AWS image retention policies

Ubuntu images on AWS have three stage of life cycle : release > deprecation > deletion.

Whenever a new image is built and released to AWS, all the previous serials for that image are deprecated except for the last 3. A deprecated image is not visible on the AWS console, but it can still be launched from the AWS CLI using its AMI ID. You can also find and view details of deprecated images using the AWS CLI describe-images command by including the --include-deprecated flag. This policy determines when an image will be deleted. Deleted images are no longer accessible for use, but instances already launched with those images will not be affected.

Image retention policy

Our image retention policy depends on the type of Ubuntu image, we publish two types:

• release images - fully tested, production grade images that benefit from Canonical’s in-life support

• daily images - untested builds that contain all the latest updates from the Ubuntu archive

For more details about these image types, check out our documentation of image release types, and to get a list of these images on AWS, refer to: Find Ubuntu images on AWS.

The retention policy can be summarised as follows:

Ubuntu suite		Daily Images	Release Images
Interim Release	Active	Delete all but the last 3 serials	Deprecate all except last 3 serials
	EOL*	Delete all images	Deprecate all except latest serial
LTS Release	Active	Delete all but the last 3 serials	Deprecate all except last 3 serials
	EOSS**	Delete all images	Deprecate all except latest serial
EKS Release	Active	N/A	Deprecate all except last 3 serials
	EOL*	N/A	Delete all except last 3 serials

where:

• EOL refers to when an interim Ubuntu release (for example, Lunar Lobster 23.04) has reached end-of-life and will no longer enjoy support, or when EKS is no longer supported by AWS.

• EOSS refers to when an LTS Ubuntu release (for example, Bionic Beaver 18.04) has reached “End of Standard Support” but will remain supported under Ubuntu Pro