Ubuntu Pro EKS is an Ubuntu AWS Machine Image, optimized for EKS with 10 years of security maintenance, covering not only the OS but also its 3rd party open source repositories. Clusters built from this AMI can also benefit from using this extended security maintenance in an unlimited number of containers running on the cluster. This allows teams to consume freely open source software while meeting internal security, governance and compliance requirements.

Ubuntu Pro EKS remains fully-compatible with Ubuntu EKS 22.04 LTS, adding additional security, enabled by default, as well as compliance and management tools in a form suitable for small to large-scale Linux operations.

For more information, see https://ubuntu.com/aws/pro

Why developers and devops choose Ubuntu Pro for AWS:

Upgrade your in-container experience by adding access to security updates for 30,000+ packages including Apache Kafka, NGINX, MongoDB, Redis and PostgreSQL

Security hardening and audit tools (CIS) to establish a security baseline across your systems

FIPS 140-2 certified modules

Kernel Livepatch: kernel patches delivered immediately, without the need to reboot your nodes

Optimized performance: optimized kernel, with improved boot speed, outstanding runtime performance and advanced device support

10-year security maintenance: Ubuntu Pro 22.04 LTS provides security maintenance until April 2032

Production ready: Ubuntu is the leading Linux in the public cloud with > 50% of Linux workloads

Developer friendly: Ubuntu is the #1 Linux for developers offering the latest library and tools to innovate with the latest technologies and security coverage.

Non-stop security: Canonical publishes images periodically, ensuring security is built-in from the moment an instance launches

Consistent experience across platforms: from edge to multi-cloud, Ubuntu provides the same experience regardless of the platform. It will ensure consistency of your CI/CD pipelines and management mechanisms.

These images are based on the official Ubuntu Minimal LTS, including the custom Ubuntu-aws optimized kernel with Ubuntu Pro kernel livepatch and ESM enabled. They have been built specifically for the EKS service, therefore are not intended as general OS images.

To deploy Ubuntu worker nodes on EKS, you can use eksctl, EC2 Launch templates on the EKS web console, Cloudformation templates and other mechanisms (see "How to deploy Ubuntu Pro worker nodes on EKS" below).

For guidance on adding Ubuntu Pro security patches to your container build processes for containers that will run on a cluster made from this AMI, please contact us.