Configuring OS versions

Acquia supports Ubuntu 20.04 in the containers that run on Cloud Next technologies. Acquia recommends that you upgrade to this version to ensure that your environments are secure and meet compliance requirements.

Before you begin¶

Before you start upgrading your Cloud Next environment to Ubuntu 20.04, review the following specifications for using Ubuntu 20.04:

• Acquia recommends that you do not make any other changes to your site during the upgrade process.
• By default, Acquia provisions new Cloud Next environments and Cloud Classic to Cloud Next upgrades on Ubuntu 20.04. You can downgrade to Ubuntu 16.04 until November, 2024. For more information, see Software end-of-life schedule. After upgrading to Cloud Next, FedRAMP customers must continue with Ubuntu 20.04 to adhere to federal requirements.
• Python2, rssh, Drush 9, and Drush 10 binaries are unavailable in Ubuntu 20.04. If you depend on global Drush 9 or Drush 10, you must start using vendored Drush.
• The ack-grep command is not available on Ubuntu 20.04. You must update scripts to use the ack command instead.
• CDE environments will be on Ubuntu 16.04 until the CDE feature is available in Cloud Next environments.

• You cannot use the .svg file extension with the ImageMagick module on Ubuntu 20.04 in Cloud Next.

• The Cloud Platform user interface displays a warning message for Ubuntu versions that are not FIPS validated. For more information about such non-compliant Ubuntu versions, see FIPS for Ubuntu. 

Upgrading your Cloud Next environment to Ubuntu 20.04¶

To upgrade your non-production and production Cloud Next environments to Ubuntu 20.04:

1. Sign in to the Cloud Platform user interface.
2. Access your organization, application, and environment.
3. Click Configuration > Operating System.
   The system displays the currently installed operating system.
4. In Available versions, click Upgrade now.

5. Type CONFIRM and click Submit.
   After some time, the system completes the upgrade process and displays a confirmation message.
6. Click Done.
   This completes the upgrade process. After you upgrade to Ubuntu 20.04, you can start testing your environment.

Testing your environments after the upgrade¶

Acquia recommends you to test your non-production environments immediately after they are upgraded to Ubuntu 20.04. By testing your environments, you can:

• Investigate and resolve any technical issues with the help of Acquia Support.
• Reduce the risk of delays or undesired behavior with your production environment upgrade.

When testing your environments through automated tests or manual inspection, review the application behavior that depends on the following:

• Custom logic in htaccess files
• Image software such as ffmpeg, ImageMagick, or webp
• System libraries
• Shell scripts or tools such as curl or wget
• Scheduled tasks or cron jobs
• Cloud hooks
• Custom scripts or commands that run on the SSH pod

In addition, you must monitor application performance in New Relic after the upgrade and compare that with prior performance.

Reverting your Cloud Next environment to Ubuntu 16.04¶

While upgrading your container operating system to Ubuntu 20.04, you might run into some issues. While you troubleshoot such issues, you can revert your upgrade to ensure that your site remains unaffected.

To revert your Cloud Next environment:

1. Sign in to the Cloud Platform user interface.
2. Access your organization, application, and environment.
3. Click Configuration > Operating System.
   The system displays the currently installed operating system.
4. In Available versions, click Revert.
5. Type CONFIRM and click Submit.
   After some time, the system completes the revert process and displays a confirmation message. If the revert process fails, click File support case to create a Support ticket.
6. Click Done.
   This completes the revert process. After you fix all issues, you can start your upgrade process again.