Ubuntu Core 24: Canonical's IoT Linux now administered with Landscape

Canonical has released Ubuntu Core 24. As usual, it follows the regular Ubuntu Linux 24 with a good month's delay and adopts a large number of the new features, such as a new kernel and a comprehensively renovated userland. However, the Canonical developers have also come up with some new features for the Linux distribution, which is primarily aimed at IoT and edge applications.

The functional principle of Ubuntu Core remains unchanged: As before, under the hood it consists of individual containers with various components that are only allowed to interact and communicate with each other via defined paths. The direct installation of software in Ubuntu Core is strictly prohibited; instead, manufacturers who use Ubuntu Core as the basis for an IoT device can contribute their own applications in container form. Ubuntu Core itself is primarily responsible for managing these containers. Defined procedures are available for updating individual containers as well as for updating the entire system.

Updates are a tricky procedure, especially for IoT devices - because if something goes wrong, in the worst-case scenario a provider can turn all of its own devices into extravagant paperweights in one fell swoop. To prevent this from happening, Ubuntu Core also offers rollback scenarios and various backup options for updates that can be triggered remotely and even in air-gapped environments. Another new feature in Ubuntu Core 24 is the option of validation sets: These are manifests signed by the delivering company that define which versions of which containers must be installed together in order to guarantee perfect functionality.

AI, AI and more AI

Of course, Canonical cannot escape the AI megahype either. Accordingly, Ubuntu Core 24 promises a lot: for the first time, it offers support for embedded GPUs, which can be used to perform the calculations often required for artificial intelligence with hardware support. This brings them closer to their actual place of use. Canonical itself cites projectors for displaying holographic images as an example, which can be operated much better with Ubuntu Core 24 than with the previous version. However, it remains to be seen how well the operating system can actually be used for AI applications and how practical this will be in everyday life.

However, the new integration of the system into Canonical's lifecycle manager Landscape in Ubuntu Core 24 is already having a very practical effect. Like regular servers, IoT and edge devices based on Ubuntu can now be managed via Landscape. If you don't want to use the software, you can use Microsoft Azure IoT Edge as an alternative, which offers similar functions and is also much more widespread in the industry.

Ubuntu Core 24 also brings good news for robot developers. There is a dedicated open source project for them, the Robot Operating System (ROS), which contains many components typically required for the operation of robots. The installation of the ROS components has been quite complex to date, although Ubuntu Core is actually ideally suited as a basis for the operation of robots. Ubuntu Core 24 puts an end to this: Canonical itself has now integrated large parts of ROS into the system and delivers corresponding snap containers.

Anyone who has been operating devices with Ubuntu Core 22 to date should consider switching to Ubuntu Core 24 soon. Although version 22 already came with long support, many helpful new features in the new release should be an incentive to update. Especially as it comes with even longer support: up to 12 years - as with Ubuntu Linux 24.

(mki)