# Problem with Tor relay upgrades on Ubuntu
**URL:** https://forum.torproject.org/t/problem-with-tor-relay-upgrades-on-ubuntu/21051
**Category:** Relay Operator
**Created:** [January 2, 2026, 9:39pm UTC](https://forum.torproject.org/t/problem-with-tor-relay-upgrades-on-ubuntu/21051 "2026-01-02T21:39:04Z")
**Posts on this page:** 2
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@potlatch](https://forum.torproject.org/u/potlatch)
#### Post date: [January 2, 2026, 9:39pm UTC](https://forum.torproject.org/t/problem-with-tor-relay-upgrades-on-ubuntu/21051/1 "2026-01-02T21:39:05Z")
I run 4 small exits, 4 guard and 6 bridge relays on various versions of Ubuntu. These are difficult to upgrade as I get message similar to: “Release file for [https://deb.torproject.org/torproject.org/dists/focal/InRelease](https://deb.torproject.org/torproject.org/dists/focal/InRelease) is expired”. I’ve installed necessary prerequisites including apt-transport-https, tor.sources file, gpg key and deb.torproject.org-keyring . Restarting tor is same obsolete version. I find several versions of install/upgrade to tor on the website that are at odds with each other (outdated). Can someone point me to the fully correct upgrade path? I most recently used: [Why and how I can enable Tor Package Repository in Debian? | Tor Project | Support](https://hackerncoder.pages.torproject.net/support/apt/tor-deb-repo/)
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### Author:  [@Lind](https://forum.torproject.org/u/Lind)
#### Post date: [January 3, 2026, 9:49pm UTC](https://forum.torproject.org/t/problem-with-tor-relay-upgrades-on-ubuntu/21051/2 "2026-01-03T21:49:20Z")
This error message signals that this repository is serving an outdated version of index. Debian repositories (used by debian derivatives including Ubuntu) may include a `Valid-Until` date-time so updating from this repository is forbidden after this date-time. This is a security measure that helps with detecting replay attacks (an attacker can serves an outdated copy of repository to victims, so victims installs a software with certain vulnerabilities and allows for furthur exploitation), but it also makes installing from repository not receiving updates impossible (unless otherwise configured).
See `Check-Valid-Until` in [sources.list(5)](https://manpages.ubuntu.com/manpages/focal/man5/sources.list.5.html) manpage.
The [problematic file mentioned](https://deb.torproject.org/torproject.org/dists/focal/InRelease) has `Valid-Until: Sat, 20 Dec 2025 23:24:04 UTC` set so updating softwares from it in 2026 is blocked by apt’s security measure.
Based on the reported last modified date seen [here](https://deb.torproject.org/torproject.org/dists/), my guess is Tor’s support for Ubuntu 20.04 LTS (Focal Fossa) has already ended, due to this OS version [reaching EOL in April 2025](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ubuntu_version_history#Ubuntu_20.04_LTS_(Focal_Fossa)), thus is not safe to use anymore.
You may proceed to:
1. upgrade your server to a newer LTS version (22.04 Jammy Jellyfish or 24.04 Noble Numbat, I recommend upgrading to 24.04 because then you can keep using 24.04 until 2029. Note you need to first upgrade to 22.04 before upgrading to 24.04. " You can only upgrade from one LTS release directly to the **next sequential LTS release**", said [here](https://documentation.ubuntu.com/server/how-to/software/upgrade-your-release/))
2. modify your apt sources.list entry to reflect your new Ubuntu version
3. retry upgrade Tor softwares.