Methods to update Linux Mint 21.3 Virginia to 22.3 Zena.

What's new in Linux Mint 22.3?

• Linux Mint 22.3 Zena version came out january 12, 2026.What's new in version 22.3.

Checking the current version of Linux Mint OS

Start - System -System reports-> "System Information" -> "Distro".

1. Method recommended by Linux Mint developer

This method is automated using update applications:

*mintupgrade*- to update release 21.3 to 22 (based on different codebases Ubuntu 22.04 "Jammy" and 24.04 "Noble", respectively).
mintupdate**- to update versions 21, 21.1, 21.2 to 21.3 and to switch from 22 to 22.3, that is, without changing the Ubuntu code base.

If you have an earlier version of Linux Mint 21.2 "Victoria", 21.1 "Vera" or 21 "Vanessa", first upgrade to 21.3 "Virginia" using Start - System -Update Manager or terminal commands mintupdate.

1.0 Updating Linux Mint 21.2 "Victoria" to 21.3 LTS "Virginia"

If you have installed Linux Mint 21.2 "Victoria" or an earlier 21.1 "Vera" OS, you must first update the operating system to 21.3 "Virginia" using "Start" - "Settings" -"Update Manager" or terminal commands sudo mintupdate.

1.1 Updating Linux Mint 21.3 LTS "Virginia" to 22 "Wilma"

*How to update Linux Mint 21, 21.3 to 22- using the mintupgrade utility, which should be installed and run after updating all packages:

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

sudo apt install mintupgrade

sudo apt mintupgrade

Before upgrading Linux Mint to version 22.0, the mintupgrade program will require the user to create a system snapshot in Timeshift without fail! Which will take from 20 minutes to 1 hour. On the selected partition (I chose the partition with the most free space) Timeshift will create at least 582410 files using rsync. The free space on the selected disk partition will decrease 11 GB- TimeShift image size. Close the Timeshift-gtk window.

The updater will check for third party packages (Search for Third Party Packages) and unused packages.
In step 2 "Reproduction and download of packages" the OS repositories will be prepared for use of the new release - wide OK button.
Old repositories will be replaced with noble-backports and 54.8 MB of package metadata will be downloaded!

The next step is “Simulate update” to check the free space on the media and check for possible problems.
The download volume of the new release files is 2.4 GB, plus additional installation space of 1.1 GB.

• Ubuntu Noble codebase packages will begin downloading

• Step 3: Update. “Packages will be updated now” - click the button "OK".

• Update step.
  The update duration ranges from several minutes to several hours, depending on the performance of the personal computer. In my case, the update took 2 hours.

1.2 Updating Linux Mint 22 "Wilma" to 22.3 LTS "Zena"

*How to update Linux Mint 22, 22.1 and 22.2 to version 22.3- using Start - System - Update Manager - Edit - Upgrade to Linux Mint 22.3 Zena.

2. Manual way to update Linux Mint 21.3 "Virginia" to 22.3 "Zena" (draft version)

В эIn this way, I updated from 21.3 directly to 22.3. Maybe it is relevant for those who were unable to update automatically using the above method. The method is based on:

• replacing Ubuntu repositories jammy на noble в файле /etc/apt/sources.list.d/official-package-repositories.list, and
• replacing the Linux Mint repository with

  deb http://mirror.yandex.ru/linuxmint-packages zena main upstream import backport

  or this one:

  deb https://fastly.linuxmint.io zena main upstream import backport

So in the file /etc/apt/sources.list.d/official-package-repositories.list *jammyзаменил наnoble, *virginiaзаменил наzena`.

0) Preparation.

0.1) in the program "Start" - "System" (Options) -"Application Sources"
disabled PPA repositories:

• Flatpak - disabled
• oandrej/php - disabled

0.2) in the same program "Start" - "System" (Options) -"Application Sources"
on the bookmark "Additional repositories" turned everything off.

0.3) Updated the package cache by clicking on the "Click here to update the APT cache" button.

0.4) Since my video card is nVidia, I removed the nVidia drivers so as not to interfere. Since the nVidia driver is not compatible with any versions of Linux kernels.

