Upgrade from 18.1 to 18.3 [solved]

[Ricker]

Hello,

According to my update manager there is a upgrade option in the EDIT menu bar to 18.3 Sylvia

However I have some level 4 and 5 packages in the update manager.. Which options do I select..??


Thanks

[jimallyn]

According to my update manager there is a upgrade option in the EDIT menu bar to 18.3 Sylvia

However I have some level 4 and 5 packages in the update manager.. Which options do I select..??

I don't think you need to select any of them. Just do the Upgrade. If any of those level 4 and 5 options are needed to do the upgrade from 18.1 to 18.3, it will do them as part of the upgrade.

[Ricker]

According to my update manager there is a upgrade option in the EDIT menu bar to 18.3 Sylvia

However I have some level 4 and 5 packages in the update manager.. Which options do I select..??

I don't think you need to select any of them. Just do the Upgrade. If any of those level 4 and 5 options are needed to do the upgrade from 18.1 to 18.3, it will do them as part of the upgrade.

According to the Linux Mint user guide level 4 and 5 updates can be dangerous for your computer....If I upgrade to Mint 18.3 is it possible to switch back to Mint 18.1..??

Thanks

[jimallyn]

OK, one or both of us is missing something. What do level 4 and 5 updates have to do with upgrades from Mint 18.1 to Mint 18.3? As I understand it, you can do the level 4 and 5 updates or not, as you choose. You can do the 18.1 to 18.3 upgrade or not, as you choose. Choosing, or not choosing, to do one does not, as far as I know, commit you to doing, or not doing, the other. As far as I know, you can ignore the level 4 and 5 updates and just do the 18.1 to 18.3 upgrade, if that is what you wish to do.

[Sir Charles]

If I upgrade to Mint 18.3 is it possible to switch back to Mint 18.1..??

It is. You have to install an application called Timeshift via repositories. Use Timeshift to make a snapshot of your 18.1 before the upgrade to 18.3. Read up on how Timeshift works. There are numerous threads on these forums about the subject. Search the web as well. If you are unsure as to how to use Timeshift, you can always post here and people can help you out with that. Another alternative would be to create images of your 18.1 partitions using some cloning software. You can just restore your system by restoring the partitions using the cloned images.

[AZgl1800]

I am a Timeshift believer, as well as using a couple other methods.

the forum gang just gave me a full tutorial on it a couple weeks ago.

then after I understood what all of the different ways of saving things to an ExtUSB HDD you can do, I wrote up a mini-tutorial in my own thread... just to put it all together in one place.

viewtopic.php?f=90&t=263360

[Cosmo.]

TimeShift is useful in both situations: For reverting an upgrade from 18.1 to 18.3 and or reverting after a higher level update, in case it should give a problem. So it is worth to install it at first and this is also officially recommended.

[Ricker]

OK, one or both of us is missing something. What do level 4 and 5 updates have to do with upgrades from Mint 18.1 to Mint 18.3? As I understand it, you can do the level 4 and 5 updates or not, as you choose. You can do the 18.1 to 18.3 upgrade or not, as you choose. Choosing, or not choosing, to do one does not, as far as I know, commit you to doing, or not doing, the other. As far as I know, you can ignore the level 4 and 5 updates and just do the 18.1 to 18.3 upgrade, if that is what you wish to do.

Thats a good question! Because I am a Newbie I have no idea if the updates will interact with the Linux Mint 18.3 install. Secondly I was concerned about a System Restore option if I experience problems with the 18.1 to 18.3 upgrade..
Thanks for your feed back..

[Ricker]

If I upgrade to Mint 18.3 is it possible to switch back to Mint 18.1..??

It is. You have to install an application called Timeshift via repositories. Use Timeshift to make a snapshot of your 18.1 before the upgrade to 18.3. Read up on how Timeshift works. There are numerous threads on these forums about the subject. Search the web as well. If you are unsure as to how to use Timeshift, you can always post here and people can help you out with that. Another alternative would be to create images of your 18.1 partitions using some cloning software. You can just restore your system by restoring the partitions using the cloned images.

Thanks, sounds like Timeshift is a system Restore function.. Plus I plan on researching cloning software maybe I can use a USB Ext HD...

[Sir Charles]

... sounds like Timeshift is a system Restore function.. Plus I plan on researching cloning software maybe I can use a USB Ext HD...

Yes, it is a system restore function. And having an external device for storing the systems snapshots and/or cloned images is a good idea. If you have any further questions on these matters don't hesitate to post here. I am sure way more knowledgeable members will gladly share their backup/restore strategies with you. Good luck

[Ricker]

I am a Timeshift believer, as well as using a couple other methods.

the forum gang just gave me a full tutorial on it a couple weeks ago.

then after I understood what all of the different ways of saving things to an ExtUSB HDD you can do, I wrote up a mini-tutorial in my own thread... just to put it all together in one place.

viewtopic.php?f=90&t=263360

Using Timeshift and saving the image on a USB Ext HD would be like my Acronis True Image (Windows).. Basically the very same procedure.. I take it the Timeshift program can be download from the Mint software manager??
Thanks for the mini-tutorial!

[austin.texas]

I take it the Timeshift program can be download from the Mint software manager??

