Highlights:

  • Ubuntu Pro can be used in data centers and workstations, and there is also a free version for small businesses and personal use.
  • As part of the standard Ubuntu Pro subscription, all Ubuntu packages get security updates.

Canonical is providing a public beta of Ubuntu Pro, which offers Ubuntu Linux users more security maintenance and compliance for software like the Node.js runtime, Python 2, and Rust.

Security coverage will be enhanced for critical, high, and medium common vulnerabilities and exposures (CVEs) to thousands of applications and toolchains, like Ansible, Apache Tomcat, Apache Zookeeper, Docker, Drupal, Node.js, Puppet, Python 2, Rust, and others.

Business customers can try it for free for 30 days. Ubuntu Pro can be used in data centers and workstations, and there is also a free version for small businesses and personal use.

The firm said that since it released Ubuntu LTS with five years of free security for the main operating system, enterprise customers have asked the company to cover more of the open-source landscape through private commercial agreements. These benefits are now free to anyone who has signed up for a free personal Ubuntu Pro subscription. Ubuntu Pro can also be merged with 24/7 enterprise-level coverage for the Ubuntu operating system. Infrastructure, including Kubernetes and OpenStack, can also be covered.

More than 30 upstream applications will be supported initially, including Kafka, Kubeflow, OpenJDK, PostgreSQL, and Vault. Regarding security, Ubuntu Pro users can use FIPS 140-2-certified cryptographic packages. All government agencies and organizations following the rules, like FedRAMP and HIPAA, need these packages.

Ubuntu Pro is available for all Ubuntu long-term support releases from Ubuntu 16.04 LTS. The standard Ubuntu Pro subscription covers security updates for all Ubuntu packages. Also, Canonical’s Ubuntu Advantage for Infrastructure subscription will now be called Ubuntu Pro (Infra-only), but neither the price nor the services it provides have changed. The Infra-Only subscription covers the base operating system and private cloud components needed for large-scale, bare-metal deployments but does not cover broader application coverage.

Paid Ubuntu Pro plans cost USD 25 per year for a workstation and USD 500 per year for a server. Ubunto Pro costs about 3.5% of the average cost of computing on public clouds.