Docker does not have a Release file in Ubuntu 20.10

Product Support

AI-generated summary

The discussion is about installing Docker on Ubuntu 20.10, which is required for installing Discourse. ideatank encountered an error due to the absence of a Release file in the Docker repository for Ubuntu 20.10. RGJ advised using Ubuntu 20.04 instead, as 20.10 is only supported for 9 months.

RGJ explained that running a forum on Ubuntu 20.10 is not recommended due to its short support period and lack of significant improvements over Ubuntu 20.04. RGJ further clarified that using Ubuntu 20.04 is safe and will receive security updates until April 2025.

INSTAR shared a potential solution to install Docker on Ubuntu 20.10 by using a different installation method, but noted that this has not been tested with Discourse.

1

I have installed Discource many times in Digital Ocean. But today I was asked to install Docker. See below. Any clue?

Docker not installed. Enter to install from https://get.docker.com/ or Ctrl+C to exit
  % Total    % Received % Xferd  Average Speed   Time    Time     Time  Current
                                 Dload  Upload   Total   Spent    Left  Speed
100 13857  100 13857    0     0   241k      0 --:--:-- --:--:-- --:--:--  241k
# Executing docker install script, commit: 26ff363bcf3b3f5a00498ac43694bf1c7d9ce16c
+ sh -c apt-get update -qq >/dev/null
E: The repository 'https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu groovy Release' does not have a Release file.
Docker install failed. Quitting.
2

groovy is Ubuntu 20.10 which has been released 7 hours ago… you should create a 20.04 droplet.
20.10 will only be supported for 9 months.

3

Thank you Richard. What about running forums on Ubuntu 20.10?

4

Let’s see:

  • it’s only supported for 9 months
  • installation fails in a pretty early stage
  • there is no significant improvement over Ubuntu 20.04
5

Richard, sorry for being a pain but I cannot understand :frowning:
I hope the following details will help:

  • I have been running a forum for the past 3 years with no problem at all. I see it has been a Ubuntu 16.04.3 x64

  • I tried to install a new forum using the instructions at discourse/docs/INSTALL-cloud.md at main · discourse/discourse · GitHub

  • I got the message that Docker install failed.

  • You adviced me to select a Ubuntu 20.04, which is understood

  • You said Ubuntu 20.10 has been released in less that 24 hours now and it will be supported for 9 months < this is the part I do not understand. Dο you mean that Digital Ocean will support 20.10 for 9 months? If yes, what happens next? If no, what did you mean?

  • Is it clear and safe to say that Discourse will be running without any problem in the future if I use a Ubuntu 20.04 droplet?

Again sorry for my ignorance and thank you in advance for your time to answer here.

6

Those instructions advise you to use the current supported LTS release of Ubuntu Server which is 20.04.

It means that in 9 months from now, Ubuntu will not release any security updates for this version, leaving security issues unpatched after July 2021. So before that happens, you should have moved away from 20.10.

Ubuntu 20.04 will get security releases until April 2025.

See Ubuntu release cycle | Ubuntu

Yes, that’s safe to say.

without any problem = without Ubuntu support related problems
in the future = until April 2025

7

Thank you very much!!!

8

Disclaimer: I did not try to install Discourse with this setup. But I stumbled over this thread while searching for a solution on how to get Docker (snap-less) onto Ubuntu 20.10 Server.

This does work (so far):