Like all Linux systems, it is necessary to keep your Raspberry Pi up to date in order to make sure that your device has the latest software features and drivers, security patches, and application updates. It is always recommended to keep your Raspberry Pi updated for these reasons, and the process for doing so is very easy. In this tutorial, we will go through the easy step by step instructions to update your Raspberry Pi.
In this tutorial you will learn:
- How to update Raspberry Pi via command line
- How to update Raspberry Pi via GUI
| Category | Requirements, Conventions or Software Version Used |
|---|---|
| System | Raspberry Pi |
| Software | N/A |
| Other | Privileged access to your Linux system as root or via the sudo command. |
| Conventions |
# – requires given linux commands to be executed with root privileges either directly as a root user or by use of sudo command$ – requires given linux commands to be executed as a regular non-privileged user |
Update Raspberry Pi via command line
Open a command line terminal and follow the steps below to update your Raspberry Pi:
- Start by updating the package repository cache:
$ sudo apt update
- Next, perform a full upgrade to get all the latest updates for every installed program, as well as the latest kernel version, if one is available.
$ sudo apt full-upgrade
Performing a full upgrade on Raspberry Pi DID YOU KNOW?
Thefull-upgradepart of the command above will also upgrade your Raspberry Pi’s kernel (if a newer one exists). This will require that you reboot the device in order for the changes to take effect. Alternatively, you can use theapt upgradecommand to get all of your updates without upgrading the Raspberry Pi kernel. - Your Raspberry Pi will need rebooted if a new kernel version was installed. Check the output in terminal to see if the kernel was upgraded or not.
$ sudo reboot
- Lastly, we will clean up unnecessary dependency packages by executing this command:
$ sudo apt auto-remove
Update Raspberry Pi via GUI
- If new package updates are available for installation, you will see the update icon in the upper right corner of your screen. Simply click on that icon to open up the update menu.
This menu shows updates that are available for the Raspberry Pi - Next, click the ‘Install’ button to install all of the available updates.
Closing Thoughts
In this tutorial, we saw how to update a Raspberry Pi. A full update involves upgrading all currently installed packages on the Raspberry Pi, as well as the system kernel whenever applicable. Keeping your Raspberry Pi up to date will ensure that you always have access to the latest programs, application features, security patches, system drivers, and kernel features that are available.
