kernel version shown as not supported

[Paul White]

Running Ubuntu 22.04 and canonical-livepatch 10.4.1. I see:

$ canonical-livepatch status
last check: 14 minutes ago
kernel: 5.15.0-56.62-generic
server check-in: succeeded
patch state: ✗ kernel version not supported
tier: updates (Free usage; This machine beta tests new patches.)
machine id: 47b2df275ca84a9cb5e5879445246933

Also reported at https://forum.snapcraft.io/t/livepatch-10-4-1-kernel-not-supported/33066 by another user.

[Jeremy Bryan Smith (helamonster)]

I have a few different systems seeing this, including this one:

------------------------------

root@backups ~ # lsb_release -a
No LSB modules are available.
Distributor ID: Ubuntu
Description: Ubuntu 20.04.5 LTS
Release: 20.04
Codename: focal

root@backups ~ # snap version
snap 2.57.6
snapd 2.57.6
series 16
ubuntu 20.04
kernel 5.4.0-135-generic

root@backups ~ # snap list canonical-livepatch
Name Version Rev Tracking Publisher Notes
canonical-livepatch 10.4.1 164 latest/stable canonical✓ -

root@backups ~ # canonical-livepatch status
last check: 26 minutes ago
kernel: 5.4.0-135.152-generic
server check-in: succeeded
patch state: ✗ kernel version not supported
tier: updates (Free usage; This machine beta tests new patches.)
machine id: XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

------------------------------

root@util2 ~ # lsb_release -a
No LSB modules are available.
Distributor ID: Ubuntu
Description: Ubuntu 18.04.5 LTS
Release: 18.04
Codename: bionic

root@util2 ~ # snap version
snap 2.57.6
snapd 2.57.6
series 16
ubuntu 18.04
kernel 4.15.0-142-generic

root@util2 ~ # snap list canonical-livepatch
Name Version Rev Tracking Publisher Notes
canonical-livepatch 10.4.1 164 latest/stable canonical✓ -

root@util2 ~ # canonical-livepatch status
last check: 13 minutes ago
kernel: 4.15.0-142.146-generic
server check-in: succeeded
patch state: ✗ kernel version not supported
patch version: 89.1
tier: updates (Free usage; This machine beta tests new patches.)
machine id: XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

------------------------------

root@server-beta ~ # lsb_release -a
No LSB modules are available.
Distributor ID: Ubuntu
Description: Ubuntu 16.04.7 LTS
Release: 16.04
Codename: xenial

root@server-beta ~ # snap version
snap 2.57.6
snapd 2.57.6
series 16
ubuntu 16.04
kernel 4.15.0-142-generic

root@server-beta ~ # snap list canonical-livepatch
Name Version Rev Tracking Publisher Notes
canonical-livepatch 10.4.1 164 latest/stable canonical✓ -

root@server-beta:~ # canonical-livepatch status
last check: 17 minutes ago
kernel: 4.15.0-142.146~16.04.1-generic
server check-in: succeeded
patch state: ✗ kernel version not supported
patch version: 83.1
tier: updates (Free usage; This machine beta tests new patches.)
machine id: XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

------------------------------

This one is ok, which is on a different account:

root@latitude ~ # lsb_release -a
LSB Version: core-11.1.0ubuntu2-noarch:security-11.1.0ubuntu2-noarch
Distributor ID: Ubuntu
Description: Ubuntu 20.04.2 LTS
Release: 20.04
Codename: focal

root@latitude ~ # snap version
snap 2.57.6
snapd 2.57.6
series 16
ubuntu 20.04
kernel 5.4.0-81-generic

root@latitude ~ # snap list canonical-livepatch
Name Version Rev Tracking Publisher Notes
canonical-livepatch 10.2.3 146 latest/stable canonical✓ -

root@latitude ~ # canonical-livepatch status
last check: 9 seconds ago
kernel: 5.4.0-81.91-generic
server check-in: succeeded
patch state: ✓ all applicable livepatch modules inserted
patch version: 90.2
tier: updates (F...

[Jens Becker (v2px)]

Looks fixed to me now - it started working again today:

root@x:~# cat /etc/lsb-release
DISTRIB_ID=Ubuntu
DISTRIB_RELEASE=22.04
DISTRIB_CODENAME=jammy
DISTRIB_DESCRIPTION="Ubuntu 22.04.1 LTS"

root@x:~# canonical-livepatch -v
canonical-livepatch version 10.4.1

root@x:~# canonical-livepatch status
last check: 21 minutes ago
kernel: 5.15.0-56.62-generic
server check-in: succeeded
patch state: ✓ no livepatches needed for this kernel yet
tier: updates (Free usage; This machine beta tests new patches.)

[Paul White (paulw2u)]

Can confirm on my focal and jammy laptops so as the reporter of this bug will close as being fixed.

If anyone sees differently then please comment below.