Perform a complete uninstall of the closed source nVidia driver:

sudo apt purge nvidia*

0.5) In file /etc/default/grub disabled the "quiet" mode (removed "quiet nospash") in the line.

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT=""

and updated grub:

sudo update-grub

Rebooted the PC.

1) Launched the “Start” program in the start menu - “Settings” -"Update Manager".

And in it I selected the menu item "Edit" ->"Update to 23.3 Zena".

2) Followed the update wizard:

Click Next.

Click Next.

Click Next.

On the next screen "Install mint-meta-xfce" in my case not pressed.

I clicked cancel and installed it because... XFCE desktop, package "mint-meta-xfce":

sudo apt install mint-meta-xfce

We look at the errors, which packages prevent mint-meta-xfce from being installed.

Errors in my case:

sudo apt install mint-meta-xfce
Reading package lists... Done
Building a dependency tree... Done
Reading status information... Done
Some packages cannot be installed. Perhaps what you are asking is
is not feasible, or you are using an unstable version of the distribution, where
The packages you requested have not yet been created or have been removed from Incoming.
The following information may help you:

The following packages have unmet dependencies:
The following packages have unmet dependencies:
thunar : Depends: libatk1.0-0t64 (>= 1.12.4) but it cannot be installed
          Зависит: libc6 (>= 2.38) но 2.35-0ubuntu3.12 должен быть установлен
          Зависит: libglib2.0-0t64 (>= 2.79.0) но он не может быть установлен
          Зависит: libgtk-3-0t64 (>= 3.21.5) но он не может быть установлен
E: Unable to fix errors: you have fixed broken packages.

3) In my case, there are unsatisfied dependencies. Edited the Linux Mint configuration file with the name "official-package-repositories.list":

sudo nano /etc/apt/sources.list.d/official-package-repositories.list

It needs to be commented out, because... put a comment mark "#" before all lines in the file,
and add the lines of the Linux Mint 22.3 "Zena" repositories to the file:

deb http://packages.linuxmint.com zena main upstream import backport

deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu noble main restricted universe multiverse
deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu noble-updates main restricted universe multiverse
deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu noble-backports main restricted universe multiverse

deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ noble-security main restricted universe multiverse

!Source: https://easylinuxtipsproject.blogspot.com/p/sources.html

4) Launched the “Start” program in the start menu - “System” -"Updating packages", or in the terminal run:

sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade

So I upgraded the Ubuntu package versions from jammy up to noble and also upgraded the Linux Mint version from 21.3 to 22.3.
Attention! 1.7 GB of files will be downloaded.
The system has been updated.

5) Tried to install the metapackage

sudo apt install mint-meta-xfce

There are still problems with the following dependencies. Packages that uninstalled:
*virtualbox

• python3-oauthlib
• inxi
• libgrk3-perl

Then again Executed the command

 sudo apt install mint-meta-xfce

432 MB of archives will be downloaded. This time the installation of the mint-meta-xfce metapackage was successful.

4) Update the remaining packages

sudo apt update

Or run in graphical mode Start - Settings -Update Manager. It is no different from apt update:

5) If after the update the system did not boot due to a lightdm error, which could be seen on the screen during boot.

7) I didn’t “fix” lightdm, I temporarily installed the gdm3 window manager

• in advanced boot options I chose root
• entered password
• systemctl start NetworkManager
• sudo apt update
• sudo apt install gdm3
• a text window will be displayed, where by default instead of lightdm I chose gdm
• reboot

6) The system booted, but the design is very similar to Ubuntu. The version of the welcome screen, however, says that Linux Mint 22.3 is installed.

Completed system update in Start - Settings -Update Manager.

7) Reinstalled lighdm in the terminal

sudo apt install --reinstall lightdm

and selected the default desktop lightdm
and rebooted the PC.

8) After the reboot, the desktop and the menu began to look like Linux Mint.

Check:

dpkg-query --list *cinnamon*

In version 22.3, the cinnamon package is version 6.6.

9) View extended system information:

• Start - System -System information.

  

10) However, the team

lsb_release -a

provided incorrect information.

