In this article, we will examine how to update or upgrade the Debian 10 & 11 operating system installed on a computer to Debian 12 Bullseye without any problems.
How to Upgrade Debian 10 & 11 to Version 12 Bookworm
Debian Linux is a GNU project started by Ian Murdock in 1993 and developed by more than 500 programmers who participated in the project.
Debian 12, codenamed Bookworm, was released on June 10, 2023. In this version, which they will support for 5 years, they used Linux Kernel 6.1. In the previous 11 Bullseye versions, they used Kernel 5.10.
In short, the new Kernel 6.1 version means new hardware support, improved system security, and improved performance.
Thanks to Kernel 6.1, the Debian distribution now supports the exFAT file system. In this way, users will be able to automatically mount USB flash drives or SD cards that they connect to their computers on their systems without installing an additional package.
What’s New in Debian 12?
Debian 12, codenamed “Bookworm,” brings exciting updates and features. In fact, this release includes various possibilities for system administrators, developers, and enthusiasts. Now, let’s take a quick look at the main features:
- Updated Linux Kernel
Debian 12 comes with Linux Kernel 6.1, providing better hardware support across a wide range of devices.
- Advanced Security
As we all know, Debian is a priority in terms of security. Therefore, this new distribution includes essential security updates.
- Advanced Package Management
With version 12, we see the latest version of APT, 2.6. This version has been improved so that you can better use non-free firmware on Debian.
- New Themes and Background Images
As they do with every release, Debian developers have added a wallpaper nicknamed Emerald in this release. This image is in an emerald green tone. Plus, I can say that it depicts the raw and natural state of precious stones.
- Desktop Environment Updates
Debian 12 also includes XFCE 4.18, KDE Plasma 5.27, LXQt 1.20, Cinnamon 5.6, MATE 1.26, and LXDE 11 desktop environments. On the other hand, the GNOME 43 version has been integrated into the system.
- New Software Improvements
Of course, we see the following software improvements in this new release distribution:
- Apache 2.4.57
- Nginx 1.22
- PHP 8.2
- Perl 5.36
- MariaDB 10.11
- OpenSSH 9.2p1
- PostgreSQL 15
- LibreOffice 7.4
- Python 3.11.2
- OpenJDK 17
- Samba 4.17
Before You Begin
One of the most critical steps you need to take before upgrading your current Debian system to a new version is to use Backup because you do not want to lose the settings and configurations of the program or software you use on your computer.
For example, if you are using Debian Linux as a web server, it is helpful to back up the settings of some software such as MySQL and PHP. Since the versions of the programs you use during the upgrade will also be upgraded, you should definitely take their backups.
Therefore, we recommend backing up all your files before updating your Debian computer to the latest version 11 Bullseye distribution. In addition, you can easily back up your PC using Timeshift software, minimizing possible errors you may encounter during installation.
How to Install the Latest Version of Debian
After backing up or taking a snapshot of your Linux computer, you need to prepare your system for the update. First, you need to refresh the repository addresses defined on your system and then install new versions of existing packages and software.
Steps:
Step 1
To update the repository list of your old Debian computer and install new packages, execute the “sudo apt update” and “sudo apt upgrade” commands in the terminal, respectively.
sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade
Step 2
After executing the sudo apt upgrade command and checking that the 358 packages will be updated, press Y and Enter to confirm the installation.
Step 3
To install version 11 on your Debian 10 system, you need to edit the repository address. To do this, execute the command “sudo sed -i ‘s/buster/bullseye/g’/etc/apt/sources.list” in the terminal and change the term Buster to Bullseye in the current repo addresses.
sudo sed -i 's/buster/bullseye/g' /etc/apt/sources.listAfter editing the repo list, execute the command below to view the contents of the file /etc/apt/sources.list to check if the existing records have changed.
sudo nano /etc/apt/sources.list
Step 4
When you view the contents of the Sources.list file, you can see the addresses of the current version of Bullseye instead of Buster. You can press Ctrl + X to exit this file in the terminal.
Step 5
After checking the repo addresses, update the list again with the command “sudo apt update” in the terminal.
sudo apt update
Step 6
After making all the preparations, execute the “sudo apt full-upgrade” command in the terminal to update or upgrade Debian.
sudo apt full-upgrade
Step 7
After confirming the use of 1,047 MB of additional disk space, 1391 packages will be updated on your system, and 344 packages will be newly installed. After this process, you will be able to update your system in about 15 minutes, depending on your Internet connection speed and your computer’s performance.
When the Changelog for new packages is displayed in the terminal, you can press the “q” key to read the entire text and continue the installation quickly.
Step 8
Press the Enter in the Yes option to accept the restart of services without being prompted during the system update.
Step 9
After installing new updates on your Debian system, execute the “sudo apt –purge autoremove” command in the terminal to clean and remove unnecessary and residual packages automatically.
sudo apt --purge autoremove
Step 10
After checking the packages to be removed, press Y and Enter to confirm the deletion.
Step 11
Finally, after upgrading your operating system, restart your PC for the changes to take effect.
sudo reboot
Step 12
When your new Debian 11 Bullseye distribution starts, you will see that the login screen and desktop environment have changed with the new wallpaper. You can use the “lsb_release -a” and “uname -r” commands in the terminal to check the version of your new distribution and check the version of the Linux Kernel.
lsb_release -a
uname -r
Video
Installing Old Versions
Conclusion
To summarize, I recommend that you update your Debian system to the latest version. In short, this upgrade process offers you improved security, new features, and better performance.
If you follow the steps I have prepared in this article, you can quickly upgrade to the new version. However, I recommend that you back up your PC first. In this way, you can upgrade from Debian 11 to the latest version, 12, without any problems.
TolgaBagci
Hi, I'm Tolga, a computer expert with 20 years of experience. I help fix computer issues with things like hardware, systems, networks, virtualization, servers, and operating systems. Check out my website for helpful info, and feel free to ask me anything. Keep yourself in the loop about the newest technologies!
