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SafeSquid Ubuntu OS Upgrade from 20.04 to 24.04 Guide

Overview​

This document provides a step-by-step, non-interactive procedure to upgrade the SafeSquid Secure Web Gateway system from Ubuntu 20.04 LTS to Ubuntu 24.04 LTS, followed by upgrading to the latest SafeSquid version 2025.1001.1232.3.

The steps ensure compatibility, security, and service continuity for SafeSquid deployments running in production environments.

Why This Upgrade Is Required​

1. SafeSquid Compatibility Requirements for The latest release:​

SafeSquid Secure Web Gateway 2025.1001.1232.3

introduces the following minimum system requirements:

  • Linux Kernel: 6.8 or higher
  • glibc: 2.39 or higher

Ubuntu 20.04 LTS includes:

  • Kernel up to 5.15
  • glibc 2.31

These versions are too old for SafeSquid verion 2025.1001.1232.3, which requires newer kernel APIs and library functions available only in Ubuntu 24.04 LTS. Attempting to install the new version on 20.04 will cause dependency and runtime failures.

2. Ubuntu 20.04 End of Life (EoL)​

Ubuntu 20.04 LTS reaches End of Standard Support in April 2025. After this date:

  • No further security patches or OS updates will be provided.
  • Package repositories may become unavailable.
  • Vulnerabilities and compatibility issues will accumulate.

Upgrading to Ubuntu 24.04 LTS (Noble Numbat) ensures long-term security and system support until 2034 under extended maintenance.

Important Pre-Requisite​

  1. Login as root

You must be logged in as the root user (or have full administrative privileges using sudo) to execute all commands in this procedure.

Upgrading the operating system and SafeSquid involves modifying system-level files, packages, and services that require root-level access.

To switch to the root user, run:

sudo -i

Verify root access by checking the prompt changes to:

root@hostname:~#

If you see this, you can proceed safely with the upgrade process

  1. Free Storage in /root:

    The /root partition must have more than 15 GB of free space to accommodate upgrade files, temporary packages, and extracted data.

    Check available space:

df -h

Expected output for sufficient free space:

Filesystem                                     Size  Used Avail Use% Mounted on
/dev/mapper/vgsab--ubantu-root                  20G  4.0G  16G  20% /
tmpfs                                          392M  900K  391M   1% /run
tmpfs                                          2.0G     0  2.0G   0% /dev/shm
tmpfs                                          5.0M     0  5.0M   0% /run/lock
/dev/mapper/vgsab--ubantu-home                  24G   48K   23G   1% /home
/dev/mapper/vgsab--ubantu-var+cache+safesquid  7.0G   24K  6.7G   1% /var/cache/safesquid
/dev/mapper/vgsab--ubantu-opt+safesquid        3.7G   48M  3.5G   2% /opt/safesquid
/dev/mapper/vgsab--ubantu-var+lib+safesquid    7.5G  4.3G  2.8G  61% /var/lib/safesquid
/dev/mapper/vgsab--ubantu-var+www+safesquid     14G   24K   14G   1% /var/www/safesquid
/dev/sda1                                      1.9G  193M  1.6G  11% /boot
/dev/mapper/vgsab--ubantu-usr+local+safesquid  3.7G   9.2M  3.5G   1% /usr/local/safesquid
/dev/mapper/vgsab--ubantu-var+log+safesquid     96G  885M   90G   1% /var/log/safesquid
/dev/mapper/vgsab--ubantu-var+db+safesquid      73G  1.1M   69G   1% /var/db/safesquid
/dev/ram1                                       60M  3.0M   54M   6% /tmp/safesquid
tmpfs                                          392M  8.0K  392M   1% /run/user/0

Note: If free space is below 15 GB, clean up unnecessary files or resize the /root partition before proceeding.

  1. Check Current OS Version

Purpose: This step confirms the current OS version before proceeding, ensuring the system is actually running Ubuntu 20.04. The upgrade procedure must be followed sequentially, so the version check prevents applying incorrect upgrade steps.

Command:

lsb_release -a

Expected Output:

Description:    Ubuntu 20.04 LTS

If the version shows 18.04, perform an upgrade to 20.04 first before continuing.

Step 1: Upgrade Ubuntu from 20.04 → 24.04 (Two-Step Process)​

Ubuntu LTS upgrades must be done sequentially (20.04 → 22.04 → 24.04). This ensures all intermediate packages, kernel modules, and libraries are properly migrated.

Phase 1 – Upgrade from 20.04 to 22.04​

Why:

  • Ubuntu cannot skip LTS versions directly.
  • This step ensures that kernel, libc, and dependent packages are incrementally upgraded to versions compatible with 22.04.

