Buster Full Upgrade

Before we move on with the upgrade, let's fully upgrade our current Debian Jessie system:

# apt-get update
# apt-get upgrade
# apt-get dist-upgrade

If everything went smoothly, perform database sanity and consistency checks for partially installed, missing and obsolete packages:

# dpkg -C

If no issues are reported, check what packages are held back:

# apt-mark showhold

Packages On Hold will not be upgraded, which may cause inconsistencies after Buster upgrade. Before you move to the next part, it is recommended to fix all issues produced by both above commands. The following command might be of a further assistance:

# dpkg --audit

Update Package Repository to Debian Buster

Now, that we have a current system fully upgraded, it is time to re-synchronize the package index files with new Debian Buster sources. This is done by editing /etc/apt/sources.list file to include Debian stretch package repository . First, make a backup the current /etc/apt/sources.list :

# cp /etc/apt/sources.list /etc/apt/sources.list_backup

Execute apt edit-sources or use your favourite text editor e.g., VIM to modify a current /etc/apt/sources.list file to include stretch repositories. Simply update keyword stretch to buster .

Example:

FROM STRECTH:
deb http://httpredir.debian.org/debian stretch main
deb http://httpredir.debian.org/debian stretch-updates main
deb http://security.debian.org stretch/updates main
TO BUSTER:
deb http://httpredir.debian.org/debian buster main
deb http://httpredir.debian.org/debian buster-updates main