Managing Ubuntu on bare metal at scale

Modern infrastructure teams are expected to deliver cloud-like speed, consistency, and reliability, even when their workloads run on physical servers.

Bare metal remains essential for many environments: private clouds, Kubernetes clusters, AI infrastructure, edge sites, regulated platforms, and large Ubuntu estates. But operating physical infrastructure at scale is difficult when provisioning, patching, monitoring, and lifecycle management are handled by disconnected tools and manual processes.

This blog will explore how Canonical MAAS and Canonical Landscape can work together to close that operational gap. MAAS provides cloud-like automation for bare metal provisioning and Day 0 operations. Landscape provides centralized management, monitoring and maintenance for Ubuntu systems throughout their operational life. Together, they help organizations build, operate, and repurpose physical infrastructure with greater consistency and control.

The lifecycle gap in bare metal operations

Provisioning a machine is only the beginning. Many organizations have improved the way they deploy infrastructure, but still struggle to manage what happens after the operating system is installed. A server may be provisioned quickly, but then it must be patched, monitored, inventoried, configured, secured, and kept compliant over time.

When these stages are handled separately, several problems appear, including fragmented infrastructure inventory, reliance on manual workflows for patching and maintenance, inconsistent operational visibility across environments, difficulty coordinating security updates, longer times required to rebuild or repurpose machines, and the loss of a cloud-like experience once the operating system is deployed.

MAAS: cloud-like provisioning for bare metal

Canonical MAAS provides the Day 0 foundation for physical infrastructure. It enables teams to discover, commission, deploy, and repurpose bare metal machines through repeatable workflows and APIs. Instead of treating servers as individually managed assets, MAAS turns them into programmable resources that can be allocated and reused as needed.

With MAAS, infrastructure teams can:

• Discover and inventory physical machines
• Control the servers through out-of-band management interface
• Validate hardware before it enters production
• Deploy operating systems consistently
• Reuse or repurpose machines when requirements change
• Integrate bare metal provisioning into infrastructure-as-code workflows

The result is a cloud-like operational model for physical servers. Bare metal becomes easier to automate, easier to rebuild, and easier to integrate into modern platforms such as Kubernetes, private clouds or AI infrastructure. This means your teams spend less time managing infrastructure, and more time delivering value.

However, once Ubuntu is installed and the machine is running, a new set of operational questions begins. Landscape is the answer.

Landscape: centralized operations for Ubuntu estates

Canonical Landscape provides the Day 2 operations layer for Ubuntu systems.

Once machines are deployed, organizations need a reliable way to manage them over time. Landscape gives teams a centralized view of their Ubuntu estate, whether those systems are running on physical servers, virtual machines or containers.

Landscape helps teams manage common operational tasks such as:

• Software updates and security patching
• Machine inventory
• System monitoring
• Configuration management
• Remote scripting
• Operational reporting
• Integration with third-party tools through an API

This is especially important for organizations managing large Ubuntu estates. Without a central management layer, routine tasks such as patching, auditing, and configuration drift control can become slow, inconsistent, and expensive.

Landscape helps reduce that operational burden by giving teams a single place to see, manage, and maintain their Ubuntu systems.

The operational benefits of using MAAS and Landscape in combination

The real value appears when MAAS and Landscape are used together: MAAS builds the machine, while Landscape manages it once it is live.

A typical lifecycle could look like this:

1. A new server is discovered by MAAS
2. MAAS commissions the machine and records its hardware inventory via commissioning
3. MAAS tests the machine so that it only goes to production if it is in a healthy state
4. MAAS deploys Ubuntu with the required configuration
5. The deployed machine is enrolled into Landscape
6. Landscape keeps the system visible, patched, and manageable
7. Operational teams use Landscape for monitoring, scripting, and maintenance
8. When the machine is no longer needed, MAAS releases or repurposes it
9. The next deployment starts from a clean, repeatable baseline

This closes the gap between Day 0 and Day 2.

Instead of having one process to provision hardware and another disconnected process to operate Ubuntu, teams get a more complete lifecycle model. Physical servers can be built, managed, updated, and reused with greater consistency. This is particularly helpful in environments where physical infrastructure must be provisioned quickly, and Ubuntu systems must be managed consistently over time. For example:

• Private cloud and virtualization platforms: MAAS provisions the physical servers that form the platform foundation, while Landscape helps manage and maintain the Ubuntu systems that support it. Get more detail on our webpage.
• Kubernetes on bare metal: MAAS automates the deployment and reuse of Kubernetes nodes, while Landscape provides visibility, patching, and operational control across the Ubuntu estate underneath the cluster. Learn more about Canonical Kubernetes.
• Edge and distributed infrastructure: MAAS standardizes provisioning across remote sites, while Landscape gives central teams a single place to monitor and manage Ubuntu systems after deployment. Learn more about our solutions for edge and distributed infrastructure.
• Labs, QA and temporary environments: MAAS makes it easier to build, rebuild, and repurpose physical machines, while Landscape keeps those systems visible and manageable while they are in use.
• Security-sensitive and regulated environments: MAAS provides repeatable provisioning and hardware inventory, while Landscape supports consistent patching, system visibility and operational control over time. Learn more about how our solutions offer the foundation for regulated environments on our sovereign cloud webpage.

Conclusion: a complete lifecycle for bare metal and Ubuntu

Bare metal infrastructure does not have to be slow, static or difficult to manage.

With MAAS, organizations can bring cloud-like automation to physical provisioning. With Landscape, they can help to keep Ubuntu systems visible, trusted, and manageable throughout their lifetime. Together, MAAS and Landscape help bridge the gap between Day 0 and Day 2 operations. They allow teams to build infrastructure quickly, operate it consistently, and repurpose it when requirements change.

For organizations running large Ubuntu estates, private clouds, Kubernetes clusters, edge sites or regulated infrastructure, this combination provides a practical path toward more automated and reliable operations.

Learn more in our documentation

• MAAS documentation
• Landscape documentation