1. Update and Upgrade

To keep Ubuntu up to date, use the update or upgrade command. Update and upgrade may be the same, but there is a difference. The update command does not change the package to the latest version, but instead retrieves information about the latest version available on the system.

Original Korean article: ubuntu update and upgrade

That is, it does not download or install any packages. You must use the upgrade command to download and install the package. The system operates on a database of available packages.

The database does not contain packages, only the package's metadata (version, repositories, dependencies, etc.). So without updating the database the system won't know whether there is a newer package available or not.

Update and upgrade are administrative commands and must be executed with root privileges. sudo allows you to run commands as Ubuntu root. So I log in as root or use sudo for both commands.

1) apt update

Get updated metadata from a package with the apt update command. Your local package cache will be updated and you will see which packages are available for upgrade.

apt update: Updates the package cache (knows which package versions can be installed or upgraded)

• package update

sudo apt update

You can use the apt and apt-get commands to update the package cache. The two commands are the same, but the difference is that the apt command displays the number of upgradeable packages. Here it shows that there are 59 upgradeable packages.

2) apt upgrade

You can upgrade all (upgradable) packages with sudo apt upgrade. You can press Enter or Y to proceed with the upgrade, or press N to cancel.

apt upgrade: Upgrade a package to a new version

• View package upgrade list

sudo apt list --upgradeable

You can upgrade the entire package with the sudo get upgrade command, but before that, you can check the list of packages that can be upgraded.

• package upgrade

sudo apt upgrade

Before the upgrade begins, you will be asked whether you want to continue. Type Y to proceed with the upgrade, n to cancel, and then press enter. Here, type Y to proceed with the upgrade and proceed.

When the upgrade is complete, a window will appear asking you to restart the service. Here we select OK and continue. When the upgrade is complete, you can check the restarted services.

If you re-enter the sudo apt update command, you can see that there are no upgradeable packages.

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This article is an English translation and global-reader adaptation of the Korean post “ubuntu update and upgrade.” It preserves the original article’s main explanation, examples, and practical context.

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