Canonical, the publisher of Ubuntu, announces Ubuntu Core 22, the fully containerized variant of Ubuntu 22.04 LTS optimized for IoT and embedded devices. Combined with Canonical’s technology offering, this release brings Ubuntu’s comprehensive, industry-leading operating system (OS) and services to a full range of embedded and IoT devices. Ultra-secure embedded Ubuntu introduces support for real-time computing in robotics and industrial applications.
IoT manufacturers face complex challenges in delivering devices on time and on budget. Deploying security and remote management at scale is also a challenge as device fleets grow. Ubuntu Core 22 helps manufacturers meet these challenges with an ultra-secure, resilient, and low-demand operating system, backed by a growing ecosystem of silicon and Original Design Manufacturers (ODM).
Canonical announced the release of the Ubuntu 22.04 stable release, codenamed Jammy Jellyfish, in April. Our mission is to be a safe, reliable and consistent open source platform everywhere. Ubuntu 22.04 LTS unlocks innovation for industries with demanding infrastructure security needs, such as telecom and industrial automation, and supports their digital transformation,” said Mark Shuttleworth, CEO of Canonical.
Ubuntu 22.04, codenamed Jammy Jellyfish, is an LTS (Long Term Support) release. The Linux distribution will be supported for a long time: five years to be exact. Ubuntu 22.04 LTS unlocks innovation for industries with demanding infrastructure security requirements.
At Canonical, our goal is to deliver secure and reliable open source everywhere, from the development environment to the cloud to the edge and devices,” said Mark Shuttleworth, Canonical CEO. With this release and real-time Ubuntu Core, we’re ready to extend the benefits of Ubuntu Core to the entire embedded world.
The standard Ubuntu 22.04 release is notable for using GNOME 42 as the desktop environment, which many consider to be the best. This version of GNOME is packed with new features. Desktop users will love Jammy Jellyfish’s color picker, which lets you customize the interface with 10 accent colors to choose from.
Support for real-time computing
The Ubuntu 22.04 LTS real-time kernel, now in beta, delivers high performance, ultra-low latency, and workload predictability for time-sensitive industrial, telecom, automotive, and robotics use cases. The new version includes a fully preemptive kernel to ensure timely responses. Canonical works with silicon and hardware manufacturers to enable advanced real-time capabilities on Ubuntu-certified hardware.
Application-centrics
Ubuntu Core provides a robust, fully containerized Ubuntu that decomposes the monolithic Ubuntu image into packages called “snaps,” including the kernel, operating system, and applications. Each snap has an isolated sandbox that contains app dependencies to make it fully portable and reliable. Canonical’s Snapcraft framework enables Snap development in the field for rapid iterations, automated testing, and reliable deployment.
Every device running Ubuntu Core has a dedicated IoT app store that provides complete control over apps on its device and allows software creation, publishing, and distribution on a single platform. The IoT App Store offers businesses a sophisticated software management solution that enables a range of new on-premises capabilities.
The system guarantees transactional and critical OTA (Over-the-Air) updates of the kernel, operating system and applications. Updates always complete successfully or automatically revert to the previous working version, so a device cannot be “tinkered” with an incomplete update. Snaps also offers delta updates to minimize network traffic and digital signatures to ensure software integrity and lineage.
Safe and not very tactile
Ubuntu Core also offers advanced security features out-of-the-box, including secure boot, full disk encryption, secure recovery, and strict operating system and application containment.
The range of KMC Controls IoT devices is specially designed for critical industrial environments. Safety is our customers’ top priority. We chose Ubuntu Core for its built-in advanced security features and robust over-the-air update framework. Ubuntu Core comes with a 10-year security update commitment, allowing us to keep devices secure in the field throughout their lifetime.
With a proven application delivery framework, our development teams can focus on building applications that solve business problems,” said Brad Kehler, COO of KMC Controls. Customers benefit from Canonical’s 10-year security maintenance for the kernel, operating system and application layer code, enabling devices and their applications to digitally meet the security requirements of enterprises and the public sector.
According to Canonical, Ubuntu-certified hardware has passed the extensive testing and verification process to ensure Ubuntu will work well after release. We work closely with OEMs to make Ubuntu available on a wide range of desktops, laptops, servers, IoT hardware and SoCs.
Many of the world’s largest PC manufacturers certify their desktops for Ubuntu to ensure that these systems always perform as well as millions of users expect. It is possible to find Ubuntu preinstalled on desktop computers in government, educational institutions, businesses, and some homes.
A thriving partner ecosystem
Partnerships with leading silicon and hardware partners including Advantech, Lenovo and many others have established Ubuntu Core’s presence in the market.
The Ubuntu Certified Hardware program defines a set of off-the-shelf IoT devices and peripherals that are known to work with Ubuntu. The program uniquely includes a commitment to continuously test certified hardware in Canonical’s labs with each security update throughout the device’s lifecycle.
Advantech offers embedded, industrial, IoT and automation solutions. We continue to expand our participation in the Ubuntu Certified Hardware program. Canonical ensures certified hardware goes through a comprehensive testing process and delivers a stable, secure and optimized Ubuntu Core to reduce time to market and development costs for our customers,” said Eric Kao, Director of Advantech.WISE-Edge+.
Ubuntu Core 22 doesn’t seem to appeal to everyone. For this surfer who goes by the name of appl yourstruly-br, while it’s true that Ubuntu Core 22 is secure, it’s no less true that configuring it remains a nightmare. I strongly advise against using Ubuntu Core as part of his solution. It’s a safe environment, yes, but it’s a nightmare to set up (snapshots) and for everything but the most basic stuff you need what’s called a “brand store” that costs around $20,000 a year whether you have 1 or 100 devices have , he said. We couldn’t even get one Snap to talk to another Snap, check another Snap’s status, etc. We had business discussions with Canonical and basically left.
To start working with Ubuntu Core 22 now, download images for some of the most popular platforms or browse all supported images.
Download and install Ubuntu Core 22
Source: Canon
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See also:
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS is now available, with Gnome 42 as the default desktop, unlocking innovation for industries with security concerns
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