Ubuntu 22.04.2 LTS Delayed To End Of February Over Kernel & Signed Shim Woes

The Ubuntu xx.04.2 LTS releases tend to be a bit more meaningful for long-term support users since it includes the back-ported hardware enablement "HWE" stack with updated Linux kernel from the newer non-LTS release. Ubuntu 22.04.2 LTS had been due for release on 9 February with that updated stack but is now pushed back to the end of the month over technical issues.

Ubuntu 22.04.2 LTS has been delayed by some unforeseen compiler and DKMS (Dynamic Kernel Module Support) issues with the newer Linux 5.19 kernel set to be offered as their HWE stack update. The Linux 5.19 kernel is from Ubuntu 22.10 and a newer option for Ubuntu 22.04 LTS users than the default Linux 5.15 kernel if needing newer hardware driver support, such as for more recent graphics processors, WiFi hardware, and other newer hardware only enabled post-5.15. Plus between Linux 5.15 and 5.19 were many kernel optimizations and other enhancements that will be of interest to some Ubuntu LTS users.

Ubuntu 22.04 LTS

In addition to the compiler and DKMS issues surrounding their Linux 5.19 kernel backport to Ubuntu 22.04 LTS, Ubuntu 22.04.2 was also delayed due to an updated signed shim. Ubuntu's shim 15.7 update ends up revoking all currently used keys and they resigned their fwupd and GRUB with new signing keys. In order to avoid potentially breaking the ability for some locked-down systems to be able to upgrade to Ubuntu 22.04.2 and still have a booting system in a secured environment, they need more time to transition in the updates. This mailing list post covers the difficulties being worked through in dealing with the shim update and transitioning to the new keys.

As such Canonical decided and announced today that Ubuntu 22.04.2 LTS is being delayed from 9 February to 23 February. They feel the extra two weeks will give them time to properly work through these issues and provide a quality point release -- complete with the new HWE stack option.