Kernel versions on 20.04 LTS

The initial installation [20.04] had the original release kernel.
After that there are point releases 20.04.2 or 20.04.4 which
each point release has a slightly different kernel according to planning
and scheduling. The kernel changes come through regular updates.
It is easy to see which kernel you have. Open a terminal [ctl+alt+t]
cat /proc/version_signature
The Ubuntu LTS has a 5 year support for Desktop and Server which also has 5 point releases
through out the 5 years of standard support.
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Kernel/FAQ

"When installing the stock OS from the ISOs for 20.04 LTS (20.04.2, 20.04.3, 20.04.4), the kernel reported is a 5.4 version."

That is not what's intended. How did you verify that?

If you do an installation from the 20.04 or 20.04.1 iso file, then you will get the 5.4.0-* family of the kernel, and that will stay like this, even if you do package updates such that the system later will show 20.04.2 and 20.04.3 and so on.

If you install from the 20.04.2 or 20.04.3 or 20.04.4 iso file, then you should get a higher version of the kernel from the beginning (e.g. 5.8.0-*, 5.11.0-*, 5.13.0-* etc.)

There are some deviations if you select the oem install.

And you can switch to a higher version of the kernel by installing the linux-hwe meta packages (e.g. linux-generic-hwe-20.04)

Thank you for the quick answers.

I installed the ISOs from Ubuntu's website. I see the ISO installation results in the following.

ISO Output of cat /proc/version_signature
20.04.2 Ubuntu 5.4.0-65.73-generic 5.4.78
20.04.3 Ubuntu 5.4.0-81.91-generic 5.4.128
20.04.4 Ubuntu 5.4.0.100.113-generic 5.4.166

The nightly at the time of my testing was around 5.4.0-107.121-generic 5.4.174.

Please note that this appears to be the behavior of the Ubuntu server.

Which iso files did you install, the server iso or the desktop iso files? Please provide the file names.

Is the version that you listed the one that you see during running the installer, or after the final installation to disk and a reboot and after installing all available updates?

Thanks Manfred

The images installed were:
ubuntu-20.04.2-live-server-amd64.iso
ubuntu-20.04.3-live-server-amd64.iso
ubuntu-20.04.4-live-server-amd64.iso

The systems are not attached to the network.
Is there a sepparate ISO that would come with those 5.8/5.11/5.13 kernels?

My observation is that the 5.4 kernels included in those ISOs already have updates. But perhaps I'm missing the correct ISOs.
Thanks again for the help understanding this alignement/proper process.

I just installed the desktop versions of the iso.
It looks like the desktop version of 20.04.4 does come with:
Ubuntu 5.13.0.30.33~20.04.1-generic 5.13.19

Is it then expected the outcome from Ubuntu-20.04.4 server ISOs to come with 5.4 kernel versions?

Yes, Ubuntu Server defaults to using the original kernel series, though you can easily install the HWE kernel.
The Desktop point releases default to using the HWE kernel.