Ubuntu Core 22 Released for Public Beta Testing with PiBoot Support, Remodeling

Ubuntu Core 22 Beta

Canonical announced the beta version of the upcoming Ubuntu Core 22 operating system for IoT (Internet of Things) and embedded devices.

Ubuntu Core 22 aims to be a minimal and containerized version of the Ubuntu 22.04 LTS (Jammy Jellyfish) operating system series but designed for IoT (Internet of Things) and embedded devices.

Coming almost a year and a half after Ubuntu Core 20, the Ubuntu Core 22 builds on the already existing security standards of the Ubuntu Core operating system and promises new features like remodeling capabilities to allow users to change device IDs so that they can be rebranded, remodeled or assigned to a different Snap Store.

It also brings support for validation sets to help users ensure that only specific Snap apps are installed and that they stay at fixed revisions (optional), the ability to factory reset devices, MAAS (Metal as a Service) support, as well as various under-the-hood changes to improve speed and reduced footprint.

“Ubuntu Core, the Ubuntu flavor optimized for IoT and edge devices, has now available a Beta version for the new UC22 release. You can start using Ubuntu Core 22 Beta if you’re interested in testing the new features of the upcoming GA release,” shared David Beamonte, Product Manager at Canonical, in a post.

For Raspberry Pi devices, Ubuntu Core 22 introduces support for PiBoot, a simple Raspberry Pi Zero bootloader designed to act as the “one-stage bootloader” while offering various UX improvements such as the ability to boot from external devices and better support for HATs.

Canonical plans to release the final version of Ubuntu Core 22 in the coming weeks, but if you want to give it a try right now on your IoT devices and also help the devs iron out any bugs, you can download the beta version as pre-built images from here.

Ubuntu Core is currently supported on Raspberry Pi 2, Raspberry Pi 3, Raspberry Pi 4, Raspberry Pi Compute Module 3 (CM3), Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 (CM4), Qualcomm DragonBoard, Intel NUC, as well as generic x86 and x86 KVM devices, and requires at least 384MB RAM (512MB with UEFI Secure Boot and FDE) and 512MB storage.

Image credits: Canonical (edited by Marius Nestor)

Last updated 2 years ago

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