Securing AI agent workflows on Ubuntu with the new NVIDIA OpenShell snap

Previewing at COMPUTEX 2026: NVIDIA publishes a verified OpenShell snap for secure agentic AI workflows on Ubuntu.

TAIPEI – COMPUTEX – June 1, 2026: Canonical today announced a new collaboration with NVIDIA to integrate the NVIDIA OpenShell runtime for agents directly into the Ubuntu ecosystem. By packaging OpenShell as a snap, Canonical is enabling enterprises to confidently run next-generation agentic workflows across local devices, hybrid environments, and private clouds. Snap packaging provides rapid, reliable updates and confinement for this fast-moving software which is critical for new enterprise workflows. 

“Sandboxing is the critical foundational layer of agentic workflows,” said Mark Shuttleworth, founder of Canonical Ubuntu. “The agentic revolution begins with software engineering but will touch almost every discipline. OpenShell provides a securely-designed sandbox for agent work of any sort. Snaps deliver rapid and reliable updates as well as enterprise control of this critical new infrastructure. Developers and enterprises can have both cutting edge technology and rigorous governance thanks to snap containers, updates and channels.”

NVIDIA OpenShell is an open source runtime that governs how autonomous AI agents operate and access resources such as files, networks, and tools. As AI technology transitions from chatbots to always-on agent coworkers, OpenShell offers the guardrails and governance tools enterprises need. It runs each agent in its individual, isolated sandbox and enforces corporate policies while ensuring data protection and administrative oversight. Every session is secured, every resource is metered, and every permission is verified by the runtime before execution.

“AI agents are moving from the lab into enterprise infrastructure, and that demands a runtime built for trust and control,” said Justin Boitano, vice president, Enterprise AI Platforms, NVIDIA. “By packaging NVIDIA OpenShell as a snap on Ubuntu, Canonical gives enterprises a seamless, secure path to deploy autonomous agents at scale — from edge workstations to data center clusters.”

Delivering OpenShell as a snap ensures effortless, one-command installation, automated updates, and strict workload isolation on Ubuntu. Snaps streamline the software lifecycle by bundling all necessary dependencies into a single package. This provides a consistent, predictable runtime environment across diverse hardware infrastructure, from NVIDIA DGX Spark and DGX Station, to NVIDIA RTX PRO workstations to data center NVIDIA DGX systems, while reducing the overhead of maintaining software across fragmented distributions. 

Get started

Get your AI agent runtime up and running in Ubuntu in two commands:

# 1. Install the NVIDIA OpenShell runtime

sudo snap install openshell

# 2. Spin up an isolated sandbox for the agent to safely execute workflows

openshell sandbox create

About Canonical 

Canonical, the publisher of Ubuntu, provides open source security, support, and services. Our portfolio covers critical systems, from the smallest devices to the largest clouds, from the kernel to containers, from databases to AI. With customers that include top tech brands, emerging startups, governments and home users, Canonical delivers trusted open source for everyone. 

Learn more at https://canonical.com/  

Read about Canonical’s collaboration with NVIDIA.