Canonical Launches Curated Container Images

Any admin that has deployed containers understands how important security is for business. The problem with containers is that it's often hard to know if an image is safe to use, especially when you're pulling random images from the likes of Docker Hub. You never know if you're going to pull down an image that contains vulnerabilities or malware.

That's why Canonical has decided to publish the long-term support (LTS) Docker Image Portfolio to Docker Hub. This portfolio comes with up to 10 years of Extended Security Maintenance from Canonical. In response, Mark Lewis, Canonical VP of Application Services, has stated, "LTS Images are built on trusted infrastructure, in a secure environment, with guarantees of stable security updates." Lewis continued, "They offer a new level of container provenance and assurance to organizations making the shift to container based operations."

This means that Canonical has joined Docker Hub as a Docker Verified Publisher to ensure that hardened Ubuntu images will be available for software supply chains and multicloud development.

For anyone looking to download images, they can be viewed on the official Ubuntu Docker page (https://hub.docker.com/_/ubuntu) or pulled with a command like docker pull ubuntu.

For more information about this joint venture, check out the official Docker announcement (https://www.docker.com/blog/canonical-joins-docker-verified-publisher-program/).