The Ubuntu project announced on Tuesday that future versions of Ubuntu Cloud will use OpenStack as a foundation technology. The Ubuntu project has gathered in Budapest, Hungary, to discuss future development plans that will culminate in the October release of Ubuntu 11.10. This announcement makes OpenStack a core part of the Ubuntu Cloud product, which enables users to build an open source cloud.

The current releases of Ubuntu Enterprise Cloud (UEC), which is based on Eucalyptus, will not be impacted. Eucalyptus will continue to be available for download and will be supported by Canonical. This means that customers who have deployed private clouds based on existing Ubuntu releases will continue to receive maintenance and, in the case of Ubuntu 10.04 LTS, this will continue through to April 2015. Eucalyptus will remain within Ubuntu and will be available for users who prefer this technology. For customers with existing private cloud deployments, Ubuntu will provide tools to automate the migration process to the Ubuntu Server 11.10 when it is released in October 2011.

Ubuntu Server integrates the best open source cloud technologies every six months, providing an easy-to-use private cloud that contains the latest innovations. The OpenStack project has developed significant user, developer and industry attention over the last year as it has matured. The Ubuntu team has been working closely with the OpenStack project and this will form a strong basis for Ubuntu Cloud product in the future. This decision clarifies the direction of Ubuntu Cloud over the next 12 months, as the project moves towards the long-term support (LTS) release in April 2012.