Canonical makes Ubuntu live patching available for hardware Enablement kernels

Canonical is now making Ubuntu Pro’s live patching service available for hardware enablement kernels. The HWE releases then coexist with the long-term support version of the operating system.

Canonical writes that the feature will be available from kernel version 6.2. That’s the kernel first used in Ubuntu 23.04 Lunar Lobster, due out later this month. From July 2023, HWE kernel support will also be available for the 22.04 LTS release, Jammy Jellyfish.

Live patching is a feature in Ubuntu Pro, the professional version of the operating system that contains some additional security features. One of the most important features in Pro is live patching, where patches are committed directly into memory so that a system does not have to be restarted.

The live patches were previously only available on LTS kernel releases, but not yet on hardware enablement kernels or HWEs. These are kernels for the operating system that runs on new hardware that otherwise only the general availability kernel can run on. The HWE release will receive live patch support as long as that kernel is still supported.