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Edit: To clarify I mean to upgrade to either 21.04 or 21.10.

I found this question that is relevant, but the comments on the answers indicate that Ubuntu Desktop either is not uninstalled or that there is a serious risk of unintentionally removing needed packages or of outright bricking the machine. Obviously neither of these is ideal. I wondered if the problems might be resolved if the change were made as part of an upgrade rather than a standalone uninstallation of the desktop capabilities. I have already added most of the server components, and I no longer need the GUI capabilities which are taking up sorely needed space on the hard drive.

pokyCoder
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  • Ubuntu releases using the *year.month* format (*deb* based systems) are different products to those using the *year* format (*snap* only products), and the *year* products only come out on *even* years (eg. Ubuntu Core 20). You cannot upgrade a 20.04 (server/desktop) system to a Core 20 product (server) without re-install (there is no Ubuntu Core 21) – guiverc Oct 19 '21 at 00:11
  • I did not even know there was a _year_ format; I just meant either 21.04 or 21.10. But thanks for the info. – pokyCoder Oct 19 '21 at 00:59
  • Canonical/Ubuntu introduced *snap* only products in 2016 & thus use the *year* to highlight they are different products, eg. Ubuntu Core 16 was the 2016 release of the server product for devices/appliances or cloud use. – guiverc Oct 19 '21 at 01:02

1 Answers1

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There is no tested and supported path from 20.04 to 21.04 nor to 21.10. There are a lot of hacks of varying quality.

Recommended: The simplest, safest, and fastest path is to back up your data and services, then install 21.10 Server over the older Desktop system.

  • The backup is in case you select the wrong option during install; if you select the correct option, then all your data and services will still be there.
user535733
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