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I am trying to find out what is the relationship between the kernel versions included with the server distributions with respect to the desktop distributions.

I downloaded and installed the server versions : ubuntu-20.04.2-live-server-amd64.iso ubuntu-20.04.3-live-server-amd64.iso ubuntu-20.04.4-live-server-amd64.iso

Which came with the following kernels respectively: 20.04.2 (server): Ubuntu 5.4.0-65.73-generic 5.4.78 20.04.3 (server): Ubuntu 5.4.0-81.91-generic 5.4.128 20.04.4 (server): Ubuntu 5.4.0.100.113-generic 5.4.166

This doesn't seem to follow the information from: https://ubuntu.com/about/release-cycle#ubuntu-kernel-release-cycle

I downloaded and installed the 20.04.4 desktop version ubuntu-20.04.4-desktop-amd64.iso. This one does report: 20.04.4 (desktop): Ubuntu 5.13.0.30.33~20.04.1-generic 5.13.19

Is this the expected behavior? What would be the relationship between Ubuntu 5.13.0.30.33~20.04.1-generic 5.13.19 and Ubuntu 5.4.0.100.113-generic 5.4.166 if any?

Thank you in advance for any pointers to documentation that can help me clarify this discrepancy.

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    Ubuntu LTS releases offer kernel choices; GA (the most stable & default for server installs), HWE (hardware enablement stack, better for newer desktop systems where graphics are used) & OEM. The installation media controls default; for Ubuntu 20.04 LTS the server install defaults to GA, Ubuntu 20.04 LTS Desktop default sot HWE, but for flavors of Ubuntu 20.04 LTS; 20.04 & 20.04.1 ISOs default to GA & 20.04.2 & later default to HWE (this applied to 18.04 & earlier Ubuntu Desktop as well). You can see wiki.ubuntu.com/Kernel/LTSEnablementStack for more details
    – guiverc
    May 5, 2022 at 5:29

1 Answer 1

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Ubuntu LTS releases offer kernel choices; GA (the most stable & default for server installs), HWE (hardware enablement stack, better for newer desktop systems where graphics are used) & OEM. The installation media controls default; for Ubuntu 20.04 LTS the server install defaults to GA, Ubuntu 20.04 LTS Desktop defaults to HWE, but for flavors of Ubuntu 20.04 LTS; 20.04 & 20.04.1 ISOs default to GA & 20.04.2 & later default to HWE (this applied to 18.04 & earlier Ubuntu Desktop as well).

You can see https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Kernel/LTSEnablementStack for more details

eg. Lubuntu 20.04 LTS & 20.04.1 media would default to the same GA stack (ie. kernel 5.4) as Ubuntu 20.04 LTS Server installs would use, however if you installed Lubuntu 20.04.2 LTS (or later media), you'd get the same kernel stack as default for all Ubuntu Desktop installs (ie. HWE in use).

  • Ubuntu 20.04.2 LTS using HWE used the 5.8 kernel stack from the Ubuntu 20.10 release
  • Ubuntu 20.04.3 LTS using HWE used the 5.11 kernel stack from the Ubuntu 21.04 release
  • Ubuntu 20.04.4 LTS used the HWE used the 5.13 kernel stack from the Ubuntu 21.10 release

I've not mentioned the OEM kernel choices; but if your installation media detects your hardware can benefit from the use of an OEM kernel stack; that will replace the GA/HWE default kernel if using media that has it. Lubuntu media does not include OEM kernel stack options so for some flavors you need to switch to OEM kernel stack post install; however Ubuntu 20.04 LTS Desktop media does include OEM kernel stack options. When Ubuntu 20.04.5 LTS is released, if using the HWE kernel stack, you'll be using the 5.15 kernel stack from Ubuntu 22.04 LTS (GA kernel).

Ubuntu Server media lets you change the default kernel stack at install time; Ubuntu Desktop install media does not (the media itself sets the default)

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  • This is bound to be a duplicate answer; but I didn't find it sorry
    – guiverc
    May 5, 2022 at 5:37
  • Thank you for the clarification! When I install the server version, I don't see an option to install the latest kernel. Is this feature enabled only if I'm connected to the Internet? (i.e. Is it assumed the server iso would not ship with the HW kernel, but only with the default 5.4 kernel?)
    – Ivan
    May 5, 2022 at 18:01
  • The kernel stack choice (GA/HWE) is offered only if you using a Ubuntu Server ISO that uses the subiquity installer; which is now the only ISO produced; but older supported releases do still exist that use debian installer etc. thus it's possible for you to install Ubuntu Server and not have that option.
    – guiverc
    May 5, 2022 at 22:23

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