Dear Qubes Community,
We're pleased to announce the stable release of Qubes OS 4.3.0! This minor release includes a host of new features, improvements, and bug fixes. The ISO and associated [verification files](Verifying signatures — Qubes OS Documentation) are available on the [downloads](Download Qubes OS | Qubes OS) page.
## What's new in Qubes 4.3?
- Dom0 upgraded to Fedora 41 ([#9402](Update dom0 to Fedora 41 · Issue #9402 · QubesOS/qubes-issues · GitHub)).
- Xen upgraded to version 4.19 ([#9420](Update Xen to 4.19 · Issue #9420 · QubesOS/qubes-issues · GitHub)).
- Default Fedora template upgraded to Fedora 42 (older versions not supported).
- Default Debian template upgraded to Debian 13 (versions older than 12 not supported).
- Default Whonix templates upgraded to Whonix 18 (older versions not supported).
- Preloaded disposables ([#1512](Preloaded disposables · Issue #1512 · QubesOS/qubes-issues · GitHub))
- Device "self-identity oriented" assignment (a.k.a. New Devices API) ([#9325](Device "self-identity oriented" assignment · Issue #9325 · QubesOS/qubes-issues · GitHub))
- Qubes Windows Tools reintroduced with improved features ([#1861](qubes-windows-tools: Support for Windows 10/11 · Issue #1861 · QubesOS/qubes-issues · GitHub)).
These are just a few highlights from the many changes included in this release. For a more comprehensive list of changes, see the [Qubes OS 4.3 release notes](Qubes OS 4.3 release notes — Qubes OS Documentation).
## How to get Qubes OS 4.3.0
- If you'd like to install Qubes OS for the first time or perform a clean reinstallation on an existing system, there's never been a better time to do so! Simply [download](Download Qubes OS | Qubes OS) the Qubes 4.3.0 ISO and follow our [installation guide](Installation guide — Qubes OS Documentation).
- If you're currently using Qubes 4.2, learn [how to upgrade to Qubes 4.3](How to upgrade to Qubes 4.3 — Qubes OS Documentation).
- If you're currently using a Qubes 4.3 release candidate (RC), [update normally](How to update — Qubes OS Documentation) (which includes [upgrading any EOL templates and standalones](How to update — Qubes OS Documentation) you might have) in order to make your system effectively equivalent to the stable Qubes 4.3.0 release. No reinstallation or other special action is required.
In all cases, we strongly recommend [making a full backup](How to back up, restore, and migrate — Qubes OS Documentation) beforehand.
## Known issues in Qubes OS 4.3.0
Templates restored in 4.3.0 from a pre-4.3 backup may continue to target their original Qubes OS release repos ([#8701](Templates restored from backup created in older release silently continue to target old repos even after updating · Issue #8701 · QubesOS/qubes-issues · GitHub)). After restoring such templates in 4.3.0, you must perform the following additional steps:
sudo qubes-dom0-update -y qubes-dist-upgrade
qubes-dist-upgrade --releasever=4.3 --template-standalone-upgrade -y
This will automatically choose the templates that need to be updated.
Fresh templates on a clean 4.3.0 installation are not affected. Users who perform an in-place upgrade from 4.2 to 4.3 (instead of restoring templates from a backup) are also not affected, since the in-place upgrade process already includes the above fix in stage 4. For more information, see issue [#8701](Templates restored from backup created in older release silently continue to target old repos even after updating · Issue #8701 · QubesOS/qubes-issues · GitHub).
[View the full list of known bugs affecting Qubes 4.3](GitHub · Where software is built) in our [issue tracker](Issue tracking — Qubes OS Documentation).
## Support for older releases
In accordance with our [release support policy](Supported releases — Qubes OS Documentation), Qubes 4.2 will remain supported for six months after the release of Qubes 4.3, until 2026-06-21. After that, Qubes 4.2 will no longer receive security updates or bug fixes.
[Whonix templates](Qubes-Whonix Overview) are created and supported by our partner, the [Whonix Project](https://www.whonix.org/). The Whonix Project has set its own support policy for Whonix templates in Qubes. For more information, see the [Whonix Support Schedule](Whonix - Overview).
## Thank you to our partners, donors, contributors, and testers!
This release would not be possible without generous support from our [partners](Qubes Partners | Qubes OS) and [donors](Donate to Qubes | Qubes OS), as well as [contributions](How to contribute — Qubes OS Documentation) from our active community members, especially [bug reports](Issue tracking — Qubes OS Documentation) from our [testers](Testing new releases and updates — Qubes OS Documentation). We are eternally grateful to our excellent community for making the Qubes OS Project a great example of open-source collaboration.
This announcement is also available on the Qubes website: