# Goodbye, Ubuntu 20.04 (netlab 26.05)

DevFeed: [Goodbye, Ubuntu 20.04 (netlab 26.05)](<https://devfeed.tech/articles/goodbye-ubuntu-20-04-netlab-26-05-11382.md>)

Original publisher: [Read original article](<https://blog.ipspace.net/2026/05/netlab-goodbye-20.02/>)

Published: 2026-05-18T05:43:00Z

Content type: release

Language: en

Sources: [ipSpace.net blog](<https://devfeed.tech/sources/ipspace-net-blog.md>)

Topics: [Ubuntu](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/ubuntu.md>), [Python 3.8](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/python-3-8.md>), [releases](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/releases.md>), [Python 3.10](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/python-3-10.md>), [networking](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/networking.md>), [qemu](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/qemu.md>)

Tags: [end-of-life](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/end-of-life.md>), [github](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/github.md>), [guide](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/guide.md>), [issue](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/issue.md>), [netlab](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/netlab.md>), [networking](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/networking.md>), [python-3-10](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/python-3-10.md>), [python-3-8](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/python-3-8.md>), [qemu](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/qemu.md>), [release](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/release.md>), [ubuntu](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/ubuntu.md>), [upgrade](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/upgrade.md>), [upgrades](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/upgrades.md>)

## AI overview

The netlab 26.05 release drops support for Python 3.8 and vanilla Ubuntu 20.04, requiring Python 3.10 or newer. The article discusses compatibility with older containerlab releases and cautions that Ubuntu 24.04 upgrades may still have quirks.

## Source excerpt

netlab release 26.05 is out. I'll write about its highlights tomorrow; today, I want to focus on one of its breaking changes: netlab no longer works with Python 3.8 (which reached end-of-life in October 2024), so you can no longer install it on a vanilla Ubuntu 20.04 (which reached end of standard support a year ago). We wanted to get rid of old Python versions for ages, but never did because Ubuntu 20.04 shipped with Python 3.8, and many netlab early adopters installed it on Ubuntu 20.04 (and the last thing a networking engineer wants is wasting time with upgrades, right?). Read more ...