The status quo
The lifecycle of Ubuntu releases spans many years, and we want for Ubuntu Frame to be security-maintained for at least as long as the underlying Ubuntu release. But we also can’t stay on the toolchains and dependencies for that long.
To this end, we have recently introduced tracks of Ubuntu Frame and the other snaps we maintain.
You can see it in on the snap page and in the output of snap info ubuntu-frame:
name: ubuntu-frame
# ...
channels:
latest/stable: 99-mir2.13.0 2023-06-16 (5787) 8MB -
latest/candidate: ↑
latest/beta: ↑
latest/edge: 99-mir2.13.0+dev16 2023-06-15 (5792) 8MB -
22/stable: 104-mir2.14.1 2023-07-31 (6331) 6MB -
22/candidate: ↑
22/beta: 104-mir2.14.1 2023-07-21 (6331) 6MB -
22/edge: 104-mir2.14.1+dev14 2023-07-25 (6352) 6MB -
20/stable: 99-mir2.13.0 2023-06-16 (5787) 8MB -
20/candidate: ↑
20/beta: ↑
20/edge: 99-mir2.13.0+dev16 2023-06-15 (5792) 8MB -
The 20 track is based off of Ubuntu 20.04 LTS, and will be maintained as long as it. The 22 track is based on Ubuntu 22.04 LTS… you know. We’ll introduce the 24 track during the Ubuntu 24.04 development cycle.
Affected snaps
This applies to the following snaps:
If your solution employs any of these, you want to read what follows.
Track status
The latest Ubuntu LTS version (22.04, and the 22 track, at the time of writing) will always be the basis of current development.
Previous releases are moved into maintenance mode, and only receive security updates.
latest is legacy, based on Ubuntu 20.04, and is the default track. See below.
Usage
In production, it’s recommended to always explicitly choose the track you want to use, usually corresponding to the version of Ubuntu.
When installing or refreshing a snap, use --channel <track>/<risk> to follow that release channel. If building an image, set "default-channel": "<track>/<risk>" for all the relevant snaps.
You should also monitor the XX/candidate and/or XX/beta channels, to test and be ready for any incoming changes.
Moving forward
We want to simplify and clarify this setup, particularly the latest track does not make sense when the rest are versioned. See below the changes we want to apply, when and what impact that has on your systems.
Changing the default track
We will move the default track to 22. We will continue to move the default track to the current LTS
When:
- with the next (2.15) Mir release, August 31st, 2023
Impact:
- none on existing installations
- new installs will default to the
22/stablechannel - newly built images without a
default-channeldefined will default to the22/channel
Mitigations:
- make sure to define an appropriate
default-channelin your model
Removing the latest track
We will stop publishing updates to the latest track, and subsequently remove the track altogether.
When:
- October 31st, 2023
Impact:
- existing installations will stop receiving updates
- images using the
latesttrack will fail to build
Mitigations:
- migrate your machines to the
20/stablechannels:
snap refresh <snap> --channel 20/stable - refresh your models to use the
20/stablechannels - if using a Dedicated Snap Store, follow the
20/stablechannels for affected snaps, or remodel your devices to a new model
NB: this is a complex process, please reach out to our support for help
Track maintenance
The previous default track will be moved into maintenance mode, where only security and a selection of bug fixes will be incorporated.
The default track will be the basis of current development as well as receive current security updates.
The newest track, based on the next LTS version of Ubuntu, will be considered unstable until it goes through sufficient testing, at which point the default track will be moved, with appropriate notice in this forum - and the previous default will move into maintenance mode.
When:
- in effect on the
20andlatesttracks - August 31st on the new default,
22, track
Impact:
- existing installations will stop receiving new features
- images built from those tracks will not receive new features
- developers need follow when the new tracks become default
Mitigations:
- refresh existing installations to the newest track:
NB: this will require an additional 200MB+ of space, as the new base snap, and graphics support snap need to be installed.
sudo snap refresh <snap> --channel 22/stable - update the
default-channelfor any affected snaps in your model for new deployments and/or remodel
NB: see above, the same size considerations apply - migrate your image to the new base and remodel
NB: this is always a significant migration, so make sure to run appropriate quality assurance processes on your devices, reach out to our support for help - monitor this forum for updates
Feedback
Please let us know below, or through any other channel, if anything is unclear in this plan, we’ve not covered your case or anything else is concerning. Thank you!