Ubuntu’s long-term support releases just got even longer, with Canonical today announcing they are eligible for up to 12 years of security coverage from initial release.
As you know, every Ubuntu LTS release receives 5 years of standard security (and select application) updates out of the gate. This covers packages in the ‘main’ Ubuntu repo. Subscribing to Ubuntu Pro adds a further 5 years of security coverage for packages in both ‘main’ and ‘universe’.
Now there’s Legacy Support, a purchasable add-on for Ubuntu Pro customers. This offers an additional 2 years of coverage, bringing the total LTS support period up to 12 years from release for Ubuntu 14.04 LTS and above.
A trip down memory lane with the Trusty Tahr.
“We’re thrilled to offer our customers additional years of security maintenance and support for Ubuntu LTS releases”, Maximilian Morgan, Global VP of Support Engineering at Canonical says in the official announcement.
“With Legacy Support, we empower organisations to navigate their operational needs and investments into open source with confidence, ensuring their systems remain available, secure, and supported for many years to come”.
Although Ubuntu Pro is free for regular users who opt-in, sign-up, and enable the feature, which delivers the ESM updates, this new Legacy Support add-on isn’t, from what I can gather, included.
For most of us, the idea of hanging back on the previous LTS (much less an LTS from 10 years ago even if it still supported with security updates) isn’t something we’d choose to do.
Many entities such as businesses, research labs, cloud services, educational institutions and more don’t have the freedom to carry out unplanned, spontaneous system upgrades like sudo do-release-upgrade whenever they want.
Upgrades of production systems involve downtime. They require time to complete and can potentially cause issues or incompatibility with crucial software systems. Consequently, these issues and incompatibilities have to be resolved or fixed, which incurs additional costs in terms of time and resources. Hardware upgrades might also be necessary.
Thus, the point here is that extended support is not meant for individual users who are too lazy or reticent to upgrade. Rather, it’s for infrastructure that doesn’t prioritize having the most recent packages over having their essential systems running efficiently and securely.
“Organizations seeking peace of mind and stability as they plan and carry out their migration strategy can rely on Canonical. They offer 12 years of timely security fixes and support. Security maintenance is part of a continuous process designed to proactively safeguard systems,” asserts Canonical.
With the introduction of Legacy Support, all forms of support, whether paid or free, for Ubuntu 14.04 LTS “Trusty Tahr” will now cease in April 2026, as opposed to April this year. This provides IT professionals with an extended period to strategize and prepare for upgrading to a newer version.