Ubuntu is an open source software operating system that runs from the desktop, to the cloud, to all your internet connected things. Canonical has released its stable and latest LTS (Long Term Support) operating system i.e 'Ubuntu 20.04' and Code name for Ubuntu 20.04 is 'Focal Fossa'. As it is an LTS version so canonical will provide updates and support for next 5 years. In this post we will demonstrate the Installation steps of Ubuntu 20.04 LTS for Laptop or Desktop. Arriving alongside the release of Ubuntu 18.04.4 LTS is the 18.04.4 LTS HWE, or new ‘hardware enablement stack'. This is composed of a newer Linux kernel back ported from Ubuntu 19.10, updated graphics drivers, and newer display server (where applicable). The Ubuntu kernel shipping i this update is based on the Linux 5.3 release. After Ubuntu 19.10, whose life support will end in July 2020, Ubuntu 20.04 is the much-awaited LTS with major updates and new features. So, let's dive deep into Ubuntu 20.04 to know all about. Ubuntu ships and supports a new Ubuntu Linux kernel (the upstream one with some Ubuntu specific patches and tweaks) in each new release of Ubuntu. The Linux 5.10 kernel (or later) will ship as part of Ubuntu 21.04 in April. This version will also get backported to Ubuntu 20.04 LTS at a later date.
The latest Ubuntu 18.04 LTS point release is now available to download.
Ubuntu 18.04.4 LTS, which arrives a week later than planned due to a few last minute issue, serves as the penultimate point release in the Ubuntu 18.04 LTS release cycle.
As ever there's not much that's 'new' per se. An Ubuntu point release is simply a freshly spun install .iso that features all of the OS fixes and improvements released to the OS since last install image was issued.
Or, to word it another way, point releases are a shortcut; a hop on point for new users. They still install the same OS that was released back in April 2018, but without the hassle of having to download the 100MBs of updates released to it since.
Some notable changes are carried in the 18.04.4 LTS respin including installer bug fixes, window manager fixes, new graphics driver updates, some Snap related niceties in the GNOME Initial Setup tool and …no more Amazon web app.
HWE 18.04 LTS
Arriving alongside the release of Ubuntu 18.04.4 LTS is the 18.04.4 LTS HWE, or new ‘hardware enablement stack'. This is composed of a newer Linux kernel back ported from Ubuntu 19.10, updated graphics drivers, and newer display server (where applicable).
The Ubuntu kernel shipping i this update is based on the Linux 5.3 release. This kernel update adds, among many general impromvents, hardware support for new MacBook laptops, AMD Navi GPUs, and several Wacom graphics tablets.
If you installed Ubuntu 18.04 LTS in April 2018 you won't get the new HWE update automatically unless you've specifically opted in — but you can install the HWE easily by running this command from a new Terminal window:
If you installed Ubuntu 18.04 LTS using a point release image (18.04.1, 18.04.2, etc) then you will get the new HWE automatically via a regular system update — so keep an eye out for it.
Download Ubuntu 18.04.4 LTS
Ubuntu 18.04 is the latest long term support release of Ubuntu and is supported with on going updates until 2023.
A new Ubuntu LTS release, Ubuntu 20.04, is arriving in April. It will be possible to upgrade Ubuntu 18.04 to 20.04 later in the year.
April 23rd 2020: Canonical, the publisher of Ubuntu, today announced the general availability of Ubuntu 20.04 LTS, with a particular emphasis on security and performance.
'Accelerating open source globally is our mission. Wt library 2015. Ubuntu 20.04 LTS is the new state of the art open source platform for the enterprise and the entrepreneur,' said Mark Shuttleworth, CEO of Canonical. 'We bring together thousands of contributors and the world's largest technology companies to make Ubuntu 20.04 LTS the standard reference platform for secure cloud and edge compute.'
Ubuntu has reached the top of independent rankings of enterprise Linux security. Ubuntu 20.04 LTS applies Kernel Self Protection measures, assures control flow integrity and adds stack-clash protection for systemic forward-looking enterprise security.
Ubuntu 20.04 LTS also includes Secure Boot to protect against low level attacks and rootkits, often employed by Advanced Persistent Threat groups, and limits attack proliferation or ‘blast radius' with strict snap confinement of key exposed applications on the desktop and server such as the local Kubernetes package MicroK8s. To mitigate social engineering attacks, Ubuntu 20.04 LTS introduces Fast ID Online (FIDO) for universal multi-factor and passwordless authentication.
