Canonical released Ubuntu 26.04.1 LTS, “Resolute Raccoon”, on September 29, 2026. The first point release of an LTS gathers up the fixes made since launch, and it is also the moment Ubuntu starts offering upgrades to people on the previous LTS. Users of Ubuntu 24.04 LTS will soon see upgrade prompts. Before you accept one on a production server, it helps to know what has changed and how to upgrade without surprises.
Why the .1 release matters
Many administrators wait for the first point release before moving production systems to a new LTS, and with good reason. Six months of bug reports from early adopters have been fixed, installation media has been refreshed, and the direct upgrade path from the previous LTS is turned on. If you have servers on 24.04, now is the time to start testing. Ubuntu 24.04 is still supported, so you can take time to stage the move properly.
What changes on a server
Some of the changes in 26.04 affect how a server behaves day to day, not just the desktop.
Memory-safe system tools
Canonical describes 26.04 as the first LTS to substantially expand memory-safe system components. It ships sudo-rs, a Rust reimplementation of sudo, and the uutils Rust rewrite of coreutils. These tools sit underneath almost every shell script and automation job you run. They aim to behave like the originals, but edge cases are where reimplementations differ. Test deployment scripts, backup jobs, cron tasks and configuration management runs before you upgrade production. Watch for scripts that depend on unusual flags, exact output formats or specific sudoers behaviour.
Rust in the kernel
The release includes new kernel drivers and subsystems written in Rust. For most servers this changes nothing visible. If you build out-of-tree modules, such as some storage, backup or security agents, check with your vendors that they support the new kernel.
Post-quantum cryptography by default
Hybrid post-quantum key exchange is enabled by default. This protects against attackers who record encrypted traffic now in the hope of decrypting it later. Test connections from older clients, monitoring probes and appliances that talk to your servers, so you find any compatibility gaps before your users do.
Encryption and identity
TPM-backed full-disk encryption is now generally available. The authd tool lets machines authenticate users against cloud identity providers such as Entra ID, Google IAM and any OIDC-compliant service. That is useful if you want server logins tied to the same identities your staff already use.
On the desktop, GNOME 50 completes the move to Wayland, replacing X.org. If you have remote desktop or screen-sharing tools on Ubuntu workstations, check they work under Wayland.
Support timeline
| Coverage | Length |
|---|---|
| Standard security maintenance (main repository) | 5 years |
| Ubuntu Pro (expanded package coverage) | 10 years |
| Ubuntu Pro with Legacy Support add-on | Up to 15 years |
For servers you expect to keep for a long time, Ubuntu Pro also covers security fixes for packages in the universe repository. Many PHP extensions, web tools and libraries live there.
Pre-upgrade checklist
- Back up and snapshot. Take a full backup and, on a VM or cloud instance, a snapshot you can roll back to.
- Inventory third-party repositories. PPAs and vendor repositories (PHP, databases, Docker, monitoring agents) are disabled during the upgrade. Check each one supports 26.04.
- Test on a clone first. Restore a copy of the server and run the upgrade there. Then run your application, cron jobs and deployment scripts.
- Check application compatibility. New major versions of language runtimes and databases can break older code. Confirm your stack supports them.
- Arrange console access. Make sure you have out-of-band or provider console access in case SSH does not come back.
Upgrading from 24.04 LTS
Bring the current system fully up to date first, then run the release upgrader:
# Confirm the current release
lsb_release -a
# Fully update 24.04 and reboot into the latest kernel
sudo apt update && sudo apt full-upgrade -y
sudo reboot
# Make sure the upgrader follows LTS releases
grep Prompt /etc/update-manager/release-upgrades
# Start the upgrade
sudo do-release-upgradeThe Prompt line should read Prompt=lts. Run the upgrade inside screen or tmux so a dropped connection does not stop it halfway. If you start it over SSH, the upgrader offers to open an extra SSH daemon on port 1022 as a fallback. Open that port in your firewall temporarily if you want the safety net, then close it afterwards. Read each prompt about replacing configuration files. Keeping your own version is usually right for files you have customised, such as sshd_config.
After the upgrade
lsb_release -a
uname -r
systemctl --failed
sudo --versionCheck that no units have failed, re-enable and update any third-party repositories, and test your websites, mail and databases from outside the server. sudo --version shows which sudo implementation is now active. Keep the snapshot for a few days until you are confident everything works.
How TechProvidence can help
Release upgrades are routine until a PHP extension, a database or a custom script breaks. TechProvidence plans and carries out Ubuntu LTS upgrades for production web, mail and application servers, from test runs on cloned systems to scheduled upgrades with rollback ready. If you would rather hand over patching and upgrades altogether, our managed server plans cover it. Contact us to plan your move to 26.04.
Source: Ubuntu Blog
