Ubuntu Core 26 targets IoT devices and embedded systems, offers up to 15 years of security maintenance

Canonical has just introduced Ubuntu Core 26, based on the recently-released Ubuntu 26.04 LTS and designed for IoT devices and embedded systems, with precise Linux builds, optimized OTA updates, live kernel patching, and enhanced hardware-backed protection for mission-critical deployments.

Offered with up to 15 years of security maintenance, Ubuntu Core 26 minimal, immutable operating system enables reduced installation times, 90% smaller OTA updates, and precision-led builds via Chisel. Every component is a containerized snap, just like in prior Ubuntu Core releases. Canonical says it can help companies meet requirements for the EU Cyber Resilience Act (CRA) with securely designed and private AI deployments relying on hardware-based trust.

Ubuntu Core 26 highlights:

• Faster snap installation and updates – An improved snap-delta format reduces update sizes between 50% and 90% for most snaps. For instance, updates to the Core base snaps dropped from 16MB to 1.5MB in size. This lowers data usage and increases uptime.
• Precision builds with Chisel – The build system relies on Canonical’s release-specific package slice definitions, enforcing explicit, traceable dependencies. As a result, every file in the filesystem can be attributed to its originating slice and source package, improving the accuracy of integrity checks and vulnerability triage. The company explains this contrasts with approaches like Yocto builds, where provenance and dependency closure are largely implicit in layered recipes and post-processing. The new build system also contributes to a 7% reduction in base image size.
• CRA compliance through hardware-rooted security – Canonical assumes Manufacturer responsibilities under the CRA for the operating system’s release cycle by providing security maintenance for its core modules, continuous CVE monitoring and coordinated disclosure, and compliance with IEC 62443-4-1 (Cybersecurity in Industrial Automation and Control Systems).
• Livepatch rebootless kernel patching now works on both AMD64 and ARM64 targets.
• Developer tools improvements
  • New system snaps that speed up device deployment to new features in Snapcraft
  • Ubuntu Frame display server now supports multiple graphical applications on a single display, with configurable layouts, custom client placement, and a new accessibility launcher.
  • Canonical Observability Stack, an observability solution built on Juju and Kubernetes, enables Ubuntu Core to stream logs and metrics from the device to Cloud-based or private Grafana, Loki, and Prometheus infrastructure.
  • Snapcraft components offer a flexible new way to distribute large or optional resources, such as debug symbols, translations, or optional drivers, alongside their main snap without bloating the base installation.
• New API documentation – The Snapd REST API is now OpenAPI compliant and includes overhauled Swagger-based documentation.

Ubuntu Core requires 512MB RAM, 1GB storage, and is compatible with the following architectures: AMD64 (Intel/AMD 64-bit), ARM64 (64-bit Arm), ARMHF (32-bit Arm), and RISCV64 (64-bit RISC-V). Canonical provides Ubuntu Core 26 testing images for Generic x86 systems and Raspberry Pi 4/5 SBCs. Additional details may be found in the documentation.

Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft)

Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011.

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