Canonical works with platform partners to anchor security for the operating system in the deepest possible fashion in modern hardware capabilities. 'Ubuntu 20.04 LTS pushes the envelope with the latest developments in security and scalability, ' said Robert Gomer, Director AMD Datacenter Alliances. 'It adds native support for AMD Secure Encrypted Virtualization with accelerated memory encryption designed for data-in-use protection as well as high-performance scaling for AMD EPYC processors with 256 threads and beyond.'
External storage device port. WireGuard® is a new, simplified VPN with modern cryptography defaults. WireGuard is included in Ubuntu 20.04 LTS and will be backported to Ubuntu 18.04 LTS to support widespread enterprise adoption. 'Including WireGuard by default in all recent versions of Ubuntu means that users will finally have a great out-of-the-box secure tunnel on Ubuntu,' said Jason A. Donenfeld, creator of WireGuard.
Ubuntu continues to be the OS of most public cloud workloads. Canonical recently launched Ubuntu Pro on public clouds, which broadens Ubuntu security maintenance to cover every single package in Ubuntu for a full ten years. Ubuntu Pro also includes FIPS and Common Criteria EAL to meet FedRAMP, PCI, HIPAA and ISO compliance requirements. 'We've partnered with the Canonical team to think of new ways to solve the security challenges of tomorrow, and are excited that Ubuntu 20.04 LTS is now available. In Google Cloud, Shielded VM hardening is enabled by-default on Ubuntu 16.04 LTS, 18.04 LTS, and now on 20.04 LTS – and at no additional cost,' said Nelly Porter, Lead Product Manager at Google Cloud.
'We're excited to partner with Canonical to bring the Ubuntu 20.04 LTS innovations across our toolchain — from developers on WSL to scaling enterprise production deployments in Azure,' said John Gossman, Distinguished Engineer at Microsoft Corp. 'In this release, we've made it easier than ever to manage workstation environments and to enjoy the long-term stability and security of Ubuntu Pro for Azure across a wide range of compute options.'
The new Windows Subsystem for Linux v2 in Windows 10 enables deep and direct integration of Ubuntu in Windows desktops and servers, both for cross-platform development and for sophisticated blended Windows/Linux production capabilities.
Ubuntu has become the platform of choice for Linux workstations. Canonical certifies multiple Dell, HP, and Lenovo workstations, and supports enterprise developer desktops. Machine learning and AI tools from a range of vendors are available immediately for Ubuntu 20.04 LTS, along with 6,000 applications in the Snapcraft Linux App Store including Slack, Skype, Plex, Spotify, the entire JetBrains portfolio and Visual Studio Code.
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Ubuntu is widely deployed as a Kubernetes host in public cloud and private infrastructure. It is also widely used for containerized operations in mainframe environments.
'Canonical and IBM continue to work closely together to offer cloud solutions with Ubuntu on IBM LinuxONE and IBM Z. Today's announcement of Ubuntu 20.04 LTS running on IBM LinuxONE and IBM Z continues to deliver on our support for containers and Kubernetes which is fueling our client's journey to a hybrid cloud to support their mission critical workloads.' said Michael Desens, Vice President, Offering Management, IBM Z and LinuxONE, IBM. 'It also includes support for IBM Secure Execution for Linux, a trusted execution environment for IBM Z and LinuxONE. IBM Secure Execution for Linux provides both enterprise-grade confidentiality and protection support for sensitive data, and is designed to run large numbers of workloads in full isolation at scale, with protection for both insider and external threats across the hybrid cloud environment.'
'Performance and security are increasingly critical to processing the amount of data generated by one trillion connected devices, especially as more compute takes place at the edge,' said Kevin Ryan, senior director of software ecosystem development, Infrastructure Line of Business, Arm. 'The combination of Ubuntu 20.04 LTS with Arm Neoverse-based platforms provides developers with a strong foundation for building high-performing and secure applications ready for this next era of compute.'
Accelerated computing is an essential element of new data centers, with GPU platforms from NVIDIA, as well as SmartNICs and FPGAs powering innovation in data science and machine learning. Ubuntu 20.04 LTS simplifies AI deployments, both in the data center and at the edge, with the NVIDIA CUDA software stack. 'Enterprises are transforming their businesses with NVIDIA AI and data science solutions,' said Manuvir Das, head of enterprise computing at NVIDIA. 'Developers and data science teams use the Ubuntu platform to support their most important work, and our collaboration with Canonical enables these industry innovators to get AI-powered insights from their data faster.'
