Tuesday, January 24, 2017

apt - Ubuntu 18.04 LTS and how to handle point releases

Trying to get some clarity on the meaning of LTS and the point release of 18.04. Looking on Canonical site they state 5 years support for 18.04, 18.04.1 and 18.04.5 but only six months for 18.04.2/3/4. See:



https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Kernel/Support#A18.04.x_Ubuntu_Kernel_Support



I'm trying to understand a couple of things:





  • Does the Ubuntu bionic version migrate through point release numbers based on "apt upgrade" and thus a normal user with unattended-upgrades set would just migrate through these bionic releases? It does not appear that you need to use dist-upgrade to get to next bionic point release.

  • Based on answer to above, how would a user stay on 18.04.1 and get security patches without migrating to next bionic point release and latest kernel?

  • When would a 18.04.1 device be expected to get the v5 kernel (seems this came with 18.04.3) and what if anything, would stop this kernel upgrade via apt?



My assumption has always been:
- that bionic releases upgrade automatically through apt and ppa definitions
- all 18.04 releases are considered LTS (not clear what the 6 month kernel timeline means from a support perspective as devices would get to .5 and be supported going forward)



I am asking as there is a vendor who is refusing to support v5 kernel based on the above chart and yet claims support for "18.04 LTS". Can't find a good answer on whether 18.04.3 is or is not considered an LTS release.




Thoughts?

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