Operations | Monitoring | ITSM | DevOps | Cloud

May 2023

Ubuntu Core as an immutable Linux Desktop base

Canonical began the development of Ubuntu Core in 2014, to create a fully-containerised platform for IoT. In Ubuntu Core, we use the same kernel container technology that Docker and LXC are built on, to put every component of the system into a secure sandbox, with well-defined upgrade and rollback. We did this to enable autonomous connected Internet of Things devices to receive updates which they could apply without human intervention, to address security and business needs at the edge.

What is so Pro in Ubuntu Pro?

Open source is everywhere, but what’s its role in your company? According to Synopsys 2023 OSSRA research, around 96% of companies use open source in their codebases. From which at least 84% contained known vulnerabilities. Nowadays vulnerability exposure lasts for around 98 days, which means that the majority of companies are not fixing known vulnerabilities in their codebases for 3 months. This is simply not acceptable.

How to secure your MLOps tooling?

Generative AI projects like ChatGPT have motivated enterprises to rethink their AI strategy and make it a priority. In a report published by PwC, 72% of respondents said they were confident in the ROI of artificial intelligence. More than half of respondents also state that their AI projects are compliant with applicable regulations (57%) and protect systems from cyber attacks, threats or manipulations (55%). Production-grade AI initiatives are not an easy task.

Secure containerised Ceph with Ubuntu container images

As we announced at Cephalocon 2023 in Amsterdam, Canonical has started to make container images for Ceph available. We received lots of questions at the booth about what it means to the average Ceph user who has or wants to deploy Ceph on Ubuntu. In this blog post, we will cover the benefits to users who are running containerised Ceph on Ubuntu, and specifically how these images can provide an improved security posture.

AI in the public sector: practical applications and use cases

The public sector is investing heavily on artificial intelligence and machine learning initiatives. Deloitte AI Institute reported that 60% of government AI and data analytics investments aim to directly impact real-time operational decisions and outcomes by 2024. From automating redundant tasks to increasing the quality of services offered to citizens, public sector institutions have a wide range of applications where they could implement AI.

Docker vs Snaps: a side by side comparison

The Docker project was initiated by dotCloud, a platform-as-a-service (PaaS) company that created Docker to run their internal infrastructure. Slowly, Docker became more successful than any of their other products, so dotCloud rebranded as Docker Inc. Docker provides easy-to-use tooling and grew into an entire ecosystem for container management.

Matter on Ubuntu: getting started with the standard for smart home devices

Canonical joined the Connectivity Standards Alliance last year to lead the charge for Linux in the smart home. The Matter standard is a particular focus for us. Its secure design and open ecosystem align well with Ubuntu’s own values of security and openness. Ubuntu Core and Matter make for a powerful pair. Ubuntu Core’s containerisation makes it a highly secure OS that pairs well with the highly secure protocol.

Upgrade Ubuntu LTS to Ubuntu Pro on AWS

Are you running Ubuntu LTS on Amazon Web Services (AWS) and looking to upgrade to Ubuntu Pro for enhanced security and additional support options? Then this tutorial is for you! In April 2023, AWS released a new functionality that allows users to upgrade their Ubuntu LTS instances to Ubuntu Pro with just a few clicks. In this tutorial, we will cover all the steps needed to upgrade Ubuntu LTS instances to Ubuntu Pro on AWS using AWS License Manager.

What's new in Ubuntu 23.04

Ubuntu has long been a developer favourite and the preferred platform for Linux for gaming. Ubuntu Desktop 23.04 lays the foundations for a number of key strategic priorities around desktop deployment, identity management and gaming. For IT managers looking to deploy Ubuntu Desktop at scale, the new desktop installer delivers new tools for custom image configuration and network based deployment. Ubuntu 23.04 also extends its identity management integration to support industry shifts towards cloud-based identity providers.

Big data security foundations in five steps

We’ve all read the headlines about spectacular data breaches and other security incidents, and the impact that they have had on the victim organisations. From LastPass to SolarWinds, “data security” seems to be the phrase on the lips of every CTO these days. And in some ways there’s no place more vulnerable to attack than a big data environment like a data lake.

Ubuntu Pro is now part of the Amazon EC2 console

[London, UK, May 2, 2023] – Canonical, a leading open-source provider of cloud computing services, has announced that Ubuntu Pro is now available in a subscription-included model on Amazon Web Services (AWS). Users can now launch Ubuntu Pro on-demand instances and purchase Ubuntu Pro Compute Savings Plans from the Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2) console.

Accelerating the adoption of AI in banking with MLOps

There is rapid adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) in the finance sector. AI in banking is reshaping client experiences, including communication with financial service providers (for example, chat bots). Banks are exploring ways to use AI/ML to handle the high volume of loan applications and to improve their underwriting process.