Upgrading Qubes 4.0.4 to 4.1.0

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David Hamner

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For those running Qubes 4.0.4 looking to upgrade to 4.1.0, let’s review the upgrade process using a Librem 14. To get started, you’ll need a USB hard drive to store your backup and a USB flash drive to boot the upgrade ISO.

Preparing your backup drive

Most file system formats will work as long as they support large files, but you’ll need something more than fat32. If your drive uses fat you’ll need to reformat with ext4, exFAT or NTFS. To reformat, install GParted.

In this example, I installed it temporarily in this Qube. If you plan to use GParted in the future, you’ll want to install this into your template VM. Attach your backup drive to your Qube with GParted and create an ext4 filesystem.With ext4, you’ll need to edit the permissions so your user can write files to it. Open a terminal in a Qube with the drive attached and run the following commands, replacing xvdi with your drive name:

sudo mount /dev/xvdi /mnt
sudo chown user:user /mnt
sudo umount /mnt

Backup Qubes VMs

First, Head into Qubes manager and turn off all VMs you’d like to backup.Attach your backup USB hard drive to your Liberm 14. With your backup drive ready, select system tools → Backup Qubes.Select which Qubes you’d like to backup.Select sys-usb as the target Qube, and browse to the USB drive.On the external drive, create a folder called Backups.Enter a password to encrypt your backup, and click next.Keep in mind any running VMs backed up won’t have any changes since the last time it started. When your backup finishes, unmount the USB and close the file browser.

Create Qubes 4.1 OEM install disk

The upgrade ISO is about 6 gb. Depending on your settings, you may need to increase your available storage to download the ISO. To do so, select the Qube and head into its settings.Add the needed storage.With the needed storage added, open Firefox and navigate to this URL to download the latest Qubes ISO.Once the ISO is downloaded, plug in your empty USB and click the storage icon to attach it to your download Qube.You can now create the upgrade USB by running the following command:

sudo dd if=/home/user/Downloads/name.iso of=/dev/xvdj bs=4M status=progress; sync

Make sure to replace xvdj with your USBs device name. Running lsblk can help you identify which drive you need.

Install Qubes 4.1 OEM version

Once the dd command completes, reboot to Pureboot and select Options → Boot Options → USB BootThen select the newly created QUBES_OEM device, then select the boot option labeled Install Qubes.Note this will completely erase data on the computer, and no input will be needed during the installation. Once the installation completes, the Librem 14 will power down.

Perform PureBoot OEM Factory Reset

Attach your Librem key and boot the Librem 14. Your Librem key should automatically ask for a factory reset; if not, go to options → OEM Factory Reset and follow the onscreen prompts to pair your Librem key.

Setup Qubes 4.1

With your Librem key paired, let’s boot our upgraded Qubes install for the first time. Press enter for the Disk Password. You’ll be prompted to set up your username, password, and disk encryption.Under QUBES OS settings, you can edit system-level configurations like the default template. If unsure, the defaults are fine; select done, then Finish Configuration. This will complete your installation and encrypt your disk with the given password.

Restore Qubes VMs

Once this process completes, attach your backup USB drive and go to Qubes Tools → Restore backup.Select Sys-usb, then browse to your backup. Enter your encryption password and press next.From the available backups, select which you’d like to restore.Press next to start the restore.Once finished, unmount your USB using the file browser and select finish.We also offer the option to get QubesOS 4.1 pre-installed on your new Librem 14, Order today!

Purism Products and Availability Chart

	Model	Status	Lead Time
	Librem Key (Made in USA)	In Stock ($59+)	10 business days	Learn More Buy Now
	Librem 5	In Stock ($699+) 3GB/32GB	10 business days	Learn More Buy Now
	Librem 5 COMSEC Bundle	In Stock ($1299+) Qty 2; 3GB/32GB	10 business days	Learn More Buy Now
	Liberty Phone (Made in USA Electronics)	Backorder ($1,999+) 4GB/128GB	Estimated fulfillment early November	Learn More Buy Now
	Librem 5 + SIMple (3 GB Data)	In Stock ($99/mo)	10 business days	Learn More Buy Now
	Librem 5 + SIMple Plus (5 GB Data)	In Stock ($129/mo)	10 business days	Learn More Buy Now
	Librem 5 + AweSIM (Unlimited Data)	In Stock ($169/mo)	10 business days	Learn More Buy Now
	Librem 11	In Stock ($999+) 8GB/1TB	10 business days	Learn More Buy Now
	Librem 14	Backorder ($1,370+)	Estimated fulfillment date pending	Learn More Buy Now
	Librem Mini	Backorder ($799+)	Estimated fulfillment November	Learn More Buy Now
	Librem Server	In Stock ($2,999+)	45 business days	Learn More Buy Now