How to Stay Productive During a DDoS Attack on Ubuntu Services

Introduction

When a sustained, cross-border cyberattack targets Canonical's infrastructure, it can knock out popular services like the Ubuntu website, the Snap Store, and Launchpad. While such events are disruptive, they don't have to bring your work to a halt. This guide walks you through practical steps to identify the outage, verify its scope, and continue using Ubuntu with minimal interruption. Whether you need to update packages, download an ISO, or access community resources, these steps will help you navigate around the attack and stay productive.

How to Stay Productive During a DDoS Attack on Ubuntu Services — Source: www.omgubuntu.co.uk

What You Need

A computer running Ubuntu (or any Linux distribution with apt)
An active internet connection
Access to a web browser for checking status pages
Knowledge of basic terminal commands (optional but helpful)
Alternative domain names for Ubuntu mirrors (provided below)

Step 1: Confirm the Outage

First, verify that the problem isn't on your end. Try loading the official Ubuntu website (ubuntu.com), the Snap Store, or launchpad.net in your browser. If they fail to load or return errors, proceed to the next step. It's also a good idea to check if other popular websites are accessible—if they work, the issue is likely limited to Canonical's services.

Step 2: Check Canonical's Official Status

Visit Canonical's status page (if accessible) or search social media for announcements from the @ubuntu or @canonical accounts. During the April 30 attack, Canonical acknowledged a “sustained, cross-border” attack and said they were working to address it. Look for similar updates; you can even set up notifications for future incidents.

Step 3: Verify Service-Specific Impact

Not all services go down at once. During the attack, the main archive.ubuntu.com repository was offline, but the Ubuntu APT repos remained available through multiple mirrors across different countries and servers. The Snap Store was inaccessible, but Ubuntu ISO images could still be downloaded from alternative mirrors. To see exactly what's affected, try accessing each service individually:

Ubuntu website – check ubuntu.com
Snap Store – try the store interface or command-line snap commands
Launchpad – visit launchpad.net
APT repositories – run sudo apt update and note any timeout errors for archive.ubuntu.com
ISO downloads – attempt to fetch an ISO from releases.ubuntu.com

Step 4: Use Alternate APT Mirrors

If archive.ubuntu.com is unreachable, your package manager won't fail entirely because Ubuntu relies on a network of mirrors. However, if your configured mirror is down, you can manually switch to a working one. Edit your sources list:

sudo sed -i 's|archive.ubuntu.com|us.archive.ubuntu.com|g' /etc/apt/sources.list

(Replace "us" with a country code close to you, e.g., de for Germany, jp for Japan.) Then run sudo apt update. For a list of verified mirrors, visit Launchpad's mirror list — it may be accessible even if the main site is not.

Step 5: Download ISO Images from Mirrors

Need a fresh Ubuntu install? The official releases.ubuntu.com might be slow or down, but ISO files are also hosted on mirrors. Use a mirror like us.releases.ubuntu.com or releases.ubuntu.com (sometimes the CDN works when the main site doesn't). You can also use torrents via the official Ubuntu torrent tracker—distributed downloads are less affected by DDoS attacks. Visit alternative downloads page if the main download page is inaccessible.

Step 6: Use the Snap Store Offline or via Alternative Channels

The Snap Store backend may be unreachable, but snap commands can still work if you already have the snaps installed. Avoid running snap refresh or installing new snaps during the outage. If you absolutely need a snap package, consider downloading the snap file manually from a trusted third-party repository (if available) and installing it with sudo snap install <file>. Otherwise, wait for services to resume.

Step 7: Monitor Recovery and Return to Normal Operations

Once the attack subsides, Canonical will restore services. Keep an eye on the status page and social media for a green light. Afterward, reset your APT mirrors back to the default if you changed them:

sudo sed -i 's|us.archive.ubuntu.com|archive.ubuntu.com|g' /etc/apt/sources.list

And run sudo apt update again to sync. For Snap, run sudo snap refresh to catch up with any missed updates.

Tips for Future Incidents

Bookmark Canonical's status page at status.canonical.com for quick reference.
Rely on multiple mirror sources – configure your APT to use a fallback country mirror in /etc/apt/sources.list.d/ or use a mirror selection tool like apt-select.
Keep local copies of frequently used ISOs or package caches (e.g., apt-cacher-ng) to reduce dependence on upstream servers.
Stay calm – DDoS attacks are temporary; your system files and data remain safe. Avoid making unnecessary changes until services stabilize.
Report issues to Canonical through their official support channels once they're back online; this helps them improve resilience.

Remember: During the April 30 attack, only the main archive server and web front-ends were impacted; the core Ubuntu infrastructure remained intact. By following this guide, you can continue working smoothly until normal service resumes.

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