Livepatch not enabled/working for fresh install?

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Hi All,

I’m running a fresh install of Ubuntu Budgie LTS from a couple days ago. When I logged in this morning, I noticed that the LivePatch shield icon had a notification dot on it. When I tried to enable livepatch I got this message:

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That prompted me to check a few things:

$ uname -a
Linux egx-bdg-m 6.14.0-24-generic #24~24.04.3-Ubuntu SMP PREEMPT_DYNAMIC Mon Jul  7 16:39:17 UTC 2 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

$ lsb_release -a
No LSB modules are available.
Distributor ID:	Ubuntu
Description:	Ubuntu 24.04.2 LTS
Release:	24.04
Codename:	noble

When I check the pro status, I see this:

$ sudo pro status
SERVICE          ENTITLED  STATUS       DESCRIPTION
anbox-cloud      yes       disabled     Scalable Android in the cloud
esm-apps         yes       enabled      Expanded Security Maintenance for Applications
esm-infra        yes       enabled      Expanded Security Maintenance for Infrastructure
landscape        yes       disabled     Management and administration tool for Ubuntu
livepatch        yes       warning      Current kernel is not covered by livepatch
realtime-kernel* yes       disabled     Ubuntu kernel with PREEMPT_RT patches integrated
usg              yes       disabled     Security compliance and audit tools

 * Service has variants

NOTICES
The current kernel (6.14.0-24-generic, x86_64) is not covered by livepatch.
Covered kernels are listed here: https://ubuntu.com/security/livepatch/docs/kernels
Either switch to a covered kernel or `sudo pro disable livepatch` to dismiss this warning.

That last part has me confused. Did I deploy the wrong kernel? Or is this expected behavior with the default version of Ubuntu 24.04.2 LTS?

It’s not a huge deal either way. I just want to make sure I didn’t miss something in my install.

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This will be answerable by Canonical themselves here discourse.ubuntu.com

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Hi @evc!

Your installation isn’t as fresh as you say: I assume that between installing UB 24.04 and this morning’s message, you also installed kernel version 6.14.0-24?
No wonder Ubuntu Pro can’t find the configuration it expects:


PS: But your message made me realise that I hadn’t activated the livepatch kernel. :flushed_face:
I did it. Thanks to you!

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4

Ah, I think I realize the issue. I did perform a fresh install just a couple days ago but I did an offline install (no Internet).

After the install and having a functional system, then I ran software updates. For some reason none of those updates included the kernel.

Pardon my ignorance but what’s the process for upgrading kernel?

Google suggests:

sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade
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Sorry, @evc, but I still don’t understand how you managed to install this version of the kernel: the 24.04 ISO only includes version 6.11, while version 6.14 is the one used by UB 25.04…


With sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade, you will only get a new kernel version if there is one in the repositories.
Otherwise, to upgrade or downgrade (in this case, if you want to enable the kernel livepatch) the kernel, the easiest way for you will be to do it in graphical mode with Mainline.

Add its PPA to the list of sources:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:cappelikan/ppa

Refresh APT database:
sudo apt update

Then install Mainline:

sudo apt install mainline

However, it should be used with caution to avoid compatibility issues. :fearful:

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Live patch only works with repository kernels not ppa based kernels

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Possibly the OP used the 24.04 daily, or the 6.14 kernel is just now being offered since its a HWE kernel. The latter makes sense since 24.04.3 is due on the 7th august and the latest HWE is released a few days before the release - it needs to so that the release iso contains that kernel.

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Weird. I could have sworn I got the install straight from the download link for LTS on the main budgie page which pointed me to:

https://cdimage.ubuntu.com/ubuntu-budgie/releases/noble/release/ubuntu-budgie-24.04.2-desktop-amd64.iso

It’s still a fresh install so maybe the easiest thing to do here is start over. Now I’m getting antsy that there’s other stuff I’m missing.

Oh, and this is a mini PC with secure/uefi boot disabled. Not sure if that would affect anything…

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In this case, the 24.04.2 manifest has not been updated (“Ctrl f” linux-image).


Thanks for the info, @fossfreedom!

If you’re interested, @evc, I’ll explain how to do it manually using the command line with real Ubuntu kernels.

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Please pardon my ignorance… What does this mean? Is having/using the 6.14 kernel expected behavior?

As a user, I don’t have a hard requirement to enable livepatch. The OS seems to be functioning fine. I just want to ensure I don’t have a corrupted install or an unexplained state that could require a fresh install.

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Yes 6.14 is expected. That is the current HWE kernel. I would expect live patch should report in a few weeks that it will be under its control.

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I checked, the ISO does not contain version 6.14. sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade installs it on new installations.

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I will shout when the official release candidate is announced for 24.04.3 so that we can test then.

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Howdy y’all. I checked my command history and did indeed run:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade

Apologies for the confusion. I didn’t remember running this. So I guess that explains why I’m using a kernel that’s too modern for live patch.

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15

Of course, thank you for confirming that, @evc
In the meantime, you’ve taught me that updating a new installation can provide a kernel that older version updates still don’t offer. :thinking:

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