How to upgrade Linux mint LMDE 4 to LMDE 5 via Upgrade tool

In this tutorial you will learn how to upgrade your Linux mint distro LMDE 4 to LMDE 5 by using the new LMDE upgrade tool. This tool allows you to upgrade your system with ease, it is a GUI tool so you don't have to touch the terminal or entering any command.

Note: the tool is still in beta so it may have bugs, I suggest you test it on a virtual machine or on another computer to make sure it works for you before you decide to upgrade your main OS.

Features of Mint Upgrade tool

• User friendly Graphic User Interface
• Multi-language support
• Checks if your system is plugged in, checks if you have enough free space, backups etc
• Easy to use
• Easy to configure

Timeshift Option

It allows you to create a snapshot of your system before you upgrade your system, snapshot is necessary in cases when you are upgrading your main OS and doing a massive upgrade and if something goes wrong you can revert changes.

Orphan packages

This option allows you to keep packages during the upgrade, for example : if the new version LMDE 5 doesn't have that package, then you can simply add it on the orphan packages section.

You can also upgrade without creating a snapshot, if you are not familiar with timeshift, you can disable it by going to "Preferences" and uncheck the "Recent timeshift snapshot"

Launch the upgrade tool and click to the "three lines" button then go to "Preferences"

Here you choose to create a snapshot before upgrading, keeping orphan packages etc

To keep the package(s) you want after upgrading, simply add it via the "+" button under Orphan Packages section

Now follow the steps below in order to upgrade your system.

Step 1 - Update your System

Before upgrading your system, you need to make sure your system is updated, run the command below to update/refresh packages on your system

apt update

You should see a window like this, this means all packages are up to date and you can proceed to Install Mintupgrade tool.

Step 2 - Install the Upgrade tool

Once you have updated your system, now you can install Mint Upgrade tool by running the command below

apt install mintupgrade

As you can see on the image above, after starting the installation of mintupgrade you need to confirm by pressing Y in order for the installation to continue

Now simply press y/Y and press enter, and the installation should start

Step 3 - Upgrade your System

Once the Mint Upgrade tool has been installed, you need to run it via this command

sudo mintupgrade

This command will open the Mint Upgrade tool as shown on the image below

Now let's start upgrading Linux mint LMDE 4 to LMDE 5

1) Click the button "Let's go!"

Once you click the let's go button, you will see a window like this, this means you need to remove the package "ippusbxd" before you start upgrade, to do this you don't have to do anything manually, simply click the Fix button.

2) Continue by clicking the "OK" button

3) If you get any issues about orphan packages or something timeshift related you can click the Fix button and it will fix the issue for you, proceed by clicking again the OK button on second phase.

4) Confirm again by clicking the OK button

Once the tool has performed all the checks, this means you are good to go, now you can upgrade your system by simply clicking to the "Ok" button.

And the upgrading of LMDE 4 to LMDE 5 should start

Linux mint team indicated that it's safe to close the console during the upgrade, however I'd suggest to keep it running just in case the upgrade stops or something happens, so you can see at to what point the upgrade stopped.

Now all you have to do is wait for the upgrade tool to do its job, get yourself a coffee while waiting :)

Once the upgrading has been completed, you'll see a window like this

Next, simply reboot and that's it!

To verify that Linux mint LMDE 4  got upgraded to LMDE 5 ,  you can do so by using one of the methods on our tutorial below

How to check which version of Linux Mint you are using

In this tutorial you will learn different methods to check which version of Linux version you are using. This information is useful when you are having issues and want to troubleshoot them, or simply want to know more about the operating system that you are using. You can read this

OwlHowToEndrit Qerreti

Conclusion

In this tutorial I explained how to upgrade your Linux mint LMDE4 to LMDE5 by using the new upgrade tool "Mintupgrade" released by Linux Mint.