Canonical announced they expanded the Legacy add-on for Ubuntu Pro, giving your Ubuntu operating system much longer life. Now, the total coverage for Ubuntu Long Term Support (LTS) releases reaches an amazing 15 years!
This expansion brings continuous security patching, compliance tooling, and expert support to long-lived production systems. It is a fantastic news, especially since upgrades can cause big headaches.
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Why Do We Need 15 Years of Support?
Running the latest operating system offers new features and better performance, which works well for brand-new projects. But, large and established production systems face big challenges when they transition to a new OS version.
When you upgrade, you often need to update the entire software stack running on top of the OS. Also, complex modern architectures use things like microservices and containerisation, which make updates even harder.
Because infrastructure is complicated, upgrades carry real costs and risks. Therefore, Canonical's 15-year commitment helps organizations gain peace of mind and stability. This support gives users the duration their deployments truly require.
This longer timeframe ensures your business continuity without forcing disruptive major upgrades.
How Canonical Reached 15 Years
The 15-year security maintenance and support window is a combination of Canonical’s existing programs:
- Standard Security Maintenance: Ubuntu LTS releases start with five years of standard security maintenance on the main Ubuntu repository.
- Ubuntu Pro (ESM): Ubuntu Pro then extends this support to 10 years for the entire Ubuntu Archive (both Main and Universe repositories). This includes Expanded Security Maintenance (ESM).
- Legacy Add-on: Initially, Canonical offered the Legacy add-on to add two extra years of coverage, creating a 12-year total. Because users showed positive reception and growing interest, Canonical extended the Legacy add-on to five years.
Ultimately, this structure gives you a 15-year security maintenance and support commitment.
The following image shows the security and support coverage for Ubuntu LTS releases.
When Does This Coverage Start?
This updated coverage applies starting with Ubuntu 14.04 LTS (Trusty Tahr) and continues for all future LTS releases.
As a result of this extension, organizations running systems on Ubuntu 14.04 LTS now receive support until April 2029, a full 15 years after its debut.
This gives users realistic timelines for planning and executing major migrations.
What Does Continuous Security Look Like?
Throughout this long 15-year window, Ubuntu Pro delivers continuous security maintenance across the entire Ubuntu base, the kernel, and key open source components.
Canonical's security team actively scans, triages, and backports crucial fixes to all maintained LTS releases.
They provide continuous vulnerability management for critical, high, and selected medium Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVEs) across all software packages shipped with Ubuntu.
Furthermore, Ubuntu Pro includes key enterprise features:
- Compliance Tools: Ubuntu Pro includes features that enable easy compliance with common regulatory frameworks like FIPS 140, DISA-STIG, and CIS.
- Kernel Livepatch: Livepatch helps you address high and critical kernel vulnerabilities without needing to reboot your system. This is essential for machines needing mission-critical uptime.
- Optional Support: Break/fix support remains available as an optional add-on. When production issues arise, you can access experts for troubleshooting, bug fixes, and guidance.
Getting Started with the 15-Year Plan
If you already use Ubuntu Pro, your current subscriptions will continue uninterrupted. You won't face re-enrollment, reinstallation, or surprise migration projects.
To activate coverage beyond the initial 10 years (ESM), you will need the Legacy add-on. This add-on is available after the first 10 years of coverage, and it is priced at a 50% premium over standard Ubuntu Pro.
By offering this longer lifecycle, Canonical helps organizations to navigate their operational needs with confidence. They help you strategically modernize your infrastructure rather than forcing reactive updates.
You can learn more about Ubuntu Pro and the Legacy add-on by contacting the Canonical support team.
