By upgrading ev3dev you are also upgrading the drivers, so there may be changes that break user software. You should check the ev3dev news feed for breaking changes before upgrading.

There are multiple ways that you can upgrade ev3dev.

Option 1: Re-flashing your SD card (fastest)

This option will likely be the fastest by far. However, by re-flashing your SD card, you will lose any files that were stored in your ev3dev installation, including code and installed programs.

Head over to our downloads page to download the appropriate image and then follow the linked instructions at the top of that page to flash the flash to your SD card.

Option 2: Upgrading all installed software (slowest)

Make sure that you have already configured a network connection and connected to ev3dev via SSH to use this option.

This option will be the slowest, but it is easy to do and will also make sure that other software is up-to-date.

1. Run the following commands in order, waiting for each command to complete before typing the next. Some steps require confirmation to proceed. Press ‘y’ when asked.

   sudo apt-get update
   sudo apt-get upgrade
   sudo apt-get dist-upgrade
   

   The upgrade step may take a couple hours to complete, depending on your network connection, hardware and the number of outdated packages.

2. Reboot by typing sudo reboot or by using the “Shutdown…” menu in Brickman (if using an EV3, click the “back” button to access it).

Option 3: Upgrading only the kernel

Make sure that you have already configured a network connection and connected to ev3dev via SSH to use this option.

This will be slower than option one but significantly faster than option two. This option will only upgrade core ev3dev packages and not other software.

1. Run the following commands, replacing linux-image-ev3dev-ev3 as shown below:

   sudo apt-get update
   sudo apt-get install linux-image-ev3dev-ev3
   

   Hardware platform	Package name
   LEGO MINDSTORMS EV3	linux-image-ev3dev-ev3
   Raspberry Pi Zero / Raspberry Pi 1	linux-image-ev3dev-rpi
   Raspberry Pi 2 / Raspberry Pi 3	linux-image-ev3dev-rpi2
   BeagleBone	linux-image-ev3dev-bb.org

2. Reboot if the kernel was updated.

   • If the second command prints linux-image-ev3dev-ev3 is already the newest version. there was no new kernel available, and you are done.
   • If the command does not output that line, you will need to reboot the EV3 before the new kernel can be used. Do so through Brickman on the EV3 display or by running sudo reboot.

Confirming that the upgrade worked

After the brick has rebooted (assuming you installed a new kernel version), press About on the brick’s main menu and scroll down to “Kernel” to confirm it has a current kernel.

Brickman’s about page