Commands:

apt autoclean -y && apt autoremove -y
apt-get clean
apt update && apt upgrade -y
do-release-upgrade -f DistUpgradeViewNonInteractive
  • apt autoclean removes obsolete package files.
  • apt autoremove clears unused dependencies to prevent clutter.
  • apt-get clean: Removes cached packages to free space and avoid conflicts.
  • apt update && apt upgrade -y: Ensures the system is fully patched before upgrading.
  • do-release-upgrade -f DistUpgradeViewNonInteractive: Initiates the upgrade to Ubuntu 22.04 in non-interactive mode, This upgrades Ubuntu to the next LTS version without stopping to ask questions, ensuring a fully automated process suitable for remote servers or critical systems.

After completion:

reboot

Reboot is required to boot into the new kernel and load updated system libraries.

Phase 2 – Upgrade from 22.04 to 24.04​

Why: This phase upgrades the system to the final target OS, Ubuntu 24.04 LTS, which provides:

  • Kernel 6.8
  • glibc 2.39
  • Modern dependencies required by SafeSquid 2025.1001.1232.3

Commands:

apt autoclean -y && apt autoremove -y
apt-get clean
apt update && apt upgrade -y
do-release-upgrade -f DistUpgradeViewNonInteractive
  • apt autoclean removes obsolete package files.
  • apt autoremove clears unused dependencies to prevent clutter.
  • apt-get clean: Removes all cached package files from /var/cache/apt/archives to free up space and prevent conflicts.
  • apt update && apt upgrade -y: Updates the package index and upgrades all installed packages to the latest available versions automatically.
  • do-release-upgrade -f DistUpgradeViewNonInteractive: Initiates the Ubuntu OS upgrade to the next release in a fully automated, non-interactive mode.

After the upgrade completes:

apt autoclean -y && apt autoremove -y
reboot
  • apt autoclean removes obsolete package files.
  • apt autoremove clears unused dependencies to prevent clutter.
  • Reboot ensures the system loads the new kernel and environment.

Step 2: Update BIND Configuration​

Why:

SafeSquid, during its operation, creates or modifies /etc/bind/named.conf.appliance.options, which automatically add options dnssec-validation and TTL limits.

These options cause conflicts when starting bind9 service.

The reason SafeSquid does this is to ensure Active Directory (AD) integration works smoothly, as these options control DNS validation and caching behavior, which are critical for resolving AD domain controllers and Kerberos services.

Commands:

vim /etc/bind/named.conf.options

Comment the following lines:

// dnssec-validation auto;

// max-cache-ttl 300;
// max-ncache-ttl 300;

Save and restart BIND:

systemctl restart bind9

This restarts the DNS service with updated configuration.

Step 3: Rename msktutil Binary​

Why:msktutil is a tool used for managing machine accounts in Active Directory.

SafeSquid or system processes may attempt to use the existing msktutil binary, which was built for Ubuntu 20.04.

On Ubuntu 24.04, this older binary can have dependency issues with newer Kerberos libraries.

Command:

mv /usr/local/bin/msktutil /usr/local/bin/msktutil_

Step 4: Update Netplan Configuration​

Why: During OS upgrades, network settings may change or revert. Updating Netplan ensures the system uses the local DNS resolver (127.0.0.1), allowing proper DNS resolution through your AD-integrated BIND server.

Commands:

vim /etc/netplan/00-installer-config.yaml

Add or modify the nameserver section:

nameservers:
  addresses: [127.0.0.1]

Apply the configuration:

netplan apply

This ensures DNS resolution functions correctly with BIND post-upgrade.

Step 5: Upgrade SafeSquid Application​

Why: Once the OS environment is compatible (kernel 6.8, glibc 2.39), install the new SafeSquid version. The latest release provides updated filtering features, enhanced TLS handling, and improved performance.

Commands:

wget -P /usr/local/src https://downloads.safesquid.com/appliance/unstable/safesquid-2025.1001.1232.3-swg-standard.tar.gz
tar -xzf /usr/local/src/safesquid-2025.1001.1232.3-swg-standard.tar.gz -C /usr/local/src
/usr/local/src/_mkappliance/installation/setup.sh

Check status:

systemctl status safesquid.service

Enable at boot:

systemctl enable safesquid

This ensures SafeSquid starts automatically after system reboots.

Step 6: Post-Upgrade Cleanup and Verification​

Why: Cleaning residual packages prevents storage bloat and ensures a consistent, stable environment. Verification confirms that both OS and SafeSquid versions are upgraded successfully.

Commands:

apt autoclean -y && apt autoremove -y
reboot

After reboot, verify OS versions:

lsb_release -a

Expected:

Description:    Ubuntu 24.04 LTS

Verify Installed SafeSquid Version.

ls -rlt /opt/safesquid/bin/safesquid

Expected:

lrwxrwxrwx 1 ssquid root 39 Oct 13 22:22 /opt/safesquid/bin/safesquid -> safesquid-2025.1001.1232.3-swg-standard