Ubuntu is one of the most popular Linux distributions available. The Ubuntu Linux operating system has releases published regularly on an interval of every six months. Every few releases are designated as Long Term Support or LTS releases. These LTS releases of Ubuntu are published on an interval of every 2 years.

What is Long Term Support (LTS)?

Long Term Support (LTS) is a software product release lifecycle concept where a stable release offers maintenance and updates for a longer time than other standard releases. While standard releases are only supported for 9 months, an LTS release is supported for 8 years total.

Long Term Support (LTS) releases are the “enterprise grade” releases of Ubuntu.

Ubuntu LTS releases are covered under Standard Support for 5 years. During this period there will be regular patches and updates to the OS. After this five year period, the LTS release transitions into Extended Security Maintenance (EMS) support that offers the ability for organizations to pay for continued security coverage.

For example, here’s a table of some recent Ubuntu releases and their end of support dates:

Ubuntu Version	Release	End Standard Support	End of Life
19.10 (Eoan Ermine)	October 17, 2019	July 2020	July 2020
19.04 (Disco Dingo)	April 18, 2019	January 2020	January 2020
18.04 LTS (Bionic Beaver)	April 26, 2018	April 2023	April 2028
16.04 LTS (Xenial Xerus)	April 21, 2016	April 2021	April 2024
14.04 LTS (Trusty Tahr)	April 17, 2014	April 2019	April 2022

The release dates and support dates in the above table are listed on the official Ubuntu list of releases page.

About the Author

Chris Pietschmann

Chris Pietschmann is a Microsoft MVP, HashiCorp Ambassador, and Microsoft Certified Trainer (MCT) with 20+ years of experience designing and building Cloud & Enterprise systems. He has worked with companies of all sizes from startups to large enterprises. He has a passion for technology and sharing what he learns with others to help enable them to learn faster and be more productive.