Preparing computer for Zorin 18 Pro Upgrade

Installing Zorin OS
1

Aside From Raspberry Pis, I've never upgraded a linux distro before and I was wondering if there are any steps that I could take in advance that might make my life easier?

In the last couple of weeks I've removed a few customisations (like using nemo instead of nautilus) so that I'm bringing it back closer to 'stock' Zorin.

Is there anything else I should consider?

Also one other thing, do I need to purchase 18 pro to upgrade from 17 pro? I'm unclear if my 17 pro licence includes a full version upgrade.

2

You would have to purchase a new license for Zorin 18 pro. The upgrader tool for Zorin 18 is not yet available.

Before upgrading disable or remove added third party gnome extensions and added foreign sources as e.g. ppas and repos.

Excerpt from the Zorin webpage (has since been adapted for Zorin 18):

"Will I get access to future updates of Zorin OS Pro?
The purchase will give you access to Zorin OS 17 Pro as well as future updates within the 17 release series, such as upcoming point releases. Zorin OS 18 Pro will need to be purchased separately when it will be released in the future. We will continue to support Zorin OS 17 with software updates until at least June 2027, and you will be able to use Zorin OS 17 Pro for life."

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3

It would be idea to disable any third party repositories that you may have added to install additional software. This was one of the most common source of errors while upgrading from Z16 → Z17.

You can read through this post to get a better idea of what I'm referring to:

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Thanks for confirming that & for the info about disabling PPAs & user-installed gnome extensions. I'll make sure to do that before attempting the upgrade, when it becomes available.

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5

Thanks for that - really helpful.

Knowing the commands to check the sources is really helpful.

I seem to have a lot of PPAs that relate to graphics drivers. I was messing around with them a lot a year or so ago when I first moved to linux/zorin and I'm not really sure if I still need them or not anyway.

Then there's all the pipewire stuff which is already in Zorin 18.

find /etc/apt/sources.list.d -type f -not -name zorin* -exec grep -li jammy {} +
/etc/apt/sources.list.d/tailscale.list.save
/etc/apt/sources.list.d/zhangsongcui3371-ubuntu-fastfetch-jammy.list
/etc/apt/sources.list.d/tailscale.list
/etc/apt/sources.list.d/oibaf-ubuntu-graphics-drivers-jammy.list.save
/etc/apt/sources.list.d/ubuntuhandbook1-ubuntu-apps-jammy.list.save
/etc/apt/sources.list.d/zhangsongcui3371-ubuntu-fastfetch-jammy.list.save
/etc/apt/sources.list.d/docker.list
/etc/apt/sources.list.d/graphics-drivers-ubuntu-ppa-jammy.list.save
/etc/apt/sources.list.d/appimagelauncher-team-ubuntu-stable-jammy.list
/etc/apt/sources.list.d/kisak-ubuntu-kisak-mesa-jammy.list
/etc/apt/sources.list.d/pipewire-debian-ubuntu-wireplumber-upstream-jammy.list.save
/etc/apt/sources.list.d/graphics-drivers-ubuntu-ppa-jammy.list
/etc/apt/sources.list.d/kisak-ubuntu-kisak-mesa-jammy.list.save
/etc/apt/sources.list.d/ondrej-ubuntu-php-jammy.list
/etc/apt/sources.list.d/docker.list.save
/etc/apt/sources.list.d/ubuntuhandbook1-ubuntu-apps-jammy.list
/etc/apt/sources.list.d/pipewire-debian-ubuntu-pipewire-upstream-jammy.list
/etc/apt/sources.list.d/ondrej-ubuntu-php-jammy.list.save
/etc/apt/sources.list.d/pipewire-debian-ubuntu-wireplumber-upstream-jammy.list
/etc/apt/sources.list.d/pipewire-debian-ubuntu-pipewire-upstream-jammy.list.save
/etc/apt/sources.list.d/appimagelauncher-team-ubuntu-stable-jammy.list.save
/etc/apt/sources.list.d/oibaf-ubuntu-graphics-drivers-jammy.list
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So first you should check if those repositories that you are using have a version specifically for Ubuntu 24.04. All of these should, since they are already referencing "jammy" (code name for Ubuntu 22.04), so it's reasonable to assume there's another one for "noble" (24.04).
For example, in the case of Ondrej's PPA for PHP, there is one available.

Then, disable all these repositories — as per my post in the other thread, just change the extension[1] — and after you upgrade to Z18, edit them manually with the new details. I'd recommend doing so one at the time, running sudo apt update after each one, to confirm that things are working properly every step of the way.

If you have many, it will be time consuming, yeah :sweat_smile: But since we can't be sure those repositories need any additional tweaking, it's best to be thorough. If all goes well, it might be a little tedious but shouldn't take more than a few minutes.

  1. Make backups of these files just in case you need to reference them later! ↩︎

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Thanks, good tip re: one at a time. I'd rather take it steady at the upgrade stage and hopefully mitigate future issues.

Think I'm clear on what needs to be done now anyway. Thanks for your help.

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Interesting thread thanks. I'm also waiting for the upgradable version of 18Pro but I ran the suggested find command to see what I had. It returned two tuxinvader repositories and two cappelikan repositories (a jammy.list and a jammy.list.save for each).

Will these likely cause problems during the upgrade? I think they were only to find available newer kernels that 18 Pro shouldn't need.

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9

If you've installed an alternative kernel, it might be a good idea to revert back to the original before upgrading. I'm not sure if this will have an impact, just a precaution.

Other than that, proceed as described in that thread and simply "disable" the repositories before the upgrade. All this does it tell the system to not check them for any available software updates on those specific servers. Once the upgrade is complete, you can look into adding the new repositories accordingly.

Remember: always back up your data before any major system changes like this. It's a good idea to have back ups anyway, but this is just a perfect excuse to get that done.

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