How Ubuntu Pro + Support keeps your Ubuntu 20.04 LTS secure and stable

Whether you plan to continue running Ubuntu 20.04 LTS or upgrade to the latest LTS, keeping your infrastructure secure and stable is a top priority. Expanded Security Maintenance (ESM) provides essential security updates to protect your systems from vulnerabilities, ensuring you stay compliant and up to date against the latest threats.

But security updates alone don’t cover everything; what happens when a package update causes unexpected behavior, a dependency breaks, or you encounter an issue that impacts operations?

That’s where Ubuntu Pro + Support comes in. It gives you access to experts who can help resolve complex issues, troubleshoot failures, and keep your business running seamlessly.

By combining ESM with break-fix and bug-fix support, you get complete coverage: proactive security plus expert help when you need it most.

Stay secure with Expanded Security Maintenance

ESM is your foundation for long-term security. It delivers updates for thousands of packages beyond Ubuntu 20.04 LTS’s standard support period, on May 31st 2025 – ensuring that your systems stay patched and protected against critical, high, and selected medium vulnerabilities for all software packages shipped with Ubuntu. This means that when a vulnerability is found on packages you rely most on – such as Python, Node.js, or PHP – ESM ensures that you receive critical fixes and security patches so that your applications remain protected and you stay compliant with all of your cybersecurity standards and requirements.Indeed, security vulnerabilities are pervasive and can surface any time, and without timely patches they can put critical systems at risk. If your team, like this large game publisher, relies on PHP-based web applications for internal tools, customer portals, or operational workflows, a new security vulnerability could expose sensitive data or disrupt key services. With ESM, you can receive timely security updates, so you can focus on  running your business with confidence, knowing your systems are protected at all times.

By ensuring your Ubuntu 20.04 LTS system is secure, you reduce risk and strengthen your whole stack.

Read how Ubuntu Pro helped a large games publisher secure code dependencies and avoid costly migration

Get expert help when you need it

Even with security updates in place, operational issues can still arise–this could be anything, from a failed update or unexpected application behavior, to a broken dependency.  

If anything bad happens to your system – say, a Java update unexpectedly breaks a critical production application or a Python patch disrupts your automation scripts – our experts are ready to step in 24/7 via phone and ticket with direct assistance to diagnose and resolve the issue. Instead of spending hours troubleshooting on your own, you get fast, reliable help from our engineers who know everything open source inside and out. This expert support minimizes downtime and keeps your operations running smoothly. 

Even with strong security measures in place, complex operational issues can still arise. Take Kubernetes clusters running on Ubuntu 20.04 LTS, for example. A sudden, unexplained networking failure could bring down applications, leaving your team scrambling for answers. If the root cause is buried in configuration conflicts and dependencies, resolving it quickly is critical. 

Ubuntu Pro + Support gives you 24/7 access to Canonical’s global team of open-source experts, ready to diagnose and resolve complex issues across your entire stack – from infrastructure to applications. Of course, some systems don’t need a 24/7 hotline, so we offer flexible support solutions, including weekday support or support only for your infrastructure.

Our engineers will be an extension of your team, working alongside you to keep your systems running smoothly. Their expertise and dedication translate into high customer satisfaction, reflected in our CSAT score of 83 – a measure of how much our customers value the responsiveness and quality of our assistance.

Ensure long-term operational stability

Keeping your infrastructure running reliably isn’t just about fixing issues when they arise – it’s also about proactively optimizing performance and planning for the future.

Ubuntu Pro + Support is hands-on support and knowledge transfer on top of our 10-year security maintenance commitment. The most relevant cases are often documented in a Knowledge Base, giving you access to proven solutions whenever you need them. Our experts provide the guidance you need to make informed decisions, sharing best practices for your  infrastructure management, ensuring your systems remain efficient and well-maintained, and empowering your team to handle similar challenges in the future. 

For example, if your organization still relies on Python 2.0 or earlier for legacy applications, maintaining stability while preparing for a transition is critical. Canonical’s specialists can help you maintain functionality while seamlessly planning and executing a transition to a newer version, ensuring minimal disruption to your operations.

By combining ESM for security updates with Pro support for expert assistance, you can confidently run Ubuntu 20.04 LTS for years to come, knowing your environment is secure, stable, and optimized for your needs.

Sign up for our upcoming webinar to know more about how to prepare for the end of Ubuntu 20.04 end of standard support

Security updates from ESM keep your Ubuntu 20.04 LTS infrastructure safe, and when operational challenges arise, having Ubuntu Pro + Support ensures you have experts on hand to help.

Whether you need to troubleshoot a package issue, resolve a complex software bug, or plan for long-term stability, by combining ESM and support, you get the best of both worlds: proactive security plus the assurance that whenever you need help, you have a team of trusted experts ready to assist.

Get the confidence and expert assistance to keep everything running smoothly with Ubuntu Pro + Support

• Talk to an expert 
• Buy Ubuntu Pro + Support now
• Read more about how to prepare for Ubuntu 20.04 LTS end of life