Canonical has launched a “premium” version of Ubuntu called Ubuntu Pro — but before you panic: it’s not for the desktop.

“Ubuntu Pro can be purchased, deployed and launched on AWS in a seamless and effortless manner” Canonical

Ubuntu Pro is built exclusively for Amazon Web Services (AWS) and caters to the needs of (their ever growing) cloud and enterprise customers.

A series of “Pro” images spanning several LTS versions, going as far back as Ubuntu 14.04 LTS, are being made available on AWS.

The new images feature all of the optimisations found in Ubuntu’s standard Amazon Machine Images (AMI) plus a raft of additional benefits typically offered through Canonical’s commercial support offering, Ubuntu Advantage.

Canonical say the new deluxe images “allow enterprises to purchase extended maintenance, broader security coverage, and critical compliance features by simply selecting and running an image on Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2) — with no contract required.”

Key features of Ubuntu Pro include:

Up to 10 years of package and security updates

Kernel Livepatch

Customised FIPS and Common Criteria EAL-compliant components

Patch coverage for Ubuntu’s infrastructure and app repositories

System management with Landscape

And, from early 2020:

Integration with AWS security and compliance features

“Available directly through AWS Marketplace, Ubuntu Pro can be purchased, deployed and launched on AWS in a seamless and effortless manner, removing the need for additional provisioning or procurement processes,” says Deepak Singh, VP of Compute Services at AWS.

Ubuntu is already a hugely popular with businesses and projects using Amazon Web Services, with existing Ubuntu AMIs suited to a variety of commercial and mission-critical workflows and needs.

And as more enterprises shift to the platform, the more demand there is for expanded security coverage, ongoing reliability, and compatibility with other AWS features.

You can find Ubuntu Pro images on the AWS Marketplace from today, December 4, 2019.

Ubuntu Pro on Amazon Marketplace

You can learn more about Ubuntu Pro, what’s included, and some of the reasons why over on the Ubuntu blog.