Canonical released Ubuntu 26.10, codenamed Stonking Stingray, on October 15, 2026. The interim release is supported for nine months, until July 2027, and ships GNOME 51, a Linux 7.3 kernel and a completed move to Rust-based core command-line utilities.

The kernel in the release images is not the final upstream 7.3. According to the Ubuntu 26.10 release notes, the images use kernel 7.3.0-9.9, which is “based on 7.3-rc6,” a release candidate. Other base components include systemd 261.3, OpenSSL 4 and OpenSSH 10.5.

Rust utilities and package signing

Ubuntu’s default core utilities now run entirely on the Rust-based uutils coreutils, the release notes say, including the cp, mv and rm commands that had previously been held back. Canonical’s announcement says 26.10 completes that rollout.

Canonical said the release replaces GnuPG with Sequoia PGP to verify the signatures of APT package repositories, a step it presented as preparing package signing for post-quantum threats. The release notes describe Sequoia’s sq and sqv tools entering the main archive as a Rust-based OpenPGP option and say gpg and gpgv remain available.

Other security work in the release includes quantum-safe token support in openCryptoki, with PKCS #11 version 3.2 coverage including the ML-DSA and ML-KEM algorithms, according to Canonical. The default D-Bus implementation also changes, from dbus-daemon to dbus-broker, for both the system and session buses.

Encryption, sign-in and hardware

Trusted Platform Module (TPM) backed full-disk encryption, which first shipped in Ubuntu 26.04 LTS, now extends to hardware without a hardware root of trust, provided the user sets a PIN or passphrase. The release notes say systems using TPM-backed encryption cannot upgrade from 26.04 at release, with that upgrade path expected later in the cycle. Canonical also said integration with Microsoft Entra ID now covers password with multi-factor authentication (MFA) and passwordless sign-in.

On hardware, Canonical lists enablement for Intel Xe3P (Nova Lake), AMD Zen 6 and NVIDIA 615, a dedicated installer for amd64v3 hardware and RISC-V desktop images that support the SpacemiT K3. Andrea Gallo, CEO of RISC-V International, said in Canonical’s announcement: “2026 is the year of RVA23 silicon, so I’m thrilled to see desktop image support arrive for RISC-V in Ubuntu 26.10.”

The Subiquity installer adds /boot storage requirements for signed GRUB, Btrfs resizing and a new accepted-errors autoinstall directive, while QEMU drops builds for 32-bit armhf and i386 hosts, the release notes say.

Toolchains and AI features

The release notes list GCC 15.2.0, Rust 1.97.1, Go 1.27, Zig 0.16, Python 3.14.7, PHP 8.5.9 and .NET 10.0.112, along with OpenJDK 25.0.4, with OpenJDK 27 available as a separate package. Canonical also highlighted ROCm 10.0 with support for vLLM and SGLang, and a Rust devpack released alongside 26.10.

Myna, a speech-to-text agent that runs on local models, is available as an opt-in feature. Canonical said Myna “will be included by default with Ubuntu” as Ubuntu 28.04 LTS approaches.

Removals and known issues

The release removes support for legacy System V init scripts, the mysql_native_password authentication plugin and WEP Wi-Fi in Settings. The release upgrader blocks upgrades on systems that still have mysql_native_password accounts, so those accounts need to be migrated first.

Known issues at release include upgrades that can stop on a dangling /lib32 symbolic link, keyboards that may not work on some Snapdragon X2 Elite devices, and Wi-Fi that may fail to resume after suspend on some Snapdragon X Elite laptops. The release notes also warn that future releases may drop some /boot configurations, including encrypted /boot, RAID-5/6, Btrfs and ZFS, and say work is underway to block unsafe upgrades.

Why it matters

Because support ends in July 2027, anyone who installs 26.10 will need to upgrade again within nine months, while Ubuntu 26.04, the most recent long-term support (LTS) release, remains the alternative for systems that need a longer support window. Jon Seager, VP of Ubuntu Engineering at Canonical, said: “Stonking Stingray is symbolic of Ubuntu’s journey to not just build up, but also build out.”

The coreutils and D-Bus changes touch basic system components, and the release notes list several upgrade blockers and known issues. Administrators planning to move systems from 26.04 can check the TPM encryption, MySQL authentication and /boot layout notes before upgrading.

Corrections and tips: email the editor using the address on the Contact page.