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.
Software Requirements and Linux Command Line Conventions
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.
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 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.
