Then try the command again.

Step 6: Emulator upgrade

Next, enter this command to run the upgrade emulator:

mintupgrade check

The emulator will go through the upgrade process, make sure the system is ready, and estimate the end result.

If the emulator fails, enter this command:

mintupgrade restore-sources

This command will ensure that the source repositories are home to the Mint upgrade packages. After the restore is complete, try the emulator again.

Step 7: Download the upgrade packages

If you are satisfied with the emulator results, enter the following command to retrieve all the package files that will be used during the upgrade.

mintupgrade download

Step 8: Apply the Linux Mint 20 upgrade

Now, you're ready to upgrade. Start the process with this command:

mintupgrade upgrade

Remember that this step cannot be undone and you can just go back using the system recovery image you did in step 3.

Be sure to turn off any power managers (screensavers, etc.) to ensure the smooth upgrade. Also monitor the Terminal output, as questions and warnings may appear.

Step 9: Downgrade and delete packages

Repeat the operation outlined in step 4 to downgrade and remove all packages that you are not sure you want to keep. Doing so will resolve possible issues from newer versions of certain packages being used in 19.3, moving to older versions in Mint 20.

Samuel Daniel

Update 22 December 2020