Canonical has announced that it is extending the Legacy add-on for Ubuntu Pro. This means that the support period for LTS versions of Ubuntu is now 15 years.
According to a blog post by Canonical, this arrangement applies from Ubuntu 14.04 LTS onwards and is intended for long-term production environments where hardware dependency or strict compliance makes regular major upgrades problematic.
Previously, the maintenance period for an LTS release consisted of five years of regular security updates followed by five years via the ESM (Expanded Security Maintenance) service. In 2024, the Legacy add-on was introduced, enabling two additional years of support, bringing the total to twelve years. Canonical has now announced that the additional period will be extended to five years, bringing the total to fifteen years.
A previous step in this direction was already taken in March 2024, when Canonical announced that the support period for Ubuntu LTS releases would be extended to twelve years. According to Canonical, this extension was made possible by combining five years of standard maintenance, five years of Expanded Security Maintenance, and a new Legacy add-on that added another two years.
Throughout these fifteen years, Ubuntu Pro provides continuous security maintenance across the entire Ubuntu base, the kernel, and key open-source components. Canonical’s security team states that they actively scan, triage, and backport vulnerabilities (critical, high, and selected medium) so that organizations can maintain security without being forced to perform disruptive major upgrades that could compromise compatibility or certification.
Optional break/fix support
Break/fix support remains an optional add-on component that provides access to Canonical’s support team in the event of production issues. The scope of the Legacy add-on itself remains unchanged; only the duration is extended.
Nothing changes for existing Ubuntu Pro subscriptions: no re-registration or reinstallation is required, and no unexpected migration projects are required. The Legacy add-on is available after the first ten years (five years standard + five years ESM) have elapsed, and the price for this extended coverage is approximately 50 percent more than the standard Ubuntu Pro cost. With the new arrangement, Ubuntu 14.04 LTS is now supported until April 2029, fifteen years after its original release date.