I was able to update to version 16.11.10, but when I try to update to the next version in the update path (17.1.8) it says it’s not found.
E: Version '17.1.8-ee' for 'gitlab-ee' was not found
I tried refreshing the repository with:
curl https://packages.gitlab.com/install/repositories/gitlab/gitlab-ee/script.deb.sh | sudo bash
Any ideas about what is going on?
What version of Linux are you using? I see deb, but what version of Debian/Ubuntu?
Looks like it’s Ubuntu 18.04.2 LTS (GNU/Linux 5.4.0-1088-aws x86_64)
That’s probably because Ubuntu 18.04 (bionic) is no longer supported, and Gitlab 17.x packages do not exist for it. You would need to upgrade to Ubuntu 20.04 to be able to upgrade further to 17.x versions of Gitlab. After which you can then upgrade to Ubuntu 22.04 and after that 24.04 to be up-to-date.
Another alternative is install a new Ubuntu server, say 22.04, install Gitlab 16.11.10 and then using a backup from your old server, restore it on the new one. And then upgrade to 17.x
Thank you for your reply. That makes a lot of sense. Seems like it might be easer to spin up another instance of Ubuntu.
Upgrading Ubuntu LTS versions has been quite smooth over the years in my experience. I had servers moving from 18 to 20 to 22 and soon 24 LTS, without troubles. This guide on the command line looks good, but lacks the version parameter for the upgrade target: https://www.cyberciti.biz/faq/upgrade-ubuntu-18-04-to-20-04-lts-using-command-line/
In your case, I’d suggest stopping at 20 LTS, and see which GitLab version upgrades are up next. Then consider upgrading to 22 LTS and later.
The only thing I would add for Ubuntu, would be do not use do-release-upgrade, it has a tendency to delete packages that aren’t in the Ubuntu repositories. I once had MySQL installed from a third-party repository and the upgrade failed part way through. I personally wouldn’t risk it with Gitlab, if it decides to remove during the upgrade.
A much safer way for upgrading Ubuntu would be:
Edit /etc/apt/sources.list and other files in /etc/apt/sources.list.d replacing bionic with focal (for an upgrade from 18.04 to 20.04). Then do:
apt-get clean
apt-get update
apt-get upgrade
that will do the first part, then to finish off the upgrade:
apt-get dist-upgrade
You’ll then be on Ubuntu 20.04 after rebooting. Some manual cleanup may be required for any old Ubuntu 18.04 packages that may have got left behind. At least this way, it’s far more safer than Ubuntu’s do-release-upgrade command. I’ve been burnt once so I’ll never use it again, but your mileage may vary. Just a warning 
The above I use with Debian and Ubuntu systems, and has always worked a dream.