[Bruno Maderni (bmaderni)]

$ sudo canonical-livepatch status
last check: 10 minutes ago
kernel: 5.19.0-32.33~22.04.1-generic
server check-in: succeeded
patch state: ✗ kernel version not supported
tier: updates (Free usage; This machine beta tests new patches.)
machine id:

$ lsb_release -a
No LSB modules are available.
Distributor ID: Ubuntu
Description: Ubuntu 22.04.2 LTS
Release: 22.04
Codename: jammy

$ snap version
snap 2.58.2
snapd 2.58.2
series 16
ubuntu 22.04
kernel 5.19.0-32-generic

[Pavel Malyshev (afunix)]

# canonical-livepatch status
last check: 21 minutes ago
kernel: 5.19.0-35.36~22.04.1-generic
server check-in: succeeded
patch state: ✗ kernel version not supported
tier: updates (Free usage; This machine beta tests new patches.)
machine id: <<...>>

# lsb_release -a
No LSB modules are available.
Distributor ID: Ubuntu
Description: Ubuntu 22.04.2 LTS
Release: 22.04
Codename: jammy

# snap version
snap 2.58.2
snapd 2.58.2
series 16
ubuntu 22.04
kernel 5.19.0-35-generic

# snap list
Name Version Rev Tracking Publisher Notes
canonical-livepatch 10.4.1 164 latest/stable canonical✓ -
<<..>>

# pro status
SERVICE ENTITLED STATUS DESCRIPTION
esm-apps yes enabled Expanded Security Maintenance for Applications
esm-infra yes enabled Expanded Security Maintenance for Infrastructure
livepatch yes enabled Canonical Livepatch service
realtime-kernel yes disabled Ubuntu kernel with PREEMPT_RT patches integrated
<<..>>

[Brett Benner (brett-benner)]

Same bug after activating Ubuntu Pro this evening.

$ canonical-livepatch status
last check: 1 second ago
kernel: 5.19.0-35.36~22.04.1-generic
server check-in: succeeded
patch state: ✗ kernel version not supported
tier: updates (Free usage; This machine beta tests new patches.)

[Kian Parvin (kian-parvin)]

Hi, I'm from the Livepatch team. The messaging that kernel 5.19 is "not supported" is not a bug in this case. The current list of supported kernels is listed here https://ubuntu.com/security/livepatch/docs/kernels.

That will probably come as a surprise since 22.04.2 ships with 5.19. There is some upcoming marketing material to explain this further but the gist of it is that we are rolling out support for HWE kernels from interim Ubuntu releases. If you're not familiar with the term HWE, it essentially means a newer kernel backported to an older release. What that means is, since Ubuntu 22.10 (Kinetic) ships with a 5.19 kernel, there is a backport of that kernel to an older release, in this case Ubuntu 22.04 (Jammy). These backports will only be supported for a limited time (9 months) before you'll need to upgrade to the next backport (which should be 6.2 with the release of Ubuntu 23.04 (Lunar)). Previously HWE kernels were only done for LTS releases, i.e. the 22.04 kernel is available on 20.04, but we are now extending this to interim releases so that machines get more frequent kernel upgrades.

Unfortunately Livepatch support for these interim HWE kernels hasn't begun yet, that will kick off roughly at the end of April, at which time 6.2 will be available and will be supported by Livepatch.

[Kian Parvin (kian-parvin)]

Tldr; the "not supported" message specifically on 5.19 is not a bug, we have introduced more kernel releases (HWE kernels from interim releases) into Ubuntu and will soon extend Livepatch support to accommodate for this.

[Jorge Rodríguez Pedrianes (jrpedrianes)]

Hi, I'm evaluating Ubuntu Pro and have this "error".

There is any ETA on when the Ubuntu desktop LTS version will have a kernel version supported by Livepatch?

[Kian Parvin (kian-parvin)]

@jrpedrianes Thanks for your interest.
My original estimate seemed to be a bit off, the first release of a 6.2 kernel is expected in July-ish but unfortunately that is also not a concrete estimate.

If you'd like to try Livepatch on an LTS desktop release you can do so by switching away from an HWE kernel and using the GA kernel released with that LTS (this is what Ubuntu server does by default). Details on how to do that can be found here - https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Kernel/LTSEnablementStack
I'd advise adjusting these things in a test environment first if possible.

[Pavel Malyshev (afunix)]

Finally 6.2.0 landed to jammy.
canonical-livepatch status states the kernel is supported.
However https://ubuntu.com/security/livepatch/docs/livepatch/reference/kernels is still not updated.

[Kian Parvin (kian-parvin)]

Hi folks,

Thanks @afunix for the note. This page still requires an update.

Just commenting on this thread to give some awareness to a recent issue. I mentioned previously that kernel 6.2 landing on Jammy would bring support for Livepatch, while this is still true I was missing some vital context - it will only provide support for certain kernel flavours, specifically public cloud kernel flavours.

What that means is, on your Ubuntu Desktop you are likely to be running the "generic" kernel and unfortunately we won't be providing Livepatch support on that specific interim kernel. So those running Ubuntu Server are okay as that remains on the GA kernel, but as Ubuntu Desktop defaults to the HWE since Jammy, there might be some confusion. The next supported "generic" kernel should be when the HWE kernel from 24.04 lands for Jammy (22.04).

We've updated our docs page to reflect some of this nuance here - https://ubuntu.com/security/livepatch/docs/livepatch/explanation/client_not_working

[Pavel Malyshev (afunix)]

6.2.0 is not supported anymore for some reason:

# canonical-livepatch status
last check: 4 seconds ago
kernel: 6.2.0-32.32~22.04.1-generic
server check-in: succeeded
kernel state: ✗ kernel not supported by Canonical
patch state: ✓ no livepatches needed for this kernel yet
tier: updates (Free usage; This machine beta tests new patches.)

[Kian Parvin (kian-parvin)]

Hi Pavel,

Take a look at my above comment to understand further, but essentially there was a mistake in messaging for the "generic" flavour of the kernel on 6.2, our supported-kernels page has been updated to reflect the latest - https://ubuntu.com/security/livepatch/docs/livepatch/reference/kernels