Ubuntu Jammy Upgrades
Ubuntu Jammy's ESM period will start in April 2027.
In the following article, we answer the most important questions about upgrading to Ubuntu Noble and go into detail about the associated changes.
Ubuntu Noble will be actively supported until April 2029, when its ESM period will start.
Nine will offer upgrades for Ubuntu Jammy systems until April 2028.
Ubuntu Upgrades
Ubuntu upgrades are an established standard process that is carried out regularly by Nine. With experience of several hundred upgrades, we would like to share with you the most important information for an upgrade from Ubuntu Jammy to Ubuntu Noble.
Version Changes between Jammy and Noble
The following table provides an overview of the most important version changes between the Ubuntu versions.
| Service | Ubuntu Noble 24.04 | Ubuntu Jammy 22.04 |
|---|---|---|
| PHP | 8.2 - 8.5 | 8.0 - 8.3 |
| MySQL | 8.0 | 8.0 |
| PostgreSQL | 16 | 14 |
Further software as well as an overview of all Ubuntu versions can be found in this support article.
Requirements for an Upgrade
The two most important server components to be considered in advance for an upgrade are usually the PHP version and the version of the database software that is in use.
Databases
Please note that usually only one of the two database systems is used. MySQL is more widely used by Nine customers than PostgreSQL. If you are unsure which database system you are using, please contact us.
MySQL
The MySQL version for Ubuntu Jammy and Ubuntu Noble is the same. Both operating systems provide MySQL in version 8.0.
There are some CMS that require newer MySQL versions in their latest release. If you require MySQL 8.4 in the foreseeable future, we recommend a migration to Ubuntu Resolute.
PostgreSQL
The PostgreSQL version will change from 14 to 16 after the upgrade.
The PostgreSQL upgrade routine will be executed after the operating system has been upgraded. In the PostgreSQL upgrade process, a copy of the database environment is created and the upgrade routine checks if all requirements for the upgrade are met.
If this is not the case, PostgreSQL can be started in the old version and we'll work out a way forward with you.
Please check in advance whether your application is compatible with PostgreSQL 16.
PHP Version
For Ubuntu Noble, Nine provides PHP versions 8.2 - 8.5.
To check if you are currently running older versions, you can connect to your server via SSH with the www-data user
and execute the following command:
sudo nine-manage-vhosts virtual-host list --json | jq -r '.[] | select([.template_variables.PHP_VERSION] | inside(["8.0","8.1"])) | ([.domain, .template_variables.PHP_VERSION] | join(" "))'
All vhosts that currently use PHP 8.0 or 8.1 will be shown.
These vhosts should be updated to use PHP 8.2 or newer before the upgrade. Alternatively, please ensure that they are at least compatible with PHP 8.2 before upgrading. Older versions will no longer be available after the upgrade and all vhosts configured with an older version than 8.2 will be automatically updated to use PHP 8.2.
Applications and Libraries Installed in User Space
Components installed in the user space, such as applications and libraries, may have dependencies on certain versions of shared libraries provided by the operating system. An in-place upgrade or a migration to a newer version of Ubuntu can lead to these components no longer working properly due to changes in the shared libraries. The proper functioning of the components should be ensured immediately after an upgrade or during testing.
If errors occur, it is recommended to first reinstall the affected components, if possible with a newer version. In some cases, the installation or upgrade programs require a compiler tool chain, which can be installed on the system by Nine Support. An example of this is the application server uWSGI, which links to the shared library 'libcrypto' available during installation.
Upgrade Preparations
Before starting the upgrade routine, Nine creates backups of all databases and a snapshot of the virtual machine, or respectively, of the relevant LVM volumes.
If an unforeseen situation should arise after the upgrade has been completed or if there are unplanned deviations during the upgrade, the previous state can be restored in a timely fashion and operability of the server can be guaranteed.
Duration of the Upgrade
The "in-place" upgrade usually takes 45 to 60 minutes. During this time, the server and the Managed Services running are not available for use.
For larger database environments, the upgrade might take a longer time. If it's foreseeable that the upgrade will take longer than an hour, we'll inform you when finding an appointment for the upgrade.
Timeslots for "In-Place" Upgrades
Nine is offering "in-place" upgrades during office hours at the following days and times. If you're interested in an upgrade, please note your preferred date when reaching out to us.
| Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11:00 | 16:00 | 14:00 | 09:30 16:30 |
On request, Nine offers upgrades outside office hours on weekdays from 18:00 to 05:00 at the hourly rate of CHF 250 plus the out of office hours one time fee of CHF 250.
Qualified Systems
Virtual Server
In-place upgrades are available for almost all virtual servers. For a few systems that have been upgraded in the past and initially where delivered with Ubuntu Xenial or Ubuntu Bionic, we're unable to offer further in-place upgrades.
Dedicated Server
With the in-place upgrades of Ubuntu Jammy to Ubuntu Noble, Nine is offering upgrades for dedicated servers for the first time.
Upgrades are available for dedicated servers of the current "Standard" and "Performance" hardware generation. Additionally, we require between 30 and 80 GB of non assigned diskspace, depending on the Managed Services used.
Nine delivers all dedicated servers in a LVM configuration. Upon delivery, we do not yet assign all free space to a partition. "non assigned" diskspace therefore refers to free space in the LVM pool, not to free space on an existing partition.
The non assigned diskspace is required to create LVM snapshots. These are mandatory if we find ourselves in a situation where we need to roll back an upgrade.
Migration to Ubuntu Resolute
"In-place" upgrades perform an upgrade to the next newer Ubuntu version. A direct upgrade from Ubuntu Jammy to Ubuntu Resolute is therefore not possible. An "in-place" upgrade option from Ubuntu Noble to Ubuntu Resolute will be available the earliest in summer 2028.
If you wish to upgrade directly to Ubuntu Resolute, we're providing you with a new system instead. We will gladly transfer the data of the current productive system and support you with the migration.
You can then test the functionality of the new environment. The new server is offered free of charge for a test period of 2 weeks.
After your approval, we agree on an appointment for the migration to the new server. In the process, we synchronise the data with the production system again and forward all traffic from the old server to the new one.
As a last step, you must update the DNS entries of affected domains to point to the new server's IP address.
Upgrade and Migration Costs
Nine offers the "in-place" upgrade free of charge during office hours (09:00 - 18:00).
For migrations, Nine offers one hour work during office hours (09:00 - 18:00) free of charge, which is usually sufficient. Additional work or clarifications will be charged at our hourly rate of CHF 250.
If you wish the work to be carried out on weekdays outside business hours (18:00 to 05:00), our out of office hours one time fee of CHF 250 will be charged in addition to the regular hourly rate.
Contact
Please contact us if you have any questions or uncertainties about Ubuntu upgrades, questions about specific services or details about the procedure as well as to arrange an appointment. You can reach us by email at or via our Service Desk Portal.