This is useful when new versions of software are available for installation or upgrading.
Prerequisites:
Before proceeding with the steps below, ensure that your Ubuntu system has a fully qualified domain name (FQDN) configured correctly. If you do not have an FQDN or are using a dynamic IP address, consider obtaining one from a service like DuckDNS or NoIP.
Step 1: Update Package List and Install Required Packages
Before upgrading packages, it’s essential to update the package list on your system by running the following command in the terminal:
$ sudo apt update
This will download the latest package lists from Ubuntu servers and display any available updates.
Once you have updated the package list, install the required packages for APT and Aptitude using the following commands:
$ sudo apt-get install apt-utils aptitude
Step 2: Upgrade Packages Using APT
To upgrade all installed packages on your system using APT, run the following command in the terminal:
$ sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y
This will download and install any available updates for all installed packages. The ‘-y’ option is used to automatically answer ‘yes’ to any prompts that may appear during the installation process.
Step 3: Upgrade Packages Using Aptitude
To upgrade packages using Aptitude, run the following command in the terminal:
$ sudo aptitude update && sudo aptitude safe-upgrade -y
This will download and install any available updates for all installed packages while preserving your system’s current configuration. The ‘-y’ option is used to automatically answer ‘yes’ to any prompts that may appear during the installation process.
Step 4: Clean Up Unused Packages
After upgrading packages, it’s a good idea to clean up unused packages on your system using APT or Aptitude. This will free up disk space and improve performance by removing any unnecessary files.
To do this with APT, run the following command in the terminal:
$ sudo apt autoremove -y && sudo apt autoclean -y
This will remove all unused packages from your system and clean up downloaded package files. The ‘-y’ option is used to automatically answer ‘yes’ to any prompts that may appear during the installation process.
To do this with Aptitude, run the following command in the terminal:
$ sudo aptitude autoclean && sudo aptitude autoremove -y
This will remove all unused packages from your system and clean up downloaded package files while preserving your system’s current configuration. The ‘-y’ option is used to automatically answer ‘yes’ to any prompts that may appear during the installation process.

In this tutorial, we showed you how to upgrade Ubuntu packages using both APT and Aptitude on an Ubuntu system. By following these steps, you can ensure that your software is up-to-date with the latest versions available for installation or upgrading.