Ubuntu 26.04 LTS Upgrade Checklist: What to Check Before Moving From 24.04

Ubuntu 26.04 LTS is the kind of release that makes people want to upgrade immediately, but a clean LTS upgrade is less about clicking the button fast and more about checking the boring things first. Backups, disk space, third-party repositories, drivers, snaps, and rollback options matter more than the release-day excitement.

This checklist is for Ubuntu 24.04 LTS users who want to prepare for the move to Ubuntu 26.04 LTS without turning their main machine into a rescue project. It works for desktop users, developers, and small servers, but it does not replace reading the final release notes for your flavor. If your machine is business-critical, test on a spare device or VM before touching the daily driver.

Understand the upgrade window

Ubuntu LTS releases receive long support windows, and Ubuntu's release cycle gives users more than one safe upgrade path. The important detail is that LTS-to-LTS upgrade prompts are often staged. Even if 26.04 LTS is available, the automatic prompt for 24.04 LTS users may not appear immediately for every installation. That is normal. Waiting for the recommended prompt is usually safer than forcing a release-day upgrade on a machine you rely on.

If you are on Ubuntu 25.10, your path is different from someone on 24.04 LTS. If you are on an unsupported version, handle that separately. Do not treat every Ubuntu machine as if it has the same upgrade path.

Step 1: Back up like the upgrade will fail

The upgrade probably will not fail, but your backup plan should assume it can. At minimum, copy your home folder, browser profile, SSH keys, password manager export, project folders, and any local databases. For developer machines, also export a package list and keep a copy of your important dotfiles.

mkdir -p ~/upgrade-checklist
dpkg --get-selections > ~/upgrade-checklist/packages-before-2604.txt
snap list > ~/upgrade-checklist/snaps-before-2604.txt
flatpak list > ~/upgrade-checklist/flatpaks-before-2604.txt 2>/dev/null || true
lsblk -f > ~/upgrade-checklist/disks-before-2604.txt

If the machine uses full-disk encryption, make sure you know the passphrase and have a tested recovery path. If it hosts containers or virtual machines, export their configs separately. A file backup is not the same thing as a system rollback.

Step 2: Clean up packages and third-party repos

Third-party PPAs and vendor repositories are one of the most common reasons upgrades become messy. Before upgrading, list them and decide which ones you truly need.

sudo apt update
sudo apt full-upgrade
find /etc/apt/sources.list.d -type f -maxdepth 1 -print
apt-mark showhold

Remove or disable repositories that you no longer trust or no longer use. Pay special attention to graphics drivers, Docker or container repos, browser repos, database repos, language runtime repos, and anything that installed a custom kernel. You can add them back after the upgrade once the vendor supports 26.04.

Step 3: Check hardware, drivers, and disk space

Desktop upgrades fail most painfully when the system runs out of space or relies on fragile drivers. Check root space, boot partition space, and GPU driver state before starting.

df -h
uname -r
ubuntu-drivers devices
lspci | grep -E "VGA|3D|Network"

If `/boot` is nearly full, remove old kernels safely before upgrading. If you use NVIDIA drivers, confirm that the currently installed driver branch is supported. If you use Wi-Fi that needs a vendor driver, keep a USB Ethernet adapter or offline package backup ready. A broken network after upgrade is fixable, but it is much easier when you planned for it.

Step 4: Test your workflow before upgrading

Canonical has highlighted major development-platform work in Ubuntu 26.04 LTS, including updated Java, Go, .NET, Rust, and toolchain packaging. That is good news for developers, but it also means local projects may behave differently. Before upgrading, record the versions your projects depend on.

python3 --version
node --version
npm --version
go version
rustc --version
java -version

If a project needs exact versions, pin them with tools such as `asdf`, `mise`, `nvm`, `pyenv`, containers, or project-local toolchains. Do not rely on the system upgrade to preserve every runtime exactly.

Step 5: Run the upgrade only after the checklist is clean

Once backups are verified, packages are updated, third-party repos are under control, and you have enough disk space, use the supported Ubuntu upgrade path. For desktop systems, the graphical Software Updater is usually the least surprising option. For servers, use the documented command-line upgrader.

sudo apt install update-manager-core
sudo do-release-upgrade

Do not use random repository search-and-replace commands as your normal upgrade method. They can work for experienced admins, but they skip important safety checks that the release upgrader performs.

After the upgrade

After the first successful boot, check networking, display scaling, audio, printing, VPN, development tools, containers, and backup software. Re-enable third-party repositories one at a time. If something breaks, you want to know which repo or package caused it.

A good LTS upgrade should feel boring. If you make the preparation boring enough, the upgrade itself has a much better chance of being uneventful.

Sources

Disclaimer: "All content is for educational use only. Always backup your data before fixing errors."