Ubuntu Server 24.04 LTS (Noble Numbat)
I installed the dev build so you don't have to
According to Utkarsh Gupta over at Canonical…
We're pleased to announce that Noble Numbat is now open for development. Auto-sync has been enabled and will run soon. As usual, we expect a large influx of builds and autopkgtests in this initial period, which will cause delays. Please help with fixing any breakage that occurs.
~ https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-devel/2023-October/042835.html
I am excited for this new release, however, we can’t expect any traction till late February this year.
The release schedule looks as follows:
February 29, 2024 – Feature Freeze
March 21, 2024 – User Interface Freeze
April 4, 2024 – Ubuntu 24.04 Beta
April 11, 2024 – Kernel Freeze
April 25, 2024 – Ubuntu 24.04 LTS Released
I decided to spin up a 24.04 server on my homelab and poke around. Not much is different from 23.10 unfortunately. I will make another post when we get closer to release.
24.04 is categorized as a Long Term Support (LTS) version, which traditionally emphasizes stability and robustness over significant feature additions or major User Interface (UI) transformations.
Surely, the Ubuntu 24.04 release will feature a new Linux kernel—either version 6.7 or 6.8, based on scheduling—and GNOME 46, which is set for release in March. There's also anticipation around noticeable enhancements to the user installation experience.
Additionally, Oliver Grawert from Canonical has announced the availability of an immutable, snap-based Ubuntu 24.04 image for download by April. While this won't be the default recommended download, there's no doubt that we'll be learning more about this development in due course.
Some other changes that we can expect to/already see in the latest dev builds and in the final version:
- The new installment will also see Toolchain Upgrades like GCC update, a new default Python version, along with updates to Perl, LLVM, and Rust toolchain.
- Some important alterations in the installation and upgrades include a minimal default Ubuntu Desktop installation with an Expanded installation option for those who prefer additional applications like LibreOffice and Thunderbird.
- The ZFS guided installations are making a comeback with enhanced storage management options.
- Ubuntu is introducing TPM-backed full-disk encryption (FDE) for enhanced security, although it remains experimental.
- NetworkManager now uses Netplan as its default settings-storage backend.
- The Ubuntu App Center is being replaced by a brand-new Store developed using the Flutter toolkit.
- GNOME has been updated to include new features and fixes from the latest GNOME release.
- An innovative Active Directory Certificates auto-enrollment solution, ADSys, has been introduced that streamlines connections to corporate Wi-Fi and VPN networks.
- There's a new standalone Firmware Updater application providing the feasibility to update firmware.
- This release notes the introduction of TPM-backed Full Disk Encryption (FDE) in combination with Absolute (formerly Computrace) that leads to certain compatibility issues.
- On the server side, acceptable offline installations are possible when the mirror is inaccessible using `apt: fallback: offline-install`.
- The cloud images show a variation in systemd 253.5-1ubuntu1 resulting in unexpected UDP listening port 5353.
Not much to report on until we can get hands on with the new features.
Cheers,
Joe