Astra Linux Upgrade: From 1.8.1.6 to 1.8.5 – What Actually Worked

Why the official tool failed again and how APT saved the upgrade

Yahya  |  bushgrad.blogspot.com  |  29 May 2026

^{Image source: vasilisc.com: Public Domain}

Summary
I attempted the official upgrade to 1.8.5 using astra-update -A -r. It failed with the familiar “Main distributive repository not connected” error. This post documents the successful upgrade using apt dist-upgrade (after a safe simulation), a complete step‑by‑step procedure (including mounting the new ISOs and handling configuration prompts), and final verification. For local ISO users, APT is the reliable path – the official update tool will not work. Before I proceed, some background. While the release 1.8.1 continued to work without any notable problems, the release news about security enhancements in the 11 February 1.8.5 release were enough motivation for me to acquire the ISO's (previous post). I also wanted a real-life testing of an upgrade. After the upgrade, the system is also able to connect to the official online repositories (if needed), but my primary update method remains the local ISOs. The local repositories are fully functional and can serve as primary or optional (secure and isolated). If you ARE able to connect to the online repositories from your locale, the upgraded system (now on 1.8.5) is ready to use them – giving you the convenience of online updates. If you are limited, the local repository solution remains available. If you are limited, then the local repository solution is here for such a use case. Please remain vigilent always. All communications over any type of network need to be conducted with extreme diligence. Such remain as vulnerable to breaches as you allow them.

1. The Official Tool Fails Again

With the new 1.8.5 ISOs mounted (main and extended), I ran:

sudo astra-update -A -r

The output showed:

Main distributive repository not connected
Update process encountered problems, contact tech support

This is the same error I saw during 30 days of testing. The -r flag does not make astra-update work with local file:// repositories. The tool is designed for network updates and cannot recognise a local ISO as the “main distributive repository”.

⚠️ Conclusion: If you use local ISO repositories, stop trying to use fly-astra-update or astra-update. They will never work correctly.

2. Step‑by‑Step Upgrade Procedure (What Actually Worked)

Below is the exact sequence of commands and actions I performed to upgrade from 1.8.1.6 to 1.8.5 using local ISOs. All steps were executed on a system with local file‑based repositories.

Phase 0: Backup third‑party repository files (this had to be repeated after the upgrade - see final recommendations below)

sudo mkdir -p /opt/apt-sources-backup
sudo mv /etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian-bookworm.list /opt/apt-sources-backup/ 2>/dev/null
sudo mv /etc/apt/sources.list.d/google-chrome.sources /opt/apt-sources-backup/ 2>/dev/null

Phase 1: Unmount old 1.8.1.6 ISOs

sudo umount /media/astra-main
sudo umount /media/astra-extended
sudo umount /media/astra-devel    # if present

Phase 2: Mount new 1.8.5 ISOs

sudo mkdir -p /media/astra-main /media/astra-extended
sudo mount -o loop "/mnt/ntfs/ASTRA-REPOS/Astra Linux 1.8.5/Технологический установочный диск/installation-1.8.5.46-11.02.26_01.30.iso" /media/astra-main
sudo mount -o loop "/mnt/ntfs/ASTRA-REPOS/Astra Linux 1.8.5/Расширенный репозиторий/extended-1.8.5.46-11.02.26_01.30.iso" /media/astra-extended

Phase 3: Verify /etc/apt/sources.list points to the new mounts

cat /etc/apt/sources.list

It contained:

deb file:///media/astra-main/ 1.8_x86-64 main contrib non-free
deb file:///media/astra-extended/ 1.8_x86-64 main contrib non-free

Phase 4: Update package lists

sudo apt update

Phase 5: Simulate a full upgrade to check for removals

sudo apt --simulate dist-upgrade > ~/dist-upgrade-sim.txt 2>&1
grep -c "^Remv" ~/dist-upgrade-sim.txt

The result was 0 – no packages would be removed.

Phase 6: Perform the upgrade (interactively)

sudo apt dist-upgrade

Phase 7: Reboot

sudo reboot

Phase 8: Verify the upgrade

lsb_release -a

uname -a

sudo apt update

Phase 9 (optional): Update /etc/fstab for auto‑mounting

✅ Success: The upgrade from 1.8.1.6 to 1.8.5 using apt dist-upgrade was smooth, reliable, and fully preserved my custom configuration files.

3. Configuration File Prompts (Generic List)

During the upgrade, I encountered prompts for the following configuration files. Here is what each file typically relates to and a rule of thumb:

Configuration File	Brief purpose	Suggested action
/etc/ssl/openssl.cnf	SSL/TLS library settings, ciphers, certificate paths	Keep your version (N) if you have custom crypto policies
/etc/systemd/timesyncd.conf	System time synchronisation, NTP servers	Keep your version (N) if you use specific NTP pools
/etc/sysctl.d/999-astra.conf	Kernel parameters (security, networking, performance)	Keep (N) for custom tuning; accept (Y) for Astra defaults
/etc/xdg/autostart/print-applet.desktop	Printer applet autostart entry	Keep (N) if you deliberately disabled printer auto‑start
fly-configuration (Astra‑specific)	Fly desktop environment settings	Keep (N) if you have customised Fly appearance/behaviour

Important: Pressing N does not skip the package upgrade – only the configuration file is preserved. The upgraded package will work with your existing configuration. The new maintainer’s version is saved as a .dpkg-dist or .dpkg-old file, so you can compare later.

💡 Safe automation: If you have never modified any system configuration files, you can add -y to apt dist-upgrade to automatically accept the maintainer’s versions. If you have customised any of these files, run the upgrade interactively and answer N to preserve your changes.

4. Final Recommendations for Local ISO Users

• Never use fly-astra-update or astra-update – they are not compatible with local file:// repositories.
• Always keep your third‑party repositories (Debian, Chrome) isolated – after the upgrade, follow the third‑party manager setup procedure to store them in /opt/apt-sources-backup/ and use the third-party-manager.sh script.
• For system updates (including major version upgrades):
  sudo apt update
sudo apt --simulate dist-upgrade (check for removals)
  sudo apt dist-upgrade (or sudo apt upgrade for minor updates)
• When configuration prompts appear: keep your version (N) if you have customised that file; otherwise accept the maintainer’s version (Y).
• After upgrading to a new major ISO (e.g., 1.8.5): update your /etc/fstab entries to auto‑mount the new ISO files.

📌 One‑line safety check before any dist-upgrade:
sudo apt --simulate dist-upgrade | grep -q "^Remv" || echo "No removals – safe to proceed"

References

Original Astra Linux 1.8 installation guide: bushgrad.blogspot.com

Official Astra Linux 1.8.5 cumulative update wiki: wiki.astralinux.ru

Third‑party repository manager script (multi‑language): previous post

Published on bushgrad.blogspot.com – 29 May 2026.
This work is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0