qubes-doc/user/downloading-installing-upgrading/supported-versions.md

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en doc /doc/supported-versions/ 154 Supported Versions

Supported Versions

This page details the level and period of support for versions of operating systems in the Qubes ecosystem.

Qubes OS

Qubes OS releases are supported for six months after each subsequent major or minor release (see Version Scheme). The current release and past major releases are always available on the Downloads page, while all ISOs, including past minor releases, are available from our download mirrors.

Qubes OS Start Date End Date Status
Release 1 2012-09-03 2015-03-26 Unsupported
Release 2 2014-09-26 2016-04-01 Unsupported
Release 3.0 2015-10-01 2016-09-09 Unsupported
Release 3.1 2016-03-09 2017-03-29 Unsupported
Release 3.2 2016-09-29 2019-03-28 Unsupported
Release 4.0 2018-03-28 TBA Supported
Release 4.1 TBA TBA In development

Note on point releases

Please note that point releases, such as 3.2.1 and 4.0.1, do not designate separate, new versions of Qubes OS. Rather, they designate their respective major or minor releases, such as 3.2 and 4.0, inclusive of all package updates up to a certain point. For example, installing Release 4.0 and fully updating it results in the same system as installing Release 4.0.1. Therefore, point releases are not displayed as separate rows on any of the tables on this page.

Dom0

The table below shows the OS used for dom0 in each Qubes OS release.

Qubes OS Dom0 OS
Release 1 Fedora 13
Release 2 Fedora 18
Release 3.0 Fedora 20
Release 3.1 Fedora 20
Release 3.2 Fedora 23
Release 4.0 Fedora 25
Release 4.1 Fedora 32

Note on dom0 and EOL

Dom0 is isolated from domUs. DomUs can access only a few interfaces, such as Xen, device backends (in the dom0 kernel and in other VMs, such as the NetVM), and Qubes tools (gui-daemon, qrexec-daemon, etc.). These components are security-critical, and we provide updates for all of them (when necessary), regardless of the support status of the base distribution. For this reason, we consider it safe to continue using a given base distribution in dom0 even after it has reached end-of-life (EOL).

TemplateVMs

The following table shows select TemplateVM versions that are currently supported. Currently, only Fedora and Debian TemplateVMs are officially supported by the Qubes OS Project. Whonix TemplateVMs are supported by our partner, the Whonix Project. Qubes support for each TemplateVM ends when that upstream release reaches end-of-life (EOL), unless otherwise noted. In the case of Debian, support ends at regular EOL, not LTS EOL, unless otherwise noted. See below for Whonix support details. For upstream EOL information, see Fedora EOL and Debian EOL.

Qubes OS Fedora Debian Whonix
Release 4.0 32, 33 9 ("stretch"), 10 ("buster") 15
Release 4.1 32, 33 10 ("buster") 15

* Denotes versions for which we have published the packages but have not done extensive testing.

Note on Whonix support

Whonix TemplateVMs are supported by our partner, the Whonix Project. The Whonix Project has set its own support policy for Whonix TemplateVMs in Qubes.

This policy requires Whonix TemplateVM users to stay reasonably close to the cutting edge by upgrading to new stable versions of Qubes OS and Whonix TemplateVMs within a month of their respective releases. To be precise:

  • One month after a new stable version of Qubes OS is released, Whonix TemplateVMs will no longer be supported on any older version of Qubes OS. This means that users who wish to continue using Whonix TemplateVMs on Qubes must always upgrade to the latest stable Qubes OS version within one month of its release.

  • One month after new stable versions of Whonix TemplateVMs are released, older versions of Whonix TemplateVMs will no longer be supported. This means that users who wish to continue using Whonix TemplateVMs on Qubes must always upgrade to the latest stable Whonix TemplateVM versions within one month of their release.

We aim to announce both types of events one month in advance in order to remind users to upgrade.