# How to enable FIPS

[FIPS is supported on 16.04, 18.04 and 20.04 releases](https://ubuntu.com/security/certifications/docs/fips).

To use FIPS, one can either launch existing Ubuntu premium support images which already have FIPS
kernel and security pre-enabled on first boot at [AWS Ubuntu Pro FIPS images](https://ubuntu.com/aws/fips), [Azure Pro FIPS images](https://ubuntu.com/azure/fips) and GCP Pro FIPS Images.

Alternatively, enable FIPS using the Ubuntu Pro Client will install a FIPS-certified kernel and core security-related
packages such as openssh-server/client and libssl. Note: disabling FIPS on an image is not yet
supported

> **Warning**
> Enabling FIPS should be performed during a system maintenance window because this operation
> makes changes to underlying SSL related libraries and requires a reboot into the FIPS certified
> kernel.

> **Note**
> Disabling FIPS is not currently supported, only use it on machines intended expressly for this
> purpose.

To enable, run:

```console
$ sudo pro enable fips
```

You should see output like the following, indicating that the FIPS packages has been installed.

```
Installing FIPS packages
FIPS enabled
A reboot is required to complete installl
```
