Open source for education
Harness the power of open source for schools, colleges, universities, and academic institutions. Advance teaching, learning, and research with trusted, scalable, and cost-effective infrastructure backed by Canonical, the publisher of Ubuntu.
Why choose our open source infrastructure for education?
A securely designed foundation
Start with Ubuntu, our securely designed foundation, which delivers transparency, predictability, and automations to help your academic institution to safeguard your open source stack and meet compliance requirements. Ubuntu is a trusted platform used in millions of production environments and devices.
Learn about Ubuntu’s security featuresUbuntu Pro is Canonical’s comprehensive subscription for open source security, support, and compliance. Access a trusted open source repository, hardening configurations, and compliance profiles for FIPS, CIS, and other stringent security standards. Ubuntu Pro also offers up to 15 years of vulnerability fixes for your OS, infrastructure, and applications.
Try free for 30 days Learn more about Ubuntu Pro ›Compliance standards
Our approach makes it easier to meet compliance and stringent security standards, such as FIPS 140-3, FedRAMP, CIS, DISA-STIG, CMMC 2.0 and more.
Achieve compliance throughout your academic infrastructure with Ubuntu Pro – on premises, in air-gapped environments, on the edge, and on public clouds. Help to protect classified, controlled, and sensitive data, while remaining cost-efficient.
Management tools
Manage your Ubuntu fleets easily and remain compliant. Landscape – available with your Ubuntu Pro subscription – automates security patches and audits, saving you time and giving you visibility into your estate.
Discover LandscapeModernize virtualized infrastructures
Many educational institutions have systems that run on legacy infrastructure, increasing potential risk exposure.
Canonical offers security-maintained, open source alternatives to proprietary software – saving universities, colleges, and schools time and money.
Learn about:
- OpenStack, our highly customizable private cloud
- MicroCloud, our low entry-barrier, lightweight cloud
- Canonical Kubernetes, a cloud-native platform for maintaining containerized applications
Our solutions in action
New Mexico State University (NMSU) Physical Science Laboratory drives agile and compliant federal research with Ubuntu
Learn how NSMU Physical Science Laboratory set its sights on becoming fully CMMC and FIPS 140 compliant within one year, getting FIPS 140 certified cryptographic packages at a cost 4-5 times lower than alternative solutions.
Get the case study
The Université de l’Ontario Français supports its vision for growing connected campuses with Canonical’s MicroCloud and Professional Services
Learn how the Université de l’Ontario Français is working with Canonical to build a foundation for future campus growth with reliable cloud services.
Get the case study
University of Tasmania unlocks real-time space tracking with AI/ML supercomputing
Learn how Tasmania University is modernizing its space-tracking data processing with the Firmus Supercloud, built on Canonical’s open source infrastructure stack.
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UAB accelerates research with Canonical and Dell
Learn how the University of Alabama at Birmingham empowers its researchers with modern, containerized applications and Canonical Kubernetes on Dell Technologies infrastructure.
Get the case studyOpen source innovation and automation for higher education
Reduce complexity with automation
Simplify your systems.
- MAAS: automate server provisioning, deployment, and management.
- Landscape: automate security patching, auditing, and compliance tasks across your Ubuntu estate.
- Kubernetes: streamline containerized application deployment, scaling, and lifecycle management.
- Ubuntu Security Guide (USG): simplify configuration, hardening, and auditing Linux for compliance.
Data and AI
Take advantage of our trusted and compliant open source AI stack to build your next academic research project. Explore cost efficient options with Ubuntu Pro. Unlock both innovation and full-stack security maintenance at an unbeatable price.
Bring systems to the edge
Academic institutions rely on edge computing to process data locally, for fast response times and keeping sensitive data close to the source. Canonical’s trusted, reliable, and cost-efficient edge computing systems can scale and adapt to changing demands.
Our public cloud partners
Additional resources

Security threats make it imperative to lock down systems and prevent attackers from gaining a foothold. This whitepaper provides an overview of best practices to improve the security posture of your Linux-based infrastructure deployments and harden your systems.

Navigating the maze of complex compliance requirements facing the US Public Sector is a daunting prospect. If you’re looking to understand what FIPS, FedRAMP and DISA-STIG are all about, this whitepaper is for you.

Today, the global IoT marketplace is defined by a new wave of regulation that requires increasingly robust security standards from IoT devices. This comprehensive guide will help you to understand the new global compliance landscape for IoT devices and manufacturers, and learn how you can meet compliance in every regional market.

Open source software is transparent by design and, therefore, easier to audit for security flaws, but maintaining and securing open source software can be complex. This guide provides insights into open source vulnerability management, highlighting the challenges faced by organizations, and offering best practices to overcome them for effective cybersecurity.
Helping you stay compliant
Meeting the requirements of major compliance requirements for academic institutions is straightforward with Canonical.