I have seen a few questions in IRC and the forums lately regarding upgrading Ubuntu machines.  I thought I would toss out a reminder on the best, supported, methods of upgrading your machine and how to avoid (hopefully) some common pitfalls.

Upgrade Preparation

The first step towards an upgrade is to backup any mission-critical data that you may need.  Things like your documents, presentations, homework, etc.  I have never had an issue with an installer breaking and losing my data, but its simply just a good idea.  I’d hate to not have done the “just-in-case” and look back in regret.

Back up all your data by copying or archiving everything from /home/username, including those hidden folders.  This will include your personal files and personal configuration and settings.

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