Using ubuntu-20.04-live-server-amd64.iso I created an USB and did fresh install, after fresh install I ran apt get update followed by apt get upgrade, I then removed the existing yaml in /etc/netplan and added 99_config.yaml: labuser@lab:~$ sudo nano /etc/netplan/99_config.yaml labuser@lab:~$ sudo cat /etc/netplan/99_config.yaml network: version: 2 renderer: networkd ethernets: enp0s25: dhcp4: no dhcp6: no bridges: br0: interfaces: [enp0s25] dhcp4: no addresses: [10.59.2.57/24] gateway4: 10.59.2.1 nameservers: search: [mydomain, otherdomain] addresses: [209.18.47.61, 209.18.47.62] labuser@lab:~$ sudo shutdown -r labuser@lab:~$ ip a 1: lo: mtu 65536 qdisc noqueue state UNKNOWN group default qlen 1000 link/loopback 00:00:00:00:00:00 brd 00:00:00:00:00:00 inet 127.0.0.1/8 scope host lo valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever inet6 ::1/128 scope host valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever 2: enp0s25: mtu 1500 qdisc fq_codel master br0 state UP group default qlen 1000 link/ether 3c:d9:2b:4f:01:80 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff 3: br0: mtu 1500 qdisc noqueue state UP group default qlen 1000 link/ether 3c:d9:2b:4f:01:80 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff inet6 fe80::ac4c:ffff:fe1b:21b7/64 scope link valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever labuser@lab:~$ sudo net apply labuser@lab:~$ ip a 1: lo: mtu 65536 qdisc noqueue state UNKNOWN group default qlen 1000 link/loopback 00:00:00:00:00:00 brd 00:00:00:00:00:00 inet 127.0.0.1/8 scope host lo valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever inet6 ::1/128 scope host valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever 2: enp0s25: mtu 1500 qdisc fq_codel master br0 state UP group default qlen 1000 link/ether 3c:d9:2b:4f:01:80 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff 3: br0: mtu 1500 qdisc noqueue state UP group default qlen 1000 link/ether 3c:d9:2b:4f:01:80 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff inet 10.59.2.57/24 brd 10.59.2.255 scope global br0 valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever inet6 fe80::ac4c:ffff:fe1b:21b7/64 scope link valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever labuser@lab:~$ dpkg -l systemd Desired=Unknown/Install/Remove/Purge/Hold | Status=Not/Inst/Conf-files/Unpacked/halF-conf/Half-inst/trig-aWait/Trig-pend |/ Err?=(none)/Reinst-required (Status,Err: uppercase=bad) ||/ Name Version Architecture Description +++-==============-==============-============-================================= ii systemd 245.4-4ubuntu3 amd64 system and service manager labuser@lab:~$ cat /etc/os-release NAME="Ubuntu" VERSION="20.04 LTS (Focal Fossa)" ID=ubuntu ID_LIKE=debian PRETTY_NAME="Ubuntu 20.04 LTS" VERSION_ID="20.04" HOME_URL="https://www.ubuntu.com/" SUPPORT_URL="https://help.ubuntu.com/" BUG_REPORT_URL="https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/" PRIVACY_POLICY_URL="https://www.ubuntu.com/legal/terms-and-policies/privacy-policy" VERSION_CODENAME=focal UBUNTU_CODENAME=focal labuser@lab:~$ sudo nano /etc/apt/sources.list labuser@lab:~$ sudo cat /etc/apt/sources.list | grep proposed deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ focal-proposed restricted main multiverse universe labuser@lab:~$ sudo apt update labuser@lab:~$ sudo apt install systemd Reading package lists... Done Building dependency tree Reading state information... Done The following additional packages will be installed: libnss-systemd libpam-systemd libsystemd0 systemd-sysv systemd-timesyncd Suggested packages: systemd-container The following packages will be upgraded: libnss-systemd libpam-systemd libsystemd0 systemd systemd-sysv systemd-timesyncd 6 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 15 not upgraded. Need to get 4385 kB of archives. After this operation, 9216 B of additional disk space will be used. Do you want to continue? [Y/n] labuser@lab:~$ sudo shutdown -r labuser@lab:~$ ip a 1: lo: mtu 65536 qdisc noqueue state UNKNOWN group default qlen 1000 link/loopback 00:00:00:00:00:00 brd 00:00:00:00:00:00 inet 127.0.0.1/8 scope host lo valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever inet6 ::1/128 scope host valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever 2: enp0s25: mtu 1500 qdisc fq_codel master br0 state UP group default qlen 1000 link/ether 3c:d9:2b:4f:01:80 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff 3: br0: mtu 1500 qdisc noqueue state UP group default qlen 1000 link/ether 3c:d9:2b:4f:01:80 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff inet 10.59.2.57/24 brd 10.59.2.255 scope global br0 valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever inet6 fe80::84eb:bdff:feb1:f4e2/64 scope link valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever labuser@lab:~$ dpkg -l systemd Desired=Unknown/Install/Remove/Purge/Hold | Status=Not/Inst/Conf-files/Unpacked/halF-conf/Half-inst/trig-aWait/Trig-pend |/ Err?=(none)/Reinst-required (Status,Err: uppercase=bad) ||/ Name Version Architecture Description +++-==============-================-============-==============================> ii systemd 245.4-4ubuntu3.1 amd64 system and service manager systemd was updated from 245.4-4ubuntu3 to 245.4-4ubuntu3.1 (proposed) and after reboot I was able to get static IP.