Updating Linux Mint
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Keeping your computer up-to-date
Keeping your computer on the latest updates makes sure that your computer has the latest security and performance updates. This means that you are as protected as possible from malware or viruses, and your computer is as fast and stable as possible.
Updating your computer is a routine task that should be done at least every couple of weeks, but the more often you update your computer, the better off you will be!
How to tell if your computer is ready for an update
Luckily for us, Linux Mint makes it easy to see if our computer needs to be updated. In the bottom right corner of our screen, we'll find the applets section. Here we'll find a shield icon. If that shield icon has an orange dot next to it, then that means our computer is ready for updates.
Your computer will check for updates frequently, so just check your applets every once in a while and you'll notice it pop up every once in a while.
Installing Updates with the Update Manager
Clicking on the shield icon will open our Update Manager and if it is your first time opening this window, then you will be greeted with the Welcome screen.
Here you'll see a bit of information about things you'll find in the Update Manager and information on what types of updates will be installed. You can click OK to continue.
Next, you might see (it doesn't always appear) that the Update Manager requires an update before it can update the rest of your computer. You can click Apply the Update to continue. Note that this may require your password, so please type it into the new window and click Authenticate to continue from there.
And finally, you'll be brought to the main update screen. The thing that tends to draw your attention the fastest might be the bright blue banner that says Do you want to switch to a local mirror?
The short answer is "Yes, we do."
These updates are stored on many different servers across the world that all mirror the original Linux Mint Server. If you can find a server that is closer to you (local) than the original server, then your updates will run much faster.
So we're going to click Yes in the blue banner to open a new window.
This is the Software Sources manager and we're only interested in one thing: the Main Mirror found in the middle of our screen. You'll notice another name next to the word Main. This is the current version of Linux Mint that you are using. Our example says uma because we are using Linux Mint 20.2 (Uma).
Click on the little box next the Main label to find a new mirror.
The Software Sources manager will then open a new window that automatically starts trying to find the best server for you. Generally, this will be the closest server, but not always. In our example the Software Sources manager found that the server located at the University of Washington was the fastest (by a lot!) which makes sense, since we're located in Portland, Oregon and the University of Washington isn't that far away (in computer terms).
Once your computer finds the fastest server, you can click on it to highlight it, and then click Apply in the bottom right corner to pick that server.
You'll then see the Software Sources manager again, but this time there will be a new green banner located at the bottom of the window that says Your Configuration Changed. In order to confirm that we do want to change to the mirror we picked, we need to click the OK button found on the banner in the bottom right corner.
The Software Sources manager will then make the change, and you can then close the window if it doesn't happen automatically.
Now that our mirror has been set, we are ready to install updates. Our Update Manager will have three (3) different types of updates for us. Let's take a look at what those might be before we jump into actually updating our computer.
Security Updates
Security Updates are protective measures that ensure that your computer is safe from malware and/or viruses.
Kernel Updates
Kernel Updates are updates to the core of Linux Mint (called the Kernel). These are a mix of security and performance updates. They will keep your computer safe, while making it more stable and faster running.
Software Updates
Software Updates are for the specific programs that you use while on your computer. These are usually bug-fixes or add new features.
If you see an update that you don't want to install, you can uncheck the box found in the Upgrade column. That particular Security, Kernel, or Software update will then be save for a later time when you are ready to install it.
After removing the updates that you don't want to be installed (generally we recommend installing all of the updates) you can then click on the Install Updates button found at the top of the window.
Your computer may then bring up another window that says This upgrade will trigger additional changes. This is perfectly normal, and is just showing you all of the configuration files that the updates you have chosen to install will be affecting. You can feel comfortable clicking the OK button to continue.
You will then be asked to type in your password to confirm the updates installation. Linux Mint tries very hard to make sure that the person who owns the computer is the only one who is making vast changes to it. Asking for this password is a security measure and a very welcome one.
After typing in your password, click Authenticate to continue.
After confirming your password, your computer will the begin downloading and installing the updates for your computer. Depending on your internet speed, the speed of your computer, and how many updates there are to install, this process could take a few seconds, or several minutes (up to an hour or two).
You are welcome to continue using your computer during this time, but you may notice that it is a little bit slower while it is performing updates in the background.
After updates are done being installed, your computer may require a Reboot to finish installing the updates. You'll know this is the case if you see a bright orange banner that recommends you Restart. It can be a good idea to restart your computer after major updates (security and kernel updates) regardless of if your computer tells you to do so or not.
Installing Updates using the Terminal
For some, using the terminal to update their computer is much faster and easier. To do this you simply need to open your terminal through the Menu, Panel, or by pressing Ctrl+Alt+t. Then you will need to type in three commands:
sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade
reboot
The first two commands are what are done in the background when you use the Software Manager, so let's learn what they do!
sudo apt update
Whenever your Software Manager launches (opens) it runs this command and displays the results. It is analyzing all of the software in your computer and checking which bits of your computer are out of date. This means it is checking your kernel, the version of each piece of software, and more. It then marks each of the pieces of software that are out of date as upgrade ready. However, without running the sudo apt upgrade command no changes to your computer will be made - no security, kernel, or software updates are done.
sudo apt upgrade
Any program that you have marked as Upgrade in your software manager is updated to the latest version when you click Install Updates. That is exactly what is happening with this command. Your computer will go through all of the updates that are marked as upgrade ready and update them to the newest version. If you only use sudo apt update then nothing will happen other than your computer being informed that it is out of date.
So, to break this down even further, the sudo portion of the commands stands for Super User Do. A Super User is an administrator-level access and is basically saying "Do everything that I say with the most privileges that you can give." This is often required for major changes like software updates/upgrades. It also will require your password to follow your command.
The apt portion, is signaling which program you are giving Super User Privileges to. In this case, that program is apt. This is the standard application in Linux Mint that is used to install, update, and upgrade your software.
This all means that sudo apt update will give administrative privileges to apt so that it can update its list of software to figure out what parts of your computer are out of date. Then, sudo apt upgrade will give administrative privileges to apt so that it can upgrade all of that software that is out of date. And finally, reboot will automatically restart your computer (make sure you save everything you were doing before you type this command!).
There's one more trick you can do to make updating your computer even faster, and that is to string together all three of these commands. If you were to do this, that would look something like this:
sudo apt update -y && sudo apt upgrade -y && reboot
There are two new bits in our command so we'll talk about those, and then you'll know how to update your computer like a pro!
-y
Normally, when you type in a command it may pause part way though to make sure that you definitely want to continue along. In this case, it is checking to make sure that you want to make all of the necessary updates, and if that is something that you are okay with, then you can add -y to the end of the command.
&&
The && is a way for us to string together multiple commands. In this case, we are stringing together three different commands; sudo apt update -y, sudo apt upgrade -y, and reboot. Each of these commands will work perfectly fine on their own, but you can speed up the process of updating your computer by telling it "Once you're done with this command, do this next one." That is where the && comes in. Once your computer is done with sudo apt update it will then automatically continue on to sudo apt upgrade, and when it is done with that it will automatically finish up with reboot.
Stringing together your commands can really speed up the way in which you interact with your computer and is one small step in being hyper-efficient while using it. However, there is nothing wrong with updating your computer through the Software Manager if that is what you are more comfortable with. Most people will prefer to use the Software Manager and that's great! That's why the Software Manager exists!