the phone-home register

Ubuntu Pro client (APT news)

What Ubuntu Pro client (APT news) 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 the source package at 37.2ubuntu0.1, not wire-checked: when apt updates its package lists, the Ubuntu Pro client's news service downloads the latest news file from motd.ubuntu.com in the background, at most once per 24 hours, to show with the next apt upgrade; pro config set apt_news=false, run once as root, stops it, after which the short news items no longer appear with apt upgrades.

Builds and versions

the distro's package ubuntu-pro-client 37.2ubuntu0.1On by default?yes · read in code and in its own unit fileMeasured here?no · read in codeDate checked (UTC)2026-10-10

Version: 37.2ubuntu0.1 · the Ubuntu 26.04 package
Where the evidence came from: Ubuntu 26.04 desktop, x86-64 (a machine of ours, not a stock install)
On by default?: yes · read in code and in its own unit file
Measured here?: no · read in code
Date checked (UTC): 2026-10-10
Why we say so: the source package at 37.2ubuntu0.1: the apt hook, the news service, its gate on the setting and the default address

Each call out

apt news · 37.2ubuntu0.1

Version · build: 37.2ubuntu0.1 · the Ubuntu 26.04 package · Ubuntu 26.04 desktop, x86-64 (a machine of ours, not a stock install) · the distro's package ubuntu-pro-client 37.2ubuntu0.1
Sends by default: yes · read in code and in its own unit file
Kind: checks
Trigger: on its own
When: Per its unit file and code: in the background during an apt update, limited to at most one network request per 24 hours. Not wire-checked.
Where: vendor API · motd.ubuntu.com
What it sends: a download of the news file (request)
The vendor's stated purpose: “This service runs in the background during an `apt update` to download the latest news and set it to appear in the output of the next `apt upgrade`.” — the comment at the head of apt-news.service at 37.2ubuntu0.1, read 2026-10-10
Grade and method: read · the source package at 37.2ubuntu0.1: the apt hook, the news service, its gate on the setting and the default address · read 2026-10-10
Receipts: the apt hook that starts the news service · the service's own description · the gate on the setting and the 24-hour limit · the default address · the setting's default (on)

The switch

pro config set apt_news=false

Accepted values: false
What it is: a Pro client setting
Where it must be set: run once as root: pro config set apt_news=false · turn them off
Also turns off: the news shown after apt upgrade
What turning it off costs: you no longer see the short news items shown with apt upgrades
Proof: found in code and documented in the unit; not tested by us
For the call: apt news · 37.2ubuntu0.1

Listens beyond the machine, and other cloud features

Listens beyond the machine by default

n/a · a system service: not a server you reach (37.2ubuntu0.1 the Ubuntu 26.04 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?

apt news · 37.2ubuntu0.1: yes · The unit's own comment says where the news comes from, when it is fetched, the daily limit and the switch. · git.launchpad.net · apt-news.service · read 2026-10-10