the phone-home register

pollinate

What pollinate sends out of your computer by default, when, to whom, and the switch that stops it, version by version, with how we know.

The answer

By its Ubuntu 24.04 package at 4.33-3.1ubuntu1, not run: on installs whose metapackage brings pollinate in (ubuntu-server, ubuntu-server-minimal and ubuntu-cloud-minimal, not the desktop), it fetches a random seed from entropy.ubuntu.com once at boot until it has seeded, not in containers, with a user agent naming installed package versions, the release, the kernel, the processor model, uptime and the virtualisation type; systemctl disable pollinate.service stops it, and a fresh virtual machine then relies on its own entropy at first boot; Ubuntu 26.04's metapackages stopped bringing it in.

Builds and versions

not installed: the Ubuntu 24.04 source package read at 4.33-3.1ubuntu1On by default?yes · read in codeMeasured here?no · read in codeDate checked (UTC)2026-10-10

Version: 4.33-3.1ubuntu1 · the Ubuntu 24.04 package
Where the evidence came from: not run: the Ubuntu 24.04 source package
On by default?: yes · read in code: at first boot, until seeded, where installed (Ubuntu 24.04's server and minimal cloud metapackages)
Measured here?: no · read in code
Date checked (UTC): 2026-10-10
Why we say so: the script, its default server and its unit read in the source package at 4.33-3.1ubuntu1

Each call out

entropy seed · 4.33-3.1ubuntu1

Version · build: 4.33-3.1ubuntu1 · the Ubuntu 24.04 package · not run: the Ubuntu 24.04 source package · not installed: the Ubuntu 24.04 source package read at 4.33-3.1ubuntu1
Sends by default: yes · read in code: at first boot, until seeded, where installed (Ubuntu 24.04's server and minimal cloud metapackages)
Kind: reports · fetches
Trigger: on its own
When: Per its unit: once at boot, until a seeded marker exists; not run.
Where: vendor API · entropy.ubuntu.com
What it sends: a user agent naming installed package versions, the distribution release, the kernel, the processor model, uptime and the virtualisation type (system)
The vendor's stated purpose: “Please understand...neither Pollen nor Pollinate increase the amount of entropy available on the system! Rather, Pollinate adequately and securely seeds (and periodically re-seeds) the PRNG in cloud virtual machines through communications with a Pollen server.” — its README at 4.33-3.1ubuntu1, 'ABSTRACT', read 2026-10-10
Also know: Ubuntu 26.04's server and minimal cloud metapackages stopped bringing in pollinate at ubuntu-meta 1.570.2 (2026-07-03). — git.launchpad.net · changelog, read 2026-10-10
Grade and method: read · the script, its default server and its unit read in the source package at 4.33-3.1ubuntu1 · read 2026-10-10
Receipts: the user agent and the request · the default server · the first-boot unit · Ubuntu 24.04's server metapackage depends on pollinate · and so does its minimal server metapackage · and its minimal cloud metapackage

The switch

disable pollinate.service

Accepted values: disabled
What it is: a systemd service
Where it must be set: systemctl disable pollinate.service · turn them off
Also turns off: seeding the random number generator from the network at first boot
What turning it off costs: a fresh virtual machine relies on its own entropy at first boot
Proof: documented behaviour of systemd; not tested by us
For the call: entropy seed · 4.33-3.1ubuntu1

Listens beyond the machine, and other cloud features

Listens beyond the machine by default

n/a · a boot script (4.33-3.1ubuntu1 the Ubuntu 24.04 package)

Other cloud features

None found.

What it leaves on disk

Nothing we know of.

Brings in, and installed for you by

None on the register.

Credit

None recorded.

Vendor documents it? · public discussion

Vendor documents it?

entropy seed · 4.33-3.1ubuntu1: partly · Its README explains what it is for; the fields in its user agent are in the script, not the README. · git.launchpad.net · README · read 2026-10-10