DEVOPSdigest

Canonical announced the release of Ubuntu 24.04 LTS, codenamed “Noble Numbat.”

Ubuntu 24.04 LTS builds on the advancements of the last three interim releases as well as the contributions of open source developers from around the world to ensure a secure, optimized and forward looking platform.

"Ubuntu 24.04 LTS takes a bold step into performance engineering and confidential computing to deliver an enterprise-grade innovation platform, supported for at least 12 years", said Mark Shuttleworth, CEO of Canonical. “For developers we are delighted to announce TCK certified Java, an LTS for .NET and the latest Rust toolchain.”

Ubuntu 24.04 LTS delivers the latest Linux 6.8 kernel with improved syscall performance, nested KVM support on ppc64el, and access to the newly landed bcachefs filesystem. In addition to upstream improvements, Ubuntu 24.04 LTS has merged low-latency kernel features into the default kernel, reducing kernel task scheduling delays.

Ubuntu 24.04 LTS also enables frame pointers by default on all 64-bit architectures so that performance engineers have ready access to accurate and complete flame graphs as they profile their systems for troubleshooting and optimization.

Integrated workload accelerators bring additional performance improvements. Canonical and Intel worked together to integrate Intel® QuickAssist Technology (Intel® QAT) for the first time ever in an LTS. Intel QAT enables users to accelerate encryption and compression in order to reduce CPU utilization and improve networking and storage application performance on 4th Gen and newer Intel Xeon Scalable processors.

Ubuntu 24.04 LTS includes Python 3.12, Ruby 3.2, PHP 8.3 and Go 1.22 with additional focus dedicated to the developer experience for .NET, Java and Rust.

With the introduction of .NET 8, Ubuntu is taking a significant step forward in supporting the .NET community. NET 8 will be fully supported on Ubuntu 24.04 LTS and 22.04 LTS for the entire lifecycle of both releases, enabling developers to upgrade their applications to newer .NET versions prior to upgrading their Ubuntu release. This .NET support has also been extended to the IBM System Z platform.

For Java developers, OpenJDK 21 is the default in Ubuntu 24.04 LTS while maintaining support for versions 17, 11, and 8. OpenJDK 17 and 21 are also TCK certified, which means they adhere to Java standards and ensure interoperability with other Java platforms. A special FIPS-compliant OpenJDK 11 package is also available for Ubuntu Pro users.

Ubuntu 24.04 LTS ships with Rust 1.75 and a simpler Rust toolchain snap framework. This will support the increasing use of Rust in key Ubuntu packages, like the kernel and Firefox, and enables future Rust versions to be delivered to developers on 24.04 LTS in years to come.

For the first time in an LTS, Ubuntu Desktop now uses the same installer technology as Ubuntu Server. This means that desktop administrators can now use image customization tools like autoinstall and cloud-init to create tailored experiences for their developers. The user interface has also received a makeover, with a modern design built in Flutter.

For those managing mixed Windows and Ubuntu environments, the Active Directory Group Policy client available via Ubuntu Pro now supports enterprise proxy configuration, privilege management and remote script execution.

Canonical continues to invest in Ubuntu on Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) as a first class platform for developers and data scientists. Starting with Ubuntu 24.04 LTS, Ubuntu on WSL now supports cloud-init to enable image customization and standardization across developer estates.

Confidential computing secures data at runtime from vulnerabilities within the host privileged system software, including the hypervisor. It also protects data against unauthorized access by infrastructure administrators. Today, Ubuntu offers the most extensive portfolio of confidential virtual machines, available across Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud, and Amazon Web Services.

Ubuntu also supports confidential GPUs on the public cloud, starting with a preview on Microsoft Azure. Building on the silicon innovation of NVIDIA H100 Tensor Core GPUs and AMD 4th Gen EPYC processors with SEV-SNP, Ubuntu confidential VMs are ideal to perform AI training and inference tasks on sensitive data.

Ubuntu also supports confidential computing in private data centers. Thanks to a strategic collaboration between Intel and Canonical, Ubuntu now seamlessly supports Intel® Trust Domain Extensions (Intel® TDX) on both the host and guest sides, starting with an Intel-optimized Ubuntu 23.10 build. With no changes required to the application layer, VM isolation with Intel TDX greatly simplifies the porting and migration of existing workloads to a confidential computing environment.

To meet the needs of Canonical’s enterprise customers, Ubuntu 24.04 LTS gets a 12 year commitment for security maintenance and support. As with other long term supported releases, Noble Numbat will get five years of free security maintenance on the main Ubuntu repository. Ubuntu Pro extends that commitment to 10 years on both the main and universe repositories. Ubuntu Pro subscribers can purchase an extra two years with the Legacy Support add-on.

The 12 year commitment also applies to earlier Ubuntu releases, starting with 14.04 LTS. The LTS expansion offers benefits for individuals and organizations who want to gain even more stability while building on top of Ubuntu’s wide array of open source software libraries.