Canonical Says Ubuntu 16.04 Enters Extended Security Maintenance on April 30th, 2021

Ubuntu 16.04 Extended Security

Canonical announced today that their Ubuntu 16.04 (Xenial Xerus) operating system series will enter Extended Security Maintenance (ESM) support beginning April 30th, 2021.

Released five years ago on April 16th, 2016, the Ubuntu 16.04 LTS (Xenial Xerus) operating system series will reach end of life on April 30th, 2021, when it will enter the Extended Security Maintenance (ESM) support, which is offered by Canonical to companies who want to continue using the OS but need it to remain secure.

Following on the success of the Ubuntu 12.04 LTS (Precise Pangolin) and Ubuntu 14.04 LTS (Trusty Tahr) operating systems, Canonical is kicking off the transition to its Extended Security Maintenance (ESM) commercial package for Ubuntu 16.04 LTS (Xenial Xerus) on April 30th, 2021.

What this means for end users? Well, if you’re still using Ubuntu 16.04 LTS on your personal computer or server, Canonical urges you to upgrade to their latest LTS (Long Term Support) release, Ubuntu 20.04 LTS (Focal Fossa).

However, since Ubuntu 16.04 LTS was released five years ago, the upgrade to Ubuntu 20.04 LTS is done through Ubuntu 18.04 LTS (Bionic Beaver). Canonical provides the community with detailed instructions on how to upgrade their Ubuntu 16.04 LTS installations to Ubuntu 18.04 LTS here, and then to Ubuntu 20.04 LTS here.

“Ubuntu 18.04 LTS and 20.04 LTS continue to be actively supported with security updates and bug fixes,” said Łukasz Zemczak on behalf of the Ubuntu Release Team in a mailing-list announcement.

The Extended Security Maintenance (ESM) support is provided by Canonical for Ubuntu 16.04 LTS customers through the Ubuntu Advantage commercial offering for 3 more years, until April 2024.

Please keep in mind that starting with April 30th, 2021, Canonical will no longer provide security and software updates for your Ubuntu 16.04 LTS installations. The last point release offered for download is Ubuntu 16.04.7.

Last updated 3 years ago

Buy Me a Coffee at ko-fi.com