How to Continue Using Ubuntu During Canonical Website Outages

By ● min read

Introduction

When Canonical’s websites, the Snap store, or Launchpad go offline due to a sustained attack, Ubuntu users can still get work done. In late April 2025, a cross-border attack knocked Ubuntu’s main sites offline, but the underlying infrastructure—especially APT repositories and ISO downloads—remained accessible through alternative channels. This guide shows you how to keep using Ubuntu normally even when Canonical’s primary services are under fire.

What You Need

• An active internet connection (not reliant solely on Canonical endpoints)
• A terminal with sudo privileges
• Basic familiarity with package management commands (apt, snap)
• Optional: a browser for downloading ISO images from mirrors

Step 1: Confirm Which Services Are Down

Before changing any settings, verify what is affected. Canonical usually posts updates on social media or status pages. The original April incident struck around 18:00 UK time and affected:

• ubuntu.com (main website)
• Snap store (snapcraft.io)
• Launchpad (bugs, package hosting)
• archive.ubuntu.com (primary APT repo)

But not everything fails. For example, the APT repositories are mirrored across many servers globally, so you can often still install packages if you know the right mirror.

Step 2: Switch to an Alternative APT Mirror

If archive.ubuntu.com is offline, replace it with a regional mirror. Open a terminal and edit your sources list:

1. Back up your current file: sudo cp /etc/apt/sources.list /etc/apt/sources.list.backup
2. Use a text editor to open the file: sudo nano /etc/apt/sources.list
3. Replace every occurrence of archive.ubuntu.com with a working mirror URL, for example:
   • us.archive.ubuntu.com (US)
   • gb.archive.ubuntu.com (UK)
   • de.archive.ubuntu.com (Germany)
   • Or use any official mirror from Launchpad’s mirror list (if that site is also down, pick one you know is reliable, like mirror.rackspace.com)
4. Save the file and run sudo apt update. Success indicates the mirror is working.

Example line: deb http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ focal main restricted

Step 3: Download Ubuntu ISO Images from Mirrors

Even when the official website is down, ISO files for installing Ubuntu are hosted on many mirror servers. To get a fresh image:

1. Visit any Ubuntu mirror directly in your browser. For instance: http://releases.ubuntu.com/ might go through a CDN; alternatively use http://us.releases.ubuntu.com/.
2. If the main release site is also down, try known mirrors like http://mirror.csclub.uwaterloo.ca/ubuntu-releases/ or http://mirror.rackspace.com/ubuntu-releases/.
3. Select your release and download the .iso file. You can also use wget from the command line: wget http://mirror.rackspace.com/ubuntu-releases/22.04/ubuntu-22.04.4-desktop-amd64.iso.

Step 4: Use apt-get with a Disconnected Snap Store

The Snap store relies on Canonical’s servers. If it’s offline, you cannot install or update snaps. However, most core Ubuntu software is available as traditional APT packages. Prioritize APT for now. For snaps you already have installed locally, they should continue to run. To avoid dependency on the Snap store, consider removing snaps and using APT alternatives:

1. Check installed snaps: snap list
2. For critical applications like Firefox, you can switch to the APT version: sudo snap remove firefox && sudo apt install firefox
3. For other snaps, wait until the store is back online or use Flatpak from flathub.org as a temporary workaround (Flatpak mirrors are independent).

Step 5: Access Launchpad Services via Workarounds

Launchpad hosts bug reports and many PPAs. If it is down, you cannot add new PPAs via add-apt-repository. However, if you already have PPAs configured, their packages are typically pulled from the same mirror infrastructure. Try updating your APT cache as before. To report bugs, wait for the site to return, or use email-based bug submission (if configured). For code hosting, consider using GitHub or GitLab mirrors of your project.

Step 6: Stay Informed Without Canonical’s Status Page

If the official status page (status.canonical.com) is also down, check:

• Ubuntu Discourse or community forums (discourse.ubuntu.com)
• Twitter/X accounts of Canonical engineers
• Reddit’s Ubuntu subreddit for user reports

Often, mirrors and ISOs remain functional because they are distributed across third-party hosting. Plan to revert to official sources once the attack subsides.

Tips

• Always keep a local copy of your sources.list backup – restoring is easier than rewriting.
• Use a CDN-friendly mirror like archive.ubuntu.com actually points to a global CDN; when it fails, pick a specific geographic mirror for reliability.
• Test one mirror at a time with apt update before editing all lines – a slow mirror can be worse than none.
• Be careful with third-party PPAs – they may be hosted on Launchpad. If Launchpad is down, those PPAs will not update. Consider disabling them temporarily by commenting them out in /etc/apt/sources.list.d/*.list.
• Snap store outages are rare but disruptive – consider using Flatpak or AppImage for GUI apps as a backup strategy.
• Use a download manager or wget -c for ISO files to resume interrupted downloads.

Conclusion

Even when Canonical’s primary infrastructure comes under sustained attack, Ubuntu users can stay productive by switching to mirrors, using APT over Snap, and downloading ISOs from alternative servers. The key is knowing where the official mirrors are and having a backup plan. While the attack itself is beyond your control, your workflow doesn’t have to stop.