A new Rust-based library is included by default in Ubuntu 25.10 ‘Questing Quokka’, designed to bolster Canonical’s hardware story for Ubuntu Pro.
The rust-hwlib package is described as “part of the hardware-api project, owned and developed by Canonical Hardware Certification team. It will be used by Ubuntu pro-client to retrieve information about the machine and check its certification status.” (sic).
With no similar or comparable package in main—the primary Ubuntu repository for packages which are part of default installations and for which Canonical commits to ongoing support—this library is being added in Ubuntu 25.10.
But a bug-report tracking the addition (a process needing sign-off from key dev teams, documented rationale, and a security audit) indicates the plan is to backport to earlier versions of Ubuntu as well.
For now, the focus is on rust-hwlib in Ubuntu 25.10, where it will provide “a library and client application that collects hardware and OS information and check certification status with a server”, albeit only on x86-64 systems.
Although it’s being introduced to aid Ubuntu Pro enablement, Canonical notes it may be useful more ‘generally’, letting Ubuntu users find out ‘what components have been tested and certified and for which Ubuntu releases’ — gleanable using hwctl.
Having passed the many layers of approval to be shipped in main, the new Rust-based hardware library was this week added to ubuntu-meta for Ubuntu 25.10 desktop (minimal and extended) and server installations.
If you’re testing a Questing development build (or one of the new monthly snapshot releases) you will, in the next week or two, get the library as a software update – keep an eye out if you’re interested.