Yes, in your 18.1 Timeshift can be installed from the Software Manager - or:

Code: Select all

apt install timeshift

Note: in 18.3, Timeshift is already installed.

[AZgl1800]

Using Timeshift and saving the image on a USB Ext HD would be like my Acronis True Image (Windows).. Basically the very same procedure.. I take it the Timeshift program can be download from the Mint software manager??
Thanks for the mini-tutorial!

Not quite:
1) the MDR and the rest of the HDD is not copied, only the System Files, that is one reason it is so darn fast.

2) I learned from Austin a lot, and the first time I ran his Grsync method, it became extremely obvious that all System Restore methods had to be directed off PC, and onto an ExtUSB HDD. They get huge in a hurry, and if you were to set them up to do automatic Daily Snapshots? OMG, a full backup would get out of hand in a hurry.

3) I then deleted all of the "backup methods files" off of the PC. Then I ran Timeshift, SystemBackup, and Grsync for a "baseline" and all were now directed to use the ExtHDD.

4) After each session is run manually, none of them in Automatic mode, as the ExtHDD is only attached when I want it: I then add notes to each run to tell myself what is unique about that particular backup.

ie, "All good, going to update from version XX to version YY" or maybe "Lockring issue fixed now"

things like that so that the backups become meaningful.... when you have a bunch of backups, how do you know which one is the one that is in the "state you wish to return to?"

5) I ran Redo full image backup yesterday. I first manually created a folder to put it in on the ExtUSB HDD and then I created a Text Document in that folder describing all of the situations that might be important to me a year later as to what that Image means. I have to say that "Redo" is so much easier to use than Macrium Reflect, and it has several neat addition functions also.

I learned years ago with Acronis and Macrium Reflect a very important thing. Always create a Folder for the Full Disk Image you are doing "right now" and write up a text document describing what special items you want to know about that image".

That became extremely important to me one day, when Win7 Firefox inherited a bug and refused to operate properly. No amount of deleting it off the HDD and reinstalling it would fix the issue. The problem became so bad that I finally did a "Full Disk Image Restore" from an old image.... unfortunately this was during a time when my wife had been ill for a couple years, her health going downhill to her eventual passing, and my Mental Acuity was for crap....... I stupidly decided "ah WTH I will just re-image it back to when Firefox was working right"...

Well, guess what? That "good image" was two (2) years old and when I rebooted the PC, I instantly regretted that incredibly dumb decision. I lost almost 5,000 bookmarks in Firefox.... an unknown amount of work lost, and other things that we all keep for "future use": it all just simply disappeared without any way to get back to where I was.

Why? I was so sick of it all, I forgot my Own Rule. Always make an Image Backup Now First!!!

[Ricker]

Using Timeshift and saving the image on a USB Ext HD would be like my Acronis True Image (Windows).. Basically the very same procedure.. I take it the Timeshift program can be download from the Mint software manager??
Thanks for the mini-tutorial!

Not quite:
1) the MBR and the rest of the HDD is not copied, only the System Files, that is one reason it is so darn fast.

2) I learned from Austin a lot, and the first time I ran his Grsync method, it became extremely obvious that all System Restore methods had to be directed off PC, and onto an ExtUSB HDD. They get huge in a hurry, and if you were to set them up to do automatic Daily Snapshots? OMG, a full backup would get out of hand in a hurry.

3) I then deleted all of the "backup methods files" off of the PC. Then I ran Timeshift, SystemBackup, and Grsync for a "baseline" and all were now directed to use the ExtHDD.

4) After each session is run manually, none of them in Automatic mode, as the ExtHDD is only attached when I want it: I then add notes to each run to tell myself what is unique about that particular backup.

ie, "All good, going to update from version XX to version YY" or maybe "Lockring issue fixed now"

things like that so that the backups become meaningful.... when you have a bunch of backups, how do you know which one is the one that is in the "state you wish to return to?"

5) I ran Redo full image backup yesterday. I first manually created a folder to put it in on the ExtUSB HDD and then I created a Text Document in that folder describing all of the situations that might be important to me a year later as to what that Image means. I have to say that "Redo" is so much easier to use than Macrium Reflect, and it has several neat addition functions also.

I learned years ago with Acronis and Macrium Reflect a very important thing. Always create a Folder for the Full Disk Image you are doing "right now" and write up a text document describing what special items you want to know about that image".

That became extremely important to me one day, when Win7 Firefox inherited a bug and refused to operate properly. No amount of deleting it off the HDD and reinstalling it would fix the issue. The problem became so bad that I finally did a "Full Disk Image Restore" from an old image.... unfortunately this was during a time when my wife had been ill for a couple years, her health going downhill to her eventual passing, and my Mental Acuity was for crap....... I stupidly decided "ah WTH I will just re-image it back to when Firefox was working right"...

Well, guess what? That "good image" was two (2) years old and when I rebooted the PC, I instantly regretted that incredibly dumb decision. I lost almost 5,000 bookmarks in Firefox.... an unknown amount of work lost, and other things that we all keep for "future use": it all just simply disappeared without any way to get back to where I was.

Why? I was so sick of it all, I forgot my Own Rule. Always make an Image Backup Now First!!!

According to your post I think a full image backup would be the best option... The Timeshift is a quick fix for updates that create problems with your system files...