Canonical Landscape is a systems management solution for administering Ubuntu desktops, servers, cloud instances, IoT devices, and other Ubuntu systems. From a central portal, administrators can manage updates, run remote scripts, handle packages and repositories, set role-based access control, and monitor machines. It can alert on available updates and graph temperature, disk and memory use, system load, and custom metrics. A single instance can manage up to 40,000 machines, with an option to scale further. Landscape offers Canonical-hosted SaaS, Managed Landscape, and self-hosted deployment. SaaS is bundled with Ubuntu Pro; its free account covers up to five machines. Managed Landscape costs $6861.00 USD per year per physical machine on public clouds, VMware, OpenStack, or LXD, and $9470.00 USD per year per physical machine on bare metal. Self-hosted deployment requires the organization to install and maintain it. Landscape has a scriptable API and integrates with configuration management, monitoring, and ticketing systems. SaaS does not currently support repository mirroring or custom external identity-provider configuration.
Who it is for
Landscape suits teams administering large or growing groups of Ubuntu desktops, servers, cloud systems, or embedded devices. Self-hosting is for organizations with the technical knowledge and resources to install and maintain it.
What is good
- Central portal manages updates, packages, scripts, and access.
- One instance can manage up to 40,000 machines.
- Graphs system metrics and supports custom metrics.
- Offers SaaS, managed, and self-hosted deployment.
- Provides an API and third-party integrations.
What to know first
- SaaS is bundled with an Ubuntu Pro subscription.
- Free SaaS account covers up to five machines.
- SaaS lacks repository mirroring and custom external identity configuration.
- Self-hosting requires technical knowledge and maintenance resources.
Verdict
Landscape combines Ubuntu fleet administration, monitoring, and several deployment options. Choose a deployment with its limits in mind, including SaaS constraints and the work required to maintain a self-hosted installation.
Get started with Canonical Landscape
- Visit https://landscape.is.canonical.com/.
- Choose Canonical-hosted SaaS, Managed Landscape, or self-hosted software.
- For the free SaaS account, use an Ubuntu Pro subscription; coverage is up to five machines.
- For Managed Landscape, select the listed hosting environment and per-machine yearly plan.
- For self-hosting, arrange the technical resources to install, host, and maintain Landscape.
- Connect the scriptable API or supported systems integrations as needed.
What the free plan stops at
The free Landscape SaaS account is available with Ubuntu Pro and covers up to five machines. SaaS does not currently provide repository mirroring or configuration of a custom external identity provider. Self-hosting uses HTTPS with TLS by default, but database encryption at rest is user-controlled and is not configured by Landscape by default.
Questions about Canonical Landscape
Is Canonical Landscape free?
A free SaaS account is available with Ubuntu Pro and covers up to five machines.
What are the listed prices?
Managed Landscape costs $6,861.00 USD per year per Landscape physical machine on public clouds, VMware, OpenStack, or LXD, and $9,470.00 USD per year per Landscape physical machine on bare metal. No self-hosted price is listed; Ubuntu Pro is its main licensing mechanism.
Which deployment options does Landscape offer?
It is available as Canonical-hosted SaaS, Managed Landscape, or self-hosted software. SaaS is bundled with an Ubuntu Pro subscription.
Which platforms does it support?
The listed platforms are API, Linux, self-hosted, and web. Landscape manages Ubuntu desktops, servers, cloud instances, IoT devices, and other Ubuntu systems.
Can Landscape connect to other systems?
It has a scriptable API and can integrate with configuration management, monitoring, and ticketing systems. Managed Landscape supports OpenID Connect and identity providers including Azure AD, Google, Okta, and IBM.
Who makes Canonical Landscape?
Landscape is Canonical’s systems management solution. Canonical was founded in 2004 and is headquartered in London, United Kingdom.
Canonical Landscape plans and pricing
All plansCompared on IT configuration management software
- Free plan
- Yes
- Deployment model
- hybrid
- Drift detection
- Yes
- Agentless operation
- No
- Operating system coverage
- linux
- Managed node limit
- 5 nodes
- Compliance policies
- Yes
