Tag: Ubuntu

I had a Ubuntu on an older end-of-life (EOL) release that I hadn’t had a chance to upgrade. I finally took the time tonight to upgrade it, but starting out I start getting 404 errors because of the EOL status. Here are my notes for upgrading an EOL Ubuntu from 12.10 to 14.04.1.

1. Update all references in /etc/apt/sources.lst and replace http://archive.ubuntu.com or http://us.archive.ubuntu.com with http://old-releases.ubuntu.com
2. apt-get update
3. apt-get upgrade
4. do-release-upgrade
5. Rinse and repeat for 13.10 to 14.04.1

The default Ubuntu repository is very busy and sometimes slow, especially around releases. So, one of the first things that I generally do after installing Ubuntu is change the repository to one that is generally more responsive. Synaptics has a nice features which it tests which repository might be best in your case, use that to figure out which one to use. In my case the MIT repository mostly seems to be very snappy. Below are the steps to changing the repository. Fortunately, it is all point-and-click.

1. Open Synaptic Package Manager (Ubuntu menu > System > Administration > Synaptic Package Manager).
2. Go to Settings menu, then “Repositories”

3. Under the first tab “Ubuntu Software” open the “Download from:” drop down and select other.

4. Here you have two options, first let Synaptic figure out the best server by clicking “Select Best Server” or pick one that I know generally works pretty good in US, the MIT repository (Under “United States” choose ubuntu.media.mit.edu).

5. Click “Choose Server” and then close.
6. Now reload the repository and enjoy the faster download speeds 🙂