Upgrading to Ubuntu Gutsy Gibbon 7.10 : Built-in upgrade file download too slow? Download iso via torrent instead.

Ubuntu 7.10 (Gutsy Gibbon) (though I keep typing “gusty”) was released today. I tried the upgrade directly from my Feisty 7.04 desktop, using update manager. However, though things started well enough, soon enough my download speed had dropped to 20kb/s and my estimated completion time had trailed off to 22 hours. Ack. Not nearly quick enough for me, since I’ve been impatiently waiting for the non-beta release for days.

So, what’s the alternative? As usual, bittorrent provides speedy downloads for popular files, and this one counts. To upgrade a current installation, get the .torrent file for the 7.10 alternate iso image from the Ubuntu 7.10 Releases page, and open it with your favorite torrent application. My speed is about 25 times faster downloading via this method. I will be seeding the file when I can, as well, to make sure this process is as fast for others as it can be.

Note that you’ll need the alternate .iso, unless you are doing a clean install. The alternate image lets you upgrade a system that isn’t connected to the internet, among other things. It’s what you’ll want to use if you are upgrading a 7.04 system and are looking for a little more speed, as I was here.

You can also get them here:

ubuntu-7.10-alternate-i386.iso.torrent

ubuntu-7.10-alternate-amd64.iso.torrent

One you have the .iso file, burn that to disk, and upgrade from that CD following the upgrade instructions from ubuntu.com. (If you need instructions on burning an iso image, see this guide.)