# Finding Tor difficult to upgrade

**URL:** https://forum.torproject.org/t/finding-tor-difficult-to-upgrade/21267
**Category:** Relay Operator
**Created:** [February 22, 2026, 10:08pm UTC](https://forum.torproject.org/t/finding-tor-difficult-to-upgrade/21267 "2026-02-22T22:08:59Z")
**Posts on this page:** 3
**Page:** 1

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### Author: ![potlatch](https://forum.torproject.org/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/p/dfb087/32.png) [@potlatch](https://forum.torproject.org/u/potlatch)
#### Post date: [February 22, 2026, 10:08pm UTC](https://forum.torproject.org/t/finding-tor-difficult-to-upgrade/21267/1 "2026-02-22T22:08:59Z")

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I’ve operated 6 exit relays and 6 bridges for nearly 10 years but I’m finding it harder and harder to upgrade recently. For example, a recent try on ubuntu 24.03, I received reply: The following packages have unmet dependencies:  
tor : Depends: libc6 (\>= 2.38) but 2.35-0ubuntu3.13 is to be installed  
Depends: libevent-2.1-7t64 (\>= 2.1.8-stable) but it is not installable  
Depends: libssl3t64 (\>= 3.0.0) but it is not installable  
Depends: libzstd1 (\>= 1.5.5) but 1.4.8+dfsg-3build1 is to be installed  
Recommends: tor-geoipdb but it is not going to be installed

I purged and re-installed Tor with the same result. Can anyone steer me to a correct install/upgrade procedure?

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### Author: ![gus](https://forum.torproject.org/user_avatar/forum.torproject.org/gus/32/16_2.png) [@gus](https://forum.torproject.org/u/gus)
#### Post date: [February 24, 2026, 12:31pm UTC](https://forum.torproject.org/t/finding-tor-difficult-to-upgrade/21267/2 "2026-02-24T12:31:56Z")

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Hi, are you using tor packages from Ubuntu’s universe? Or did you configure the Tor Project Debian package repository?

> **[tor - Installation](https://support.torproject.org/little-t-tor/getting-started/installing/#debian-ubuntu)**
>
> These instructions are meant for installing tor the network daemon i.e. little-t tor. For instructions to install Tor Browser, refer to the Tor Browser user manual.

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### Author: ![Lind](https://forum.torproject.org/user_avatar/forum.torproject.org/lind/32/7525_2.png) [@Lind](https://forum.torproject.org/u/Lind)
#### Post date: [February 25, 2026, 12:28pm UTC](https://forum.torproject.org/t/finding-tor-difficult-to-upgrade/21267/3 "2026-02-25T12:28:34Z")

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24. **03**? Do you mean 24.04 ( Noble Numbat)?

Did you upgrade Tor by `apt update` then `apt install tor`? Before upgrading Tor, you should first do a full system upgrade. Partial upgrade (upgrade only a part of the upgradable packages) is tricky and prone to breakage. After this, you can just do a full system upgrade (`apt upgrade`) to make sure all softwares on your server (_including Tor_) are up-to-date.

And libc6 has already reached version 2.39 a year ago in Ubuntu, with multiple security updates after that that you’ve missed. You shouldn’t be running on libc 2.38 or earlier, that could make your server vulnerable.  
[https://changelogs.ubuntu.com/changelogs/pool/main/g/glibc/glibc\_2.39-0ubuntu8.7/changelog](https://changelogs.ubuntu.com/changelogs/pool/main/g/glibc/glibc_2.39-0ubuntu8.7/changelog)