Ubuntu and its ten official flavours will be participating in the Ubuntu Noble Numbat Testing Week from March 7th–14th!
Soon we will be releasing the Ubuntu 24.04 Noble Numbat Beta after halting all new changes and between then and the final release a few weeks later, all efforts are focused on image testing, bug reporting, and fixing bugs.
Join in the Testing Effort
Testing is fun and easy! Start by simply downloading one of the various daily images (Found below), perform the variety of the relevant test cases found on the ISO Tracker and report your results. Tests can be performed in a virtual environment or directly on hardware. Testers can perform as few or as many test cases as they like.
Testing Focuses
Ubuntu 24.04 is an LTS release, so making sure it is rock solid is especially important. A lot of new features have landed for this release and we’re eager to have you all take a look.
Install and Upgrade
In the new release we’re putting a focus on the new installer built on Flutter technology. As this is the first experience Desktop users will have when installing Ubuntu, testing all the nooks and crannies of it will be important
Here’s what to test in the desktop installer:
- Thorough test of all installation steps
- Installing Ubuntu using autoinstall.
- Disk encryption using ZFS together with LUKS. Aside from the install process, inspect the disk layout and encryption keys once you’ve got Ubuntu set up.
If you find issues please file them in the ubuntu-desktop-provision repository.
Further, testing the upgrade from previous Ubuntu versions will help identify upgrade issues.
App Center and Gaming
The new Ubuntu App Center has a new Gaming tab that gives you a few new options to try out if you enjoy gaming. Let us know if everything works properly and file issues on the app-center repository issues.
The Steam snap helps ensure that all the prerequisites are ready for gaming. Give it a try and let us know if there are issues.
GNOME 46
Ubuntu 24.04 sports the just-released Gnome 46, with a number of exciting new features! Aside from giving Gnome developers a hand in finding issues in Gnome, your help in testing on Ubuntu makes sure our integration works as expected.
- Core Extensions: There are a number or gnome core extensions worth testing out, such as desktop icons, the tiling assistant, dock and app indicators. Let’s make sure everything works well together!
- Dark/light mode: Help make sure the theming integration works as expected, both in dark and light mode.
- Fractional scaling and multi-monitor on Wayland: Wayland may have its weak spots, so let’s give these two new features a try to make sure the day-to-day experience is impecable.
- Wayland remote desktop: Another Wayland feature that should work considerably better is remote desktop login. Let’s see how it stacks up.
Raspberry Pi 5
Ubuntu 24.04 has a Raspberry Pi 5 image that is available for testing! Here is your chance to continue on that side project you’ve always been waiting on.
Edubuntu 24.04, likewise, has a highly-requested Raspberry Pi 5 image that is available for testing! If you’re interested in what the Edubuntu team has been putting together for the educational sector, here’s your chance!
Chat with fellow Testers
Testing is a community effort and a great opportunity to meet your fellow Ubuntu enthusiasts. Start chatting about your test findings on the Ubuntu Testing Matrix Space, on the #ubuntu-quality IRC channel or on the #testing-cycles channel on the Ubuntu Hideout Discord server.
Download Daily Images
Below you will find links to the daily images for Ubuntu and its various official flavours. Please take note of the architecture you’re downloading as test cases may be different for each.
Ubuntu Flavours are an important part of our ecosystem and also rely on community testers to ensure their releases are stable and ready for general use. While their testing process is typically very similar to Ubuntu, it’s important to follow their community’s additional testing guidance.
Edubuntu Images
Kubuntu Images
Lubuntu Images
Ubuntu Budgie Images
Ubuntu Cinnamon Images
Ubuntu Kylin Images
Ubuntu MATE Images
Ubuntu Studio Images
Ubuntu Unity Images
Xubuntu Images
Additional Learning Resources for Testers
Testing is an excellent way to contribute to the Ubuntu Community. Learn more about contributing via QA and Testing.
For new tester support and additional QA information, please check out our various learning resources:
- New Tester Guide
- The Keys to Successful Bug Reporting
- Testing Walkthrough
- QA Development Setup
- Join the Ubuntu Quality Launchpad Team
More Testing to Come
With new releases of Ubuntu, we often have multiple rounds of testing as new features are added and changed. Stay tuned to the Ubuntu Discourse for future testing opportunities.
Credits
Thank you to @manuej for supplying the art for the testing week banner image!