Ubuntu is the leading open infrastructure platform, and has made significant inroads to the enterprise data center in recent years, in partnership with global hardware vendors and system integrators.
Ubuntu virtual image. 'Intel is excited to continue to work together with Canonical to enable our upcoming Intel platforms, as they become available, on Canonical® Ubuntu™ 20.04 LTS release', said Mark Skarpness Intel vice president and general manager System Software Engineering. 'Together our goal is to deliver groundbreaking optimizations and performance acceleration across architectures from development to cloud environments.'
'As organizations build out their multi-cloud strategies, customers tell us they need simplified IT experiences to transform their business through more efficient and agile operations with reduced costs. This Ubuntu certification spans our latest Dell EMC PowerEdge servers in the data center, with solutions for Openstack, Kubernetes and AI/ML frameworks like Kubeflow delivering consistent infrastructure, support and services in this digital transformation era' said Ravi Pendekanti, Senior Vice President, Product Management and Marketing, Dell EMC Server and Infrastructure Systems.
'As a global leader in enterprise Computing, Storage, Networking Solutions, and Green Computing Technology, we have a long-standing partnership with the Canonical team to bring technology innovations to benefit our mutual customers. We are very excited with today's release of Ubuntu 20.04 LTS that brings even more value to our customers with improved hardware support, reboot-free kernel updates, faster boot times, along with numerous optimizations aimed at improving performance on the Kubeflow enabled machine learning solutions' said Raju Penumatcha, Senior Vice President and Chief Product Officer at Supermicro.
'Huawei is a strong proponent of open source and heterogeneous computing as foundations for building a fully connected, intelligent world. This release of Ubuntu 20.04 LTS demonstrates Canonical's commitment in these areas as well. We congratulate Canonical on this latest release of Ubuntu and look forward to collaborating together,' said Bryan Che, Chief Strategy Officer of Huawei Technologies, Compute Product Line.
Ubuntu virtual image. 'Intel is excited to continue to work together with Canonical to enable our upcoming Intel platforms, as they become available, on Canonical® Ubuntu™ 20.04 LTS release', said Mark Skarpness Intel vice president and general manager System Software Engineering. 'Together our goal is to deliver groundbreaking optimizations and performance acceleration across architectures from development to cloud environments.'
'As organizations build out their multi-cloud strategies, customers tell us they need simplified IT experiences to transform their business through more efficient and agile operations with reduced costs. This Ubuntu certification spans our latest Dell EMC PowerEdge servers in the data center, with solutions for Openstack, Kubernetes and AI/ML frameworks like Kubeflow delivering consistent infrastructure, support and services in this digital transformation era' said Ravi Pendekanti, Senior Vice President, Product Management and Marketing, Dell EMC Server and Infrastructure Systems.
'As a global leader in enterprise Computing, Storage, Networking Solutions, and Green Computing Technology, we have a long-standing partnership with the Canonical team to bring technology innovations to benefit our mutual customers. We are very excited with today's release of Ubuntu 20.04 LTS that brings even more value to our customers with improved hardware support, reboot-free kernel updates, faster boot times, along with numerous optimizations aimed at improving performance on the Kubeflow enabled machine learning solutions' said Raju Penumatcha, Senior Vice President and Chief Product Officer at Supermicro.
'Huawei is a strong proponent of open source and heterogeneous computing as foundations for building a fully connected, intelligent world. This release of Ubuntu 20.04 LTS demonstrates Canonical's commitment in these areas as well. We congratulate Canonical on this latest release of Ubuntu and look forward to collaborating together,' said Bryan Che, Chief Strategy Officer of Huawei Technologies, Compute Product Line.
Ubuntu 20.04 LTS is available for download here and on major public clouds today.
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About Canonical
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Canonical is the publisher of Ubuntu, the OS for most public cloud workloads as well as the emerging categories of smart gateways, self-driving cars and advanced robots. Canonical provides enterprise security, support and services to commercial users of Ubuntu. Established in 2004, Canonical is a privately held company.
Disclaimer:
'WireGuard' is a registered trademark of Jason A. Donenfeld.
AMD, the AMD logo, EPYC, and combinations thereof are trademarks of Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.
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