How to Seamlessly Upgrade WSL Ubuntu from 22.04 to 24.04 LTS

Why upgrade to Ubuntu 24.04 LTS

Linux kernel 6.8 – improved hardware support, performance gains and new system‑call features.

Default .NET 8 – ready for .NET development without extra configuration.

Updated toolchain – GCC 14, glibc 2.39, Python 3.12, OpenJDK 21 and other libraries.

Enhanced security – stricter kernel security defaults and application restrictions.

Enterprise‑grade management – new tools and policies for large‑scale deployment.

Upgrade process overview

High‑level flow of the upgrade steps.

Step 1: Backup the WSL instance

Shut down WSL to guarantee filesystem consistency: wsl --shutdown Export the Ubuntu 22.04 instance to a tar file. Replace the placeholders with the actual instance name (shown by wsl -l -v) and a directory that has enough free space:

# Format: wsl --export <instance-name> <backup-path>.tar
wsl --export Ubuntu-22.04 "D:\wsl-backups\Ubuntu-22.04-backup-$(Get-Date -Format 'yyyyMMdd').tar"

If the upgrade fails, restore the backup with wsl --import after unregistering the broken instance.

Step 2: Update the current installation

Run these commands inside the Ubuntu 22.04 WSL instance:

# Update package list
sudo apt update

# Upgrade all installed packages
sudo apt upgrade -y

# Handle possible dependency changes
sudo apt dist-upgrade -y

# Remove obsolete packages
sudo apt autoremove -y

# Clean the package cache
sudo apt autoclean

Step 3: Configure the release upgrader for LTS

Edit /etc/update-manager/release-upgrades (e.g., with nano) and ensure the Prompt line reads lts: sudo nano /etc/update-manager/release-upgrades Set Prompt=lts, save and exit (Ctrl+X, Y, Enter).

Step 4: Run the upgrade

Start the upgrade from the Ubuntu terminal: sudo do-release-upgrade Follow the on‑screen prompts – confirm the new release, accept default actions for configuration files, and answer “Yes” when asked to restart core services such as libc6.

The process will download hundreds of packages; the duration depends on network speed.

Step 5: Post‑upgrade cleanup and verification

Restart WSL to apply the new kernel: wsl --shutdown Then start the Ubuntu instance again.

Verify the upgrade by running: lsb_release -a Expected output includes Description: Ubuntu 24.04 LTS and Codename: noble .

Final cleanup – run the usual update and autoremove commands to remove leftover packages:

sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade -y
sudo apt autoremove -y
sudo apt autoclean

FAQ

WSL version is too old. Update WSL first: wsl --update.

The upgrade failed. Unregister the failed instance with wsl --unregister <InstanceName> and restore the backup using wsl --import.

Third‑party PPAs are disabled. After a successful upgrade, re‑enable needed PPAs by editing files under /etc/apt/sources.list.d/.

Insufficient disk space. Ensure the virtual disk has at least 15–20 GB of free space before starting.