1204_HWE_EOL

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End-of-life (EOL) for 12.04, 12.04.1, and 12.04.5 HWE is April 2017 but for the other HWE stacks it is roughly when 14.04.1 is released: Aug 2014. Since HWE (and thus a new kernel series) cannot be introduced through regular package updates it is possible to update a 12.04 (or 12.04.1) system to arrive at a later point release and still preserve the EOL date of April 2017. End-of-life (EOL) for 12.04, 12.04.1, and 12.04.5 HWE is April 2017 but for the other HWE stacks it is roughly when 14.04.1 is released: Aug 8, 2014. Since HWE (and thus a new kernel series) cannot be introduced through regular package updates it is possible to update a 12.04 (or 12.04.1) system to arrive at a later point release and still preserve the EOL date of April 2017.
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= How to determine if I am affected? = = So why should I care? =
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The HWE kernels and graphics stacks are only supported until August 8th 2014, with the exception being the lts-trusty backport from Ubuntu 14.04 LTS, which will be supported until 12.04 goes EOL. Starting Aug 8, 2014 systems running 12.04.2 HWE, 12.04.3 HWE, or 12.04.4 HWE will no longer receive software updates for the kernel and, for desktops, the graphics stack.
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We suggest using the script (below) to determine if you are using one of the HWE stacks that is going EOL. = How do I know if I'm affected? =
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== Use the provided script == You can:

 1. use a tool especially designed to let you know
 1. look at what packages you have installed

== Tool ==
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== Manually == == Packages ==

Contents

  1. What is HWE?
  2. So why should I care?
  3. How do I know if I'm affected?
    1. Tool
    2. Packages
  4. What are my options if I am affected?
    1. 1. Install Trusty HWE on 12.04
    2. 2. Upgrade from 12.04 LTS to 14.04 LTS
    3. 3. Fresh Install of 14.04 LTS
  5. What are the pros and cons of those options?

What is HWE?

Hardware Enablement Stacks (HWE) are incorporated into installers for select LTS point releases in order to provide hardware support introduced in newer Ubuntu releases. For Ubuntu 12.04 the point releases are .2/.3/.4/.5 and the corresponding Ubuntu releases are 12.10/13.04/13.10/14.04.

The HWE path can be obtained in 2 ways:

  1. Installing Ubuntu from the media (ISO) for these point releases (where HWE is used by default)
  2. Manually installing some packages

End-of-life (EOL) for 12.04, 12.04.1, and 12.04.5 HWE is April 2017 but for the other HWE stacks it is roughly when 14.04.1 is released: Aug 8, 2014. Since HWE (and thus a new kernel series) cannot be introduced through regular package updates it is possible to update a 12.04 (or 12.04.1) system to arrive at a later point release and still preserve the EOL date of April 2017.

Further reading:

So why should I care?

Starting Aug 8, 2014 systems running 12.04.2 HWE, 12.04.3 HWE, or 12.04.4 HWE will no longer receive software updates for the kernel and, for desktops, the graphics stack.

How do I know if I'm affected?

You can:

  1. use a tool especially designed to let you know
  2. look at what packages you have installed

Tool

instructions on how to run hwe-support-status, depending on what stage of release it is at:

  1. Launchpad only (stable only by May 23? Hopefully sooner; see email thread)
    1. bzr co --lightweight lp:~mvo/update-manager/hwe-support-status
    2. cd hwe-support-status
    3. ./hwe-support-status
  2. precise-proposed (by June 13)
  3. precise-updates (by June 27)

Packages

You can get a basic idea by just checking your kernel version with the 'uname -a' command.

  • If it shows 3.5/3.8/3.11 you are affected
  • If it shows 3.2/3.13 you are not affected

It's important to note that you this would not check for graphics stack (xorg/mesa) HWE. Ubuntu was never shipped with just a HWE graphics stack (without a corresponding kernel) and that setup is not supported if installed manaully.

What are my options if I am affected?

You have the three options below.

1. Install Trusty HWE on 12.04

This depends if you are running on a desktop or server system. The hwe-support-status script will tell you exactly what you need to run.

  • Desktop: sudo apt-get install linux-generic-lts-trusty xserver-xorg-lts-trusty libgl1-mesa-glx-lts-trusty
  • Server: sudo apt-get install linux-generic-lts-trusty

Then reboot into your new Trusty hardware stack.

2. Upgrade from 12.04 LTS to 14.04 LTS

The only command you need to run is: sudo do-release-upgrade (currently you would need to do '-d')

But it's strongly recommended to make sure the system is in a good state before upgrading. More details will be found here: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/TrustyUpgrades which unfortunately doens't have 12.04->14.04 notes yet.

It generally boils down to make sure you have free space (2x the size of all installed packages - also consider running apt-get autoremove to clean up old packages), make sure you are fully up to date, make sure reboots works normally (and on dual boot Linux machines, note which one controls grub), and make a backup.

3. Fresh Install of 14.04 LTS

You always have the option of reploying the machines with a fresh copy of Ubuntu 14.04 LTS and the reconfiguring them to your needs.

What are the pros and cons of those options?

HWE Upgrade Only

Full 14.04 Upgrade

Fresh 14.04 Install

Kernel

14.04 Kernel version (3.13 kernel)

14.04 Kernel version (3.13 kernel)

14.04 Kernel

Xorg

14.04 Xorg and Graphics Stack

14.04 Xorg and Graphics Stack

14.04 Xorg and Graphics Stack

EOL

12.04 EOL (April 2017)

14.04 EOL (April 2019)

14.04 EOL

Applications/Servers

Generally no change1

Newer 14.04 Versions will be installed, may need reconfiguring

Needs to be fully reconfigured and restored

Time 2

10-30 Minutes with reboot

1-3 hours with reboot +

30 Minutes (just install)

  1. It's important to note that changing the Linux kernel/Xorg stack can affect applications. For example the 14.04 kernel can online resize ext4 partitions much faster than the 12.04 kernel can. (1)

  2. These are just estimates, if you are scheduling a downtime window please do your own tests on your environment (2)

1204_HWE_EOL (last edited 2014-07-18 00:18:26 by seth-arnold)