Canonical To Distribute AMD ROCm Libraries With Ubuntu 26.04 LTS
AMD previously talked of simplifying the in-box Linux support for ROCm during the second half of 2025. So far we haven't seen any groundbreaking changes from that initiative besides AMD working on various package archives/repositories to make it easier to install the latest ROCm on different Linux distributions. But today a big announcement is now public that Canonical with next year's Ubuntu 26.04 LTS release will provide official ROCm packages along with other libraries.
In collaboration with AMD, Canonical will be packaging the AMD ROCm software libraries to streamline the installation and support for this open-source AMD GPU compute stack on Ubuntu. These AMD ROCm software packages will begin with Ubuntu 26.04 LTS and continue for subsequent releases: Ubuntu 26.10, Ubuntu 27.04, etc.
AMD already provides official support for ROCm on Ubuntu LTS releases but these new packages will be Canonical-maintained within the Ubuntu archive itself and thus better testing/QA. Plus with ROCm packages for subsequent Ubuntu releases should mean better support for the non-LTS versions that typically aren't validated by AMD or seeing any official upstream ROCm support.
Canonical is aiming for a nice AMD GPU compute experience on Ubuntu Linux with simply a sudo apt install rocm. With Ubuntu Pro, Canonical is also advertising up to 15 years of support for AMD ROCm on Ubuntu LTS releases moving forward.
More details on this official AMD ROCm packaging support announcement via the Canonical blog. This follows Canonical in September also announcing official NVIDIA CUDA packages for Ubuntu Linux.
In collaboration with AMD, Canonical will be packaging the AMD ROCm software libraries to streamline the installation and support for this open-source AMD GPU compute stack on Ubuntu. These AMD ROCm software packages will begin with Ubuntu 26.04 LTS and continue for subsequent releases: Ubuntu 26.10, Ubuntu 27.04, etc.
AMD already provides official support for ROCm on Ubuntu LTS releases but these new packages will be Canonical-maintained within the Ubuntu archive itself and thus better testing/QA. Plus with ROCm packages for subsequent Ubuntu releases should mean better support for the non-LTS versions that typically aren't validated by AMD or seeing any official upstream ROCm support.
Canonical is aiming for a nice AMD GPU compute experience on Ubuntu Linux with simply a sudo apt install rocm. With Ubuntu Pro, Canonical is also advertising up to 15 years of support for AMD ROCm on Ubuntu LTS releases moving forward.
More details on this official AMD ROCm packaging support announcement via the Canonical blog. This follows Canonical in September also announcing official NVIDIA CUDA packages for Ubuntu Linux.