how to upgrade from dapper to haddy using the CD

I would suggest going to http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/download and picking the type you would like to have. Most likely you will want the 32-bit version (its the standard option). Download it, and save it to your desktop. This process will take a long while, so I usually start it before bed and let it run all night.

After the download, insert a blank CD into the CD tray, and right click on the .iso image that should be on your desktop. Click ¨write to disk¨. Selecting a slower speed is usually a good idea to avoid any errors in the burning process. This could also take a while depending on your computer. After the burn is complete, leave the tray open and shut the computer down. If the tray closes by itself, leave the CD in it. Restart the computer and you should be booting into the live CD. It should give you an option on installing your OS, running off the live CD, or a few others. After that its up to you.

If this wasn´t what you were asking about, please let me know. I´d be happy to help. This is the easiest way to upgrade an OS though.

Thanks for the answer. But what I really want to know is: how to use the CD to upgrade from Dapper to Hardy without wiping out the system. The reason for this is: i do not want to reinstall all the softwares that are already installed on the system. Since my current system is a server, it does not have the desktop installed on top it. Therefore, I won't be able to use the graphical interface to upgrade(all commands need to be command line only). Furthermore, I need to use just to Ubuntu 8.04 installation CD to do the upgrade. I looked up on the official Ubuntu website, but all it tell me to do is based on the assumption that the system have the desktop installed already. So I am wondering if the upgrade is feasible with my situation. If so, how should I approach??
Thanks for the help
Charles

You can easily upgrade over the network with the following procedure.

      Open System -> Administration -> Update Manager

            update_manager_01.png

      Click the Check button to check for new updates.

      If there are any updates to install, use the Install Updates button to install them, and press

     Check again after that is complete.

       A message will appear informing you of the availability of the new release.

            update-manager-upgrade-804.png

      Click Upgrade.

      Follow the on-screen instructions.

Use this method if the system being upgraded is not connected to the Internet.

   1. Download and burn the alternate installation CD.
   2. Insert it into your CD-ROM drive.
   3. A dialog will be displayed offering you the opportunity to upgrade using that CD.
   4. Follow the on-screen instructions.

If the upgrade dialog is not displayed for any reason, you may also run the following command using Alt+F2:

gksu "sh /cdrom/cdromupgrade"

Or in Kubuntu run the following command using Alt+F2:

kdesu "sh /cdrom/cdromupgrade"

what if i do not have the ubuntu-desktop installed on my system. can I still upgrade from CD on the system without ubuntu desktop (using shell command)??
Thanks
Charles

yep

   1. Download the alternate CD image (already done I believe)
   2. Burn the CD image / re-insert the CD OR mount the CD image (sudo mount -o loop ubuntu-8.04-alternate-i386.iso /mnt/)
   3. A dialog should appear on your screen offering to upgrade your system using the CD
   4. If the dialog does not appear (it may not if you use the mount -o loop option), run the following via ALT-F2:
   5. gksudo “sh /media/cdrom/cdromupgrade” OR gksudo “sh /mnt/cdromupgrade”

Regards

I tried to use the gksudo, it does not work. Shell return the error saying the command can not be found (I am wondering which package installs this command.). then, i tried to use sudo sh /cdrom/cdromupgrade and it somehow does run. However, it stopped right away and following messages have been displayed:

Traceback(most recent call last)
 File "/tmp/tmp.75v5Hx/hardy", line 3, in ?
   from DistUpgradeController import DistUpgradeController
 File "/tmp/tmp75v5Hx/DistUpgradeController.py", line 25 in ?
   import apt
ImportError: No Module named apt

I am wondering how could this happen. I installed apt debian package and above error still happen. Do you know how to get around that?
Thanks
Charles

This is a python error message, so you probably have to install the package "python-apt".

Install this package and try it again

do this first:
sudo aptitude install update-manager-core

Then
"
   1. Download the alternate CD image (already done I believe)
   2. Burn the CD image / re-insert the CD OR mount the CD image (sudo mount -o loop ubuntu-8.04-alternate-i386.iso /mnt/)
   3. A dialog should appear on your screen offering to upgrade your system using the CD
   4. If the dialog does not appear (it may not if you use the mount -o loop option), run the following via ALT-F2:
   5. gksudo “sh /media/cdrom/cdromupgrade” OR gksudo “sh /mnt/cdromupgrade”
" will work.

For future googlers, cdromupgrade appears to need python-apt and python-gnupginterface installed.