Release Upgrade Whonix 17 to Whonix 18

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How to Release Upgrade from Whonix 17 to Whonix 18

Notices

Warning: This is for developers-only!

Once available it will be announced in the usual places. See Stay Tuned.

Release Upgrade Whonix Notices

Notice	Description
Difficulty	Downloading a new Whonix-Gateway™ / Whonix-Workstation™ (Factory Reset) is easier than applying the Release Upgrade instructions on this page. Debian release notes: TODO: update links Chapter 4. Upgrades from Debian 12 (trixie) Chapter 5. Issues to be aware of for trixie
Release Upgrade vs Re-Installation	To use Whonix 18, users can either: A) Release upgrade existing Whonix 17 images using the instructions on this page; OR B) Factory Reset using the Whonix re-install method by downloading the new release, which is much simpler than upgrading: Non-Qubes-Whonix 18: download the new release. Qubes-Whonix™ 18: download the new release.
Standard Updates	For standard ("everyday") update instructions see Operating System Software and Updates. The instructions on this page describe how to perform a Release Upgrade from Whonix 17 to Whonix 18.
Automated Release Upgrade vs Manual Release Upgrade	Automated Release Upgrade is the newer method that has been implemented. It does not ask for user input and is therefore easier to use. The former Manual Release Upgrade effectively did the same, but it offered more control over system customization. It is now deprecated.
Configuration Files Resets	Since this is an automated release upgrade, user modified configuration files (if any) in folder /etc will be reset, overwritten with the Debian or Whonix package version. The user is free to restore the configuration after the release upgrade.

High Level Overview

1. Backup all data - ideally have a copy of the VM(s) so it is possible to try again (if necessary).
2. Perform the usual standard ("everyday") update instructions.
3. Release Upgrade Whonix-Workstation (whonix-workstation-17).
4. Power off Whonix-Workstation (whonix-workstation-17).
5. Release Upgrade Whonix-Gateway (whonix-gateway-17).
6. Restart Whonix-Gateway (whonix-gateway-17).
7. Restart Whonix-Workstation (whonix-ws-workstation).

Platform Specific Notices

• Whonix: No special notice.
• Qubes-Whonix:
  • Qubes R4.2: Unsupported for Qubes R4.2.
  • Qubes R4.3: Available for Qubes R4.3 and above only.

Release Upgrade

1. Backup all data, ideally have a clone of the VM(s) so it is possible to try again (if necessary).
2. Perform the usual standard ("everyday") update instructions.
3. Consider running the optional sanity tests.
4. Run systemcheck.
5. View release-upgrade command version: cat /usr/sbin/release-upgrade | grep version=
6. Check release-upgrade command version. It should be a minimum of 3.3, and display version="3.3".
7. Consider keeping the full release upgrade log output. It will be required for Support in case there are issues.
8. Perform the automated release upgrade using the release-upgrade command: sudo release-upgrade
9. Re-run the repository-dist utility to update your derivative APT sources list from the old .list to the new .sources format. This is a very minor issue if forgotten. It can be done at any later time. systemcheck will point this out if it has not been done yet.
10. Done. If everything went well, at the end it will show:

    INFO: OK. (release-upgrade version: 3.3) Release upgrade success.

11. Reboot.
12. Optional, recommended: Re-install Meta Packages and Safely Run Autoremove

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