Canonical Livepatching Now Available For Ubuntu HWE Kernels

Canonical announced today that their kernel livepatching service will now be available for their hardware enablement "HWE" kernels on Ubuntu Long-Term Support releases.

To date the kernel livepatching with Ubuntu LTS releases have just been available on the LTS kernel versions while moving forward, their HWE kernels that are found in Ubuntu LTS point releases will begin receiving live-patch support.

With kernel livepatching for deploying security fixes / updates without the need to reboot the running system, HWE kernels will begin receiving support. This starts with the Linux 6.2 kernel to be found in Ubuntu 23.04 that in turn will be found in the next Ubuntu 22.04 LTS point release in July. So this summer when the next Ubuntu 22.04 LTS release is ready, you can begin live-patching your 6.2 HWE kernel. Canonical plans to support the livepatching for the entire lifetime of the HWE kernel after which point the users should upgrade to the next back-ported HWE kernel.

This is an important but overdue move for making Ubuntu live-patching more useful particularly with many desktops/laptops running the HWE kernels on Ubuntu LTS versions in order to enjoy the newer hardware support and other new features. More details on the live-patching support for Ubuntu HWE kernels via the Ubuntu blog. Ubuntu's Livepatch Service requires Ubuntu Pro.