Upgrade to Linux Mint 21.2 from 21.1 [Complete Guide]

This guide gives you all the information you need to Upgrade to Linux Mint 21.2 “Victoria” from Linux 21.1.

Linux Mint 21.2 “Victoria” is recently released with the latest packages and updates. If you are running Linux Mint 21.1, here’s how you can upgrade to this latest version.

But before you upgrade, you need to do some housekeeping because major version upgrades always come with a fair amount of risk.

That said, make sure of the following before performing the upgrade.

Before you perform the upgrade, remember the followings:

The below steps are for Linux Mint 21.1 to 21.2 only.
What does this mean? If you are running Linux Mint 20.2 or Linux Mint 20.1, you can not directly upgrade to 21 or 21.2. Instead, you need to perform sudo apt update and sudo apt upgrade to reach 20.3. And then, follow the steps outlined here to update to 21 or 21.1.
After you reach 21.1, you can follow the below steps.

Table of Contents

Things to do before the Upgrade Attempt

Open the Update Manager and make sure your system is up to date until Linux Mint 21.1.
Use TImeshift to create a system restore point after you apply all the pending updates in the above step. If something happens, you can always restore it to this point in time.
Take a backup of all of your home, downloads, documents, pictures and videos folders.
(Optional) Disable any third-party PPA that you may have added. You can find those in the System Settings > Software Sources > PPAs or Additional Repositories tabs.
(Optional) Prepare a LIVE USB of Linux Mint 21 if you cannot boot it after a failed upgrade. It will help to restore via Timeshift.
(Optional) Finally, do a fresh reboot before you follow the steps.
Ensure you have a stable internet connection and have around 20 mins+ to give attention to the upgrade process.

Upgrade to Linux Mint 21.2 from Linux Mint 21.1 [Graphical Method]

Open a terminal window and run the following to ensure you are up-to-date.
sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y
Once the above command is complete, open the “Update manager” from the application menu.
Click on Edit > Upgrade to Linux Mint 21.2 “Victoria”. See Fig 1.
In the next welcome screen (Fig 2), click Next and follow the on-screen instructions.
At the final screen (Fig 3), hit Apply and provide admin password. The update process will download and apply the updates.
Wait for ~20 minutes for the update to complete.
After the process is done, reboot your system.

Upgrade option for Linux Mint 21.2 (Fig 1)

Follow the onscreen instructions — Follow the on-screen instructions (Fig 2)

Things to remember during the Upgrade

Usually, the upgrade process is smooth and should not be an issue. This version takes around 20 minutes for base installation.
The upgrade process may give the below error “requirements not responding”. Hit “Wait”. DO NOT force quit.
So, you need to wait until it completes all the steps.
If you end up with a broken upgrade system, you can boot from a LIVE Mint USB/CD and restore your system with Timeshift backup.

If you receive this message during upgrade - click wait — If you receive this message during upgrade – click wait

If the upgrade fails, you may try for a new upgrade via this official guide.

Post Upgrade Steps

Make sure you do a reboot before start using the upgraded system.
If you have disabled the third-party PPAs, enable them and do a system update check. You can find the third-party PPAs at the System Settings > Software Sources > PPAs or Additional Repositories tabs.
Verify whether your documents, pictures and videos are present.
Also, check if your browser add-ons and extensions are working fine.
Finally, you may want to check out the Best features of Linux Mint 21.2 “Victoria” before you start using it.