Canonical Releases Ubuntu 24.10 Oracular Oriole

The latest release of Ubuntu delivers a cutting edge kernel and enhanced desktop security.

10 October 2024

Today Canonical announced the release of Ubuntu 24.10, codenamed “Oracular Oriole,” available to download and install from ubuntu.com/download.

Ubuntu 24.10 delivers the latest kernel, toolchains and GNOME 47 desktop environment alongside significant improvements to software security.

“Oracular Oriole sets a new pace for delivering the latest upstream kernel and toolchains,” said Mark Shuttleworth, CEO of Canonical, “Experimental new security features demonstrate our commitment to continually elevate the Linux desktop experience in conversation with the community for the next 20 years and beyond.”

Linux 6.11 delivers the latest hardware enablement

By including the Linux 6.11 kernel, Ubuntu 24.10 marks a shift in Canonical’s kernel selection policy to target the newest available upstream Linux kernel and provide users with the latest features and hardware support at release. Silicon vendors can now more easily plan for future kernel versions in both upcoming Ubuntu releases and hardware enablement (HWE) updates to existing LTS releases.

“Canonical’s transition to the 6.11 kernel enables a faster delivery of the latest Ubuntu enhancements to Dell customers using version 24.04.2. This move underscores Canonical’s commitment to supporting hardware with cutting-edge technologies in their LTS releases,” said Jason Durst, Vice President, Dell Consumer PCs.

The addition of kdump-tools to relevant Ubuntu desktop and server images enables kernel crash dumps by default. This proactive approach streamlines troubleshooting by automatically capturing critical data after a crash, allowing faster and effective diagnostics, without requiring users to manually adjust settings beforehand.

Permissions prompting brings tighter security controls

Permissions prompting is a critical tool for privacy and security conscious users to control, manage and understand the behavior of applications running on their machine.

Ubuntu Desktop 24.10 introduces prompting as an experimental new feature that allows users fine-grained control over snap application permissions. Using Ubuntu’s AppArmor implementation, prompting enforces sandboxing and mediates access at the system call level to ensure that every action is tightly controlled and subject to user consent, even for applications that are entirely unaware of this mediation.

Prompting can be enabled via the new Security Center application in Ubuntu Desktop 24.10 and covers home directory permissions at launch. Over time the Security Center will be expanded with additional prompting options as well as firewall and encryption management.

GNOME 47 headlines desktop user experience upgrades

Ubuntu Desktop 24.10 includes the latest GNOME 47 which delivers a range of user experience enhancements alongside improved performance and stability. This release also switches to Wayland by default for hardware with NVIDIA graphics and uses the open source NVIDIA 560 kernel modules by default on supported hardware.

Snap updates are now more actionable with installation and update progress viewable in the App Center. Updates are also visible in the Ubuntu Dock which also includes better handling of Progressive Web Applications.

For gamers, significant improvements have also been made to the compatibility of the Steam snap, with an expanded permissions model and improved NVIDIA driver support. The Steam snap also bundles gaming-specific Mesa PPAs to deliver optimized performance out of the box when combined with the low latency settings enabled in the latest kernel.

To celebrate Ubuntu’s 20th anniversary, Ubuntu 24.10 features a number of exclusive nods to the past, including a special ‘warty brown’ accent color, anniversary wallpapers and the inclusion of the original startup sound for those who want to celebrate in style.

Improved security and usability for software management

Ubuntu 24.10 is the first interim release to include OpenVEX and OSV formats for vulnerability reporting by default. These reporting standards seek to reduce the complexities of vulnerability management by providing an open approach to producing and consuming vulnerability information. By adopting these standards, Canonical helps expand the comprehensiveness of vulnerability data available in this format, improving vulnerability management for the industry as a whole.

“Managing known vulnerabilities in open source dependencies is incredibly hard, and Canonical’s adoption of the OSV standard simplifies this for thousands of open source projects distributed via Ubuntu repositories,” said Oliver Chang, Senior Staff Software Engineer at OSV Team, Google, and a OpenSSF OSV Schema founder. “Downstream users benefit from improved accuracy of vulnerability information, as well as precise metadata that enables them to understand and remediate their risks. Vulnerability data should be open and transparent, much like how open source is developed. Together we ensure a more secure open source software ecosystem, and we’re excited to see this data being used and integrated in more tools.”

As an interim release, Ubuntu 24.10 benefits from Canonical’s security commitment to track, prioritize and address vulnerabilities contained in the Known Exploited Vulnerability database across its lifecycle, regardless of priority or CVSS score.

This release also improves PPA security. APT now requires stronger signatures for PPAs and other repositories. Canonical has re-signed all PPAs using strong signing keys, and added a new sudo add-apt-repository --refresh-keys command to refresh PPA keys and provide information about other configured repository keys.

Finally, Ubuntu 24.10 ships with an improved command line UX as part of the latest APT, making it easier to see the changes that will be performed when installing or updating packages.

Expanded toolchain support with versioned Rust and Java TCK Certification

Ubuntu 24.10 includes the latest toolchains and runtimes for Python, Java, Go, C, C++, Rust and .Net. .Net support is extended to ppc64el architecture in this release.

Versioned Rust packages support the varying needs of distro component and enterprise application developers by providing them the option to choose a particular version as required. Ubuntu 24.10 provides Cargo and Rust 1.80 as the defaults with earlier versions included in the archives to support the bespoke requirements of developers.

The OpenJDK 21 and OpenJDK 17 packages in Ubuntu are now TCK (Technology Compatibility Kit) certified on amd64, arm64, s390x, ppc64el and armhf. The Java TCK is the most comprehensive test suite that covers all aspects of Java SE specification including language features, libraries and APIs. By passing the TCK tests, the OpenJDK packages for version 17 and version 21 on Ubuntu are verified to be compliant with the Java SE specification for their corresponding versions. This guarantees interoperability and conformance to standard.

Valkey joins the Ubuntu ecosystem

Ubuntu 24.10 now includes Valkey, an open source (BSD) high-performance key/value data store that can support various workloads such as caching, message queues, and leaderboards. Valkey can function as a standalone server or in a cluster, providing replication options to ensure high availability and data redundancy. Valkey has been backported to Ubuntu 24.04 LTS and will be included in future editions, simplifying the availability and ongoing support of this open source data store for Ubuntu users.

“We are excited that Valkey will be included in Ubuntu 24.10 and future releases. This milestone is a testament to the collaborative, community-driven nature of Valkey’s development. With its open-source foundation and compatibility with widely adopted platforms, users can now deploy Valkey on Ubuntu, benefiting from a fully supported, high-performance, and reliable environment for their data needs. Ubuntu’s extensive reach and support make it an ideal platform for Valkey’s continued growth and innovation.” – Ping Xie, Valkey Technical Steering Committee and Software Engineer, GCP Memorystore.

Further reading

• Download Ubuntu 24.10
• Read the 24.10 Release Notes
• Celebrate 20 years of Ubuntu
• Introducing permissions prompting on Ubuntu Desktop
• Kernel version selection for Ubuntu releases
• Learn more about using Valkey on Ubuntu

About Canonical

Canonical, the publisher of Ubuntu, provides open source security, support and services. Our portfolio covers critical systems, from the smallest devices to the largest clouds, from the kernel to containers, from databases to AI. With customers that include top tech brands, emerging startups, governments and home users, Canonical delivers trusted open source for everyone.

Learn more at canonical.com