Canonical Announces a Long-Term 15-Year Support Version of the Zephyr RTOS

Canonical, the company best known for its Ubuntu Linux distribution, has announced a long-term support (LTS) distribution of the Zephyr real-time operating system (RTOS) — promising an impressive "up to" 15 years of support: Zephyr 26.04 LTS.

"Canonical has spent more than two decades earning trust in open source by delivering long-term support for software, starting with Ubuntu," claims Canonical's head of product for the Internet of Things (IoT) Jonathan Beri. "Today, longer device lifecycles, rising customer expectations, and regulations like the EU [European Union] Cyber Resilience Act make long-term support a necessity for device makers, not a luxury. Zephyr 26.04 LTS brings our proven model to microcontrollers. As someone who has been a long-time member of the Zephyr community, I’m personally excited to see the project take its next step in maturity, and proud to be part of it."

"As embedded developers and device manufacturers navigate increasingly complex requirements, including new cybersecurity regulations such as the EU Cyber Resilience Act, access to commercially supported, long-term solutions can help organizations bring open source technology into production with greater confidence," adds Zephyr project's Kate Stewart. "Canonical's new support offering is a welcome addition to the Zephyr ecosystem. It provides manufacturers with an option for the long-term lifecycle assurance they need while reinforcing Zephyr as the RTOS of choice for production-grade embedded systems."

Canonical's Zephyr 26.04 is being made available as part of the company's Ubuntu Pro for Devices subscription. While based on the same platform as the main Zephyr project, it extends the standard five-year support lifecycle for each release to an impressive 15. Future releases, meanwhile, will follow Canonical's existing Ubuntu Linux release schedule: interim releases every six months and new long-term support releases every two years. Support will also be included, the company has confirmed, for over-the-air (OTA) updates and cloud management via the Golioth cloud platform, following the company's acquisition by Canonical back in March.

"Avnet is excited to expand our partnership with Canonical beyond Ubuntu Pro and bring Zephyr 26.04 LTS to our customers," says Avnet's Alex Iuorio in support of the announcement. "As manufacturers navigate increasing security, compliance, and lifecycle management requirements, Zephyr 26.04 LTS provides a compelling enterprise-grade RTOS option backed by the long-term support and reliability our customers expect from Canonical. Together, we're helping customers accelerate innovation while reducing complexity across embedded and IoT deployments."

More information on Zephyr LTS is available on the Ubuntu website; the company will also be presenting the platform at Embedded World North America at the Anaheim Convention Center this week.