Ubuntu's New 15-Year Commitment Targets Long-Lived Enterprise Systems

Ubuntu is Canonical's flagship Linux distribution that powers a significant portion of the information technology infrastructure today. It has two major versions: an interim release that comes with nine months of support and a long-term support release that comes with five years of standard support that is extensible via Ubuntu Pro.

If you didn't know, Canonical introduced Ubuntu Pro in 2022 as a subscription service that extends LTS coverage beyond the standard five years. It includes Expanded Security Maintenance (ESM), which provides an additional five years of security patching, bringing the total coverage to 10 years for LTS releases.

Similarly, back in 2024, Canonical launched the Legacy add-on for Ubuntu Pro, which initially provided two additional years of support beyond ESM, bringing total coverage to 12 years.

And now they have announced an expansion that brings 15 years of support for LTS releases.

15 Years of Support Sounds Great

The expanded Legacy add-on now offers five additional years of support after the 10-year ESM window ends. This means Ubuntu LTS releases receive:

• 5 years of standard security maintenance.
• 5 years of Expanded Security Maintenance.
• 5 years of Legacy add-on support.

Ubuntu 14.04 LTS, which entered the standard support period in April 2024, will now be maintained until April 2029. This gives it a full 15-year lifecycle from its initial release. The Legacy add-on kicks in after the first 10 years and costs 50% more than the standard Ubuntu Pro subscription.

All future LTS releases, including 16.04, 18.04, 20.04, and beyond, are eligible for the same 15-year coverage when they reach the Legacy phase.

Get Ubuntu Pro (Legacy add-on)

The Legacy add-on becomes available after an LTS release completes 10 years of coverage, and as I mentioned earlier, costs 50% more than the standard Ubuntu Pro subscription.

To activate the Legacy add-on support, Canonical asks users to contact their sales team or reach out to their assigned account manager.

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