How Ubuntu Pro delivers enhanced security and manageability for Linux Desktop users

Oliver Smith

on 26 January 2023

This article is more than 1 year old.

At the end of last year Canonical announced that Ubuntu Pro, our expanded security maintenance and compliance subscription, is now available for data centers and desktops as a public beta. This week, Ubuntu Pro entered general availability, giving Ubuntu users access to extra hardening and security patching.

If you’re a developer using Ansible, Apache Tomcat, Apache Zookeeper, Docker, Nagios, Node.js, phpMyAdmin, Puppet or Python 2, you’ll want to read on. The subscription expands security coverage for critical, high and medium Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVEs) to these and thousands of other applications and toolchains in Ubuntu’s repositories

Ubuntu Pro Desktop replaces Ubuntu Advantage Desktop to provide a comprehensive single subscription for enterprise users. It is available free for up to five machines, extending to 50 for official Ubuntu community members.

Power to developers, peace of mind for IT

Ubuntu Desktop is the preferred operating system for experienced developers and the most popular Linux OS in the enterprise. Our certified hardware program also means that it’s easy to procure workstations from your existing OEM vendor with Ubuntu pre-installed. With expanded security patching, integrated management tooling and support for additional hardening and certification, Ubuntu Pro Desktop is designed to give IT professionals peace of mind. Enterprises can drive secure Linux adoption, while developers can use their preferred open-source operating system.

Read our new guide for best practices:

Adopting a secure enterprise Linux desktop

Ubuntu Pro Desktop feature highlights

Expanded Security Maintenance

Every Ubuntu LTS release comes with 5 years of free security patching for Ubuntu main, the primary repository for the Ubuntu OS. With Ubuntu Pro that support is expanded to 10 years and now covers Ubuntu Universe which includes over 23,000 software packages.

Canonical Livepatch, which allows users to apply kernel patches while the system runs, is also included in Ubuntu Pro.

Enterprise-grade management with Landscape and Active Directory

Ubuntu Pro subscriptions include Landscape, Canonical’s monitoring and management tool for all versions of Ubuntu that offers software updates, configuration management, policy compliance and permission control for your entire physical and virtual fleet.

Integrating Ubuntu Desktop into an existing Active Directory architecture can be an automated and effortless process when using System Security Services Daemon (SSSD). Ubuntu Pro users receive access to additional Active Directory policies like native Group Policy Object support, custom script execution and privilege management.

These features align the Active Directory management experience of Ubuntu as closely as possible to the one available in Windows, flattening the learning curve required by system administrators to securely manage a fleet of Ubuntu desktops at scale

Compliance, certification and hardening

Ubuntu Pro delivers security and compliance for even the most sensitive workloads with FIPS 140-2 certified modules, CIS hardening and Common Criteria EAL2 certification available.

Learn more about Ubuntu’s security practices

Optional Weekday or 24/7 support tiers

With Ubuntu Pro Desktop, users can choose from two support level SLAs: weekdays or 24×7 support coverage. These deliver direct access to our world-class enterprise open-source support team through our web portal, knowledge base or via phone.

Free for small scale use and no price change for existing Ubuntu Advantage Desktop users

Ubuntu Pro is free for personal and small-scale commercial use in up to five machines. If you are already taking advantage of your free personal token then your entitlements will be upgraded automatically. See below for how to activate expanded security maintenance on your desktop.

Existing Ubuntu Advantage Desktop customers will also be entitled to this upgrade at no extra cost. Going forward, Ubuntu Pro Desktop will retain the same price as the current Ubuntu Advantage Desktop subscription.

For Ubuntu Pro pricing on other platforms, please refer to the store page.

Activate your Ubuntu Pro benefits

Ubuntu Pro can be attached and enabled via the command line or the Software & Updates application. Follow our new tutorial for more details.

New users can register for their free token or sign up from this screen in the Software & Updates application.

Note: Please ensure your system is up to date to access this new menu. It may take a few days for this change to be rolled out to everyone.

Existing users can also use this interface to enable their new Expanded Security Maintenance coverage by toggling the ESM Apps option.

When ESM updates are available they will be visible in the update manager notification.

Learn more about Ubuntu Desktop for organisations

To hear more about how to onboard Ubuntu Desktop in a Windows centric organisation, check out our LinkedIn webinar from November 2022.

Adopting Linux securely in a Windows-centric enterprise

Additional resources

Ubuntu desktop

Learn how the Ubuntu desktop operating system powers millions of PCs and laptops around the world.