No LSB modules are available.
Distributor ID: Linuxmint
Description: Linux Mint 21.3
Release: 21.3
Codename: virginia

11) Correction in the file /etc/lsb-release versions from "21.3 Victoria" to "22.3 Zena"

sudo nano /etc/lsb-release

DISTRIB_ID=LinuxMint
DISTRIB_RELEASE=22.3
DISTRIB_CODENAME=zena
DISTRIB_DESCRIPTION="Linux Mint 22.3 Zena"

Ctrl+O, Ctrl+X

12) Editing the /etc/os-release file: replacing VERSION, PRETTY_NAME, VERSION_ID.

NAME="Linux Mint"
VERSION="22.3 (Zena)"
ID=linuxmint
ID_LIKE="ubuntu debian"
PRETTY_NAME="Linux Mint 22.3"
VERSION_ID="22.3"
HOME_URL="https://www.linuxmint.com/"
SUPPORT_URL="https://forums.linuxmint.com/"
BUG_REPORT_URL="http://linuxmint-troubleshooting-guide.readthedocs.io/en/latest/"
PRIVACY_POLICY_URL="https://www.linuxmint.com/"
VERSION_CODENAME=zena
UBUNTU_CODENAME=noble

13) Launched the update manager

sudo mintupdate

14) Switch to mirror by pressing OK

15) In two lists, select the nearest fastest mirrors:

There were foreigners:

Russian steel:

16) Click refresh caches: green button "Click here to refresh APT cache"

Wait until the update is complete and the "Updating cache..." message disappears.

You can see apt in action in the top program:

top

(The CPU load should drop and the buttons will become available.) .

17) If everything went well, then the repositories were registered in the file
/etc/apt/sources.list.d/official-package-repositories.list

(If the distribution name has been reset to the previous one, then the /etc/os-release file has not been edited).

18) To check for updates, I ran a script

sudo python3 /usr/lib/linuxmint/mintUpdate/mintUpdate.py

No update required.

19) Looked at the system information again

mintreport

Linux Mint version 22.3.

and

lsb_release -a

Manual way to update Linux Mint 21.3 "Virginia" to 22.3 "Zena" (improved version)

I tested the method, but this path looks simpler.

1) On Linux Mint 21.3 "Victoria" upgrade the version using the developer's method:
sudo apt install mintupgrade
sudo apt mintupgrade

2) On the Linux Mint 22 "Wilma" version, also using the developer's method

"Start" - "Settings" -"Update Manager".

• menu "Edit" ->"Update to 23.3 Zena".

3) If it is impossible to update, install the package "mint-meta-xfce"

sudo apt install mint-meta-xfce

Then remove the packages that are interfering with the update and try to install the mint-meta-xfce metapackage again.

4) Repeat step 2 - command "Start" - "Options" -"Update Manager"-"Update to 23.3 Zena" should complete successfully.

5) If in this case the update is not successful, proceed according to the "draft" option above:

• try to replace the distribution name in the "official-package-repositories.list" file with "zena" and manually perform the apt update && apt upgrade from the terminal.

4. Operations after installation

1) After installation with an nVidia video card, the image resolution on the display may be incorrect.

in Start - Settings -Display the correct monitor must be specified. This only applies to video cards from nVidia:
If the monitor is "Unknown" and the video card is nVidia, uninstall the nVidia video card driver and install nouveau

sudo apt purge nvidia-dkms-\*
dpkg-query --list \*nouveau\*
sudo apt install xserver-xorg-video-nouveau

2) In a file /etc/default/grub put a pound comment mark in these lines, and set GRUB_GFXPAYLOAD_LINUX to auto:
#GRUB_GFXMODE=1920x1080x32
GRUB_GFXPAYLOAD_LINUX=auto
#GRUB_TERMINAL=gfxterm

Run to update grub2 configuration:
sudo update-grub

After rebooting, the display should show the image in the correct resolution.

2) Enable third-party repositories one by one by editing the files /etc/apt/sources.list.d/*.list, in which replace jammy with noble, and run apt update, apt upgrade.

3) In the file /etc/default/grub return

sudo nano /etc/default/grub

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash"

sudo update-grub

Application:
Archive with file official-package-repositories.list for the three OS versions that are extracted during regular update of Linux Mint OS from the catalog /etc/apt.sources.list.d/:
*official_repos.zip

Last update: 01/30/2026

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