How to upgrade to Linux Mint 19.3
Linux Mint 19.3 is out with tons of improvements to the Cinnamon desktop environment, a new kernel, as well as new drivers, new software updates, and more.
If you’re running Linux Mint 19.2 and are interested in upgrading to Linux Mint 19.3, we’ve got you covered. Follow along below and learn how to get your system running the latest Linux Mint!
Create A Backup
Upgrading Linux Mint is stable, but things can occasionally go wrong. Before attempting to upgrade your system to the new Linux Mint 19.3, please follow the step-by-step instructions below to learn how to create a backup of your system.
Step 1: Launch the Timeshift tool on your Linux Mint desktop by searching for it in the app menu.
Step 2: Go through the Timeshift setup process if this is your first time using it. If you need help setting up Timeshift for the first time, refer to our in-depth tutorial on how to use Timeshift on Linux.
Step 3: In the Timeshift app, find the “Create” button, and click it to make a new snapshot of your Linux Mint system. Keep in mind that this snapshot may take some time, depending on how large your Linux Mint system is.
When the Snapshot is complete, the backup process is done. Move on to the next section of the guide.
Upgrading to 19.3
Upgrading Linux Mint can be done by changing information in Apt, and making use of dist-upgrade like in Ubuntu. To start the upgrade process, open up a terminal window by pressing Ctrl + Alt + T and follow the step-by-step process below.
Note: the easy MintUpgrade tool is only available for specific Mint releases. It is not possible to upgrade from 19.2 to 19.3.
Step 1: The first step in upgrading from Linux Mint 19.2 to 19.3 is installing all available updates on the system. In the terminal window, use the update, upgrade, and dist-upgrade commands to check for software upgrades and install them.
sudo apt update sudo apt upgrade sudo apt dist-upgrade
Step 2: After installing all software upgrades on your Linux Mint system, it is time to change Linux Mint’s software sources so that it points to 19.3 rather than 19.2. Open up official-package-repositories.list in the Nano text editor with the command below.
sudo nano -w /etc/apt/sources.list.d/official-package-repositories.list
Locate “tina” in the file and replace it with “tricia.” This line must look exactly like the example below because if it is wrong, Linux Mint will not find the new 19.3 software repositories and create errors and system issues.
deb https://packages.linuxmint.com tricia main upstream import backport
Step 3: Save the edits to the Nano text editor by pressing Ctrl + O on the keyboard. Then, close the Nano text editor by pressing Ctrl + X on the keyboard.
Step 4: After closing the Nano text editor, it is time to re-run the update command on Linux Mint once again. The reason you need to re-run the update command is that the official-package-repositories.list was changed from “tina” (Mint 19.2) to “tricia” (Mint 19.3).
In the terminal, update your software sources with update.
sudo apt update
With the update command re-run, Linux Mint will no longer be using Mint 19.2 software repositories. Instead, it’ll be switched over to Mint 19.3 ones.
Step 5: Now that Linux Mint has the 19.3 software repositories enabled, you must once again run the upgrade command, as there will new updates available to install. These updates will replace all of the Linux Mint 19.2 software in favor of Linux Mint 19.3 ones.
sudo apt upgrade
Please keep in mind that the upgrade command will likely run for quite a long time (as long as 30 minutes). It is replacing all of your out of date Linux components with new ones from the 19.3 software repository. Be patient!
Step 6: After all software upgrades are installed on Linux Mint, it is time to run the dist-upgrade command a second time. The dist-upgrade command allows Linux Mint to install updates for 19.3 that have been kept back for various reasons.
sudo apt dist-upgrade
Much like the upgrade command, the dist-upgrade command will take quite a long time to complete, as there are going to be a whole lot of packages that need to be upgraded during the transition from Linux Mint 19.2 to Linux Mint 19.3. Sit back and be patient and wait for it to complete!
Step 7: Once the dist-upgrade command is done, type sudo reboot into the terminal window to restart the system.
Upon logging back into your computer, your Linux Mint system has successfully upgraded to Linux Mint 19.3. Enjoy!
Getting a fresh copy of Linux Mint 19.3
Upgrading to Linux Mint 19.3 from 19.2 isn’t for everyone. If you’d prefer to pick up a clean copy of the new release of Mint, head over to linuxmint.com, and click on the “Downloads” button to get the latest ISO for Linux Mint 19.3.
A very helpful and clear explanation of what update, upgrade, and dist-upgrade mean. It also explained the mechanism underlying the entire process, i. e. the source of the new packages and how to change it (as well as to preserve it!) Finally, it points out a way to go a clean or fresh installation. The downside of this option is the need to re-install all 3rd party software not included in the distribution. This is by far and away the best explanation I have found. Thank you Derek!