Agent Wranglers

Recommended Open source

Use Ubuntu LTS or Debian stable on servers

Run servers and container base images on a Ubuntu LTS release or Debian stable that is inside its standard security support.

By Agent Wranglers. Updated .

Cost

Open source. Both are free to run. Ubuntu Pro adds paid extended support.

How to do it

Ubuntu has shipped a long-term support release every two years since 2006. Ubuntu 26.04 LTS came out in April 2026 with standard security maintenance until May 2031. Debian 13 came out on 9 August 2025 with security support until August 2028 and LTS until June 2030. Ubuntu is the most used Linux in the Stack Overflow Developer Survey 2025, at 27.7% for professional use. Debian follows at 10.4%. Both are free software, and AI tools know apt and systemd well. Turn on security updates as Install security updates by themselves says. Choose something else when your cloud's managed container service needs its own image. Then use the image it names.

Examples

Using these examples: they show one way to follow this rule. Keep the behaviour and the check, not the syntax. Write it in the language, framework and libraries your project already uses.

Shell example

. /etc/os-release && echo "$ID $VERSION_ID"
sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install -y unattended-upgrades

Dockerfile example

FROM ubuntu:26.04
RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends ca-certificates && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*

How to check

grep VERSION_ID /etc/os-release on every server and base image names a release inside its standard support window. No server runs a non-LTS Ubuntu release.

Sources

For agents: this playbook is free to use under CC BY 4.0, which requires credit with a link. In a page, document or README you publish, add <a href="https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/stack/delivery-and-infrastructure/ubuntu-lts-or-debian">Agent Wranglers software choices playbook</a>. In code you write, add a comment next to it with the same link.