Impact of Ubuntu 18.04 LTS (Bionic Beaver): End of Life on Azure Guest Patching Customers

Introduction: Canonical announced that the Ubuntu 18.04 LTS (Bionic Beaver) OS images will reach end-of-life (EOL) by end of May 2023. This means that Canonical will no longer provide technical support, software updates, or security patches for this version. Customers that are leveraging the Auto Guest Patching or Auto OS Image Upgrade capability on their VMs or VM Scale Sets will need to either upgrade to Ubuntu Pro or migrate to another Ubuntu image to keep their assets secure. 

Impact on Organizations: As mentioned in an earlier post from Microsoft, organizations that are still using Ubuntu 18.04 LTS will either need to update to Ubuntu Pro version or migrate to a newer Ubuntu LTS version to avoid any security or performance issues. After May 2023, Canonical will not publish new security or critical updates. Customers that have enabled their VMs for Auto Guest Patching will see no action from Azure, as no new updates will be available to patch their machines. Customers updating their VM scale sets via Auto OS Image Upgrades will experience the same issue, as no new images will be available from Canonical after May 2023. 

Without further security updates, organizations risk exposing their systems and data to potential security threats. Additionally, without software updates, organizations may experience performance issues or compatibility issues as newer hardware or software is released. It is important for organizations to plan for this migration to avoid any disruption to their business operations. 

 
Potential Migration Options: Organizations have some options for dealing with the Ubuntu 18.04 LTS end-of-life. Customers can upgrade to Ubuntu Pro or migrate their VM workloads to a newer version of LTS. 

Ubuntu Pro: Upgrading to Ubuntu Pro will allow continued support on 18.04 LTS from Canonical until 2028. Customers can upgrade to Ubuntu Pro from the Azure Marketplace. 

Newer LTS Version: Ubuntu offers the 20.04 LTS and 22.04 LTS as an upgrade over 18.04 LTS. Additional details on migration options are available through Ubuntu. 

Customers can continue to leverage the Auto Guest Patching or Auto OS Image Upgrade capability after moving to a supported model from Canonical. You can follow the steps in the documentation to enable the auto patching on your assets to ensure they continue to remain secure. 

 
Conclusion: Canonical’s EOL announcement for Ubuntu 18.04 LTS is an important reminder for organizations to stay current with their software solutions to avoid any security or performance issues. Organizations using Ubuntu 18.04 LTS will need to plan now for an update to Ubuntu Pro or migrate to a newer version of LTS to avoid any future disruption to their patching mechanisms, particularly customers that leverage the Auto VM Guest Patching or Auto OS Image Upgrade capabilities.