You can help Tails! The first release candidate for the upcoming version 3.12 is out. We are very excited and cannot wait to hear what you think about it, especially the new simplified USB installation method (see below). :)

Changes

Upgrades and changes

  • Make the USB image the main supported way to install Tails (refs: #15292). On first boot, grow the system partition to a size that's a factor of the size of the boot medium and randomize GUIDs (Closes: #15319).
  • Upgrade Linux to 4.19, version 4.19.13-1 which fixes the issue where Intel graphics cards booted to a black screen (Closes: #16073, #16224). Fixes CVE-2018-19985, CVE-2018-19406, CVE-2018-16862, CVE-2018-18397, CVE-2018-18397, CVE-2018-18397, CVE-2018-18397, CVE-2018-19824, CVE-2018-14625.
  • Remove Liferea (Closes: #11082, #15776).
  • Tell the user they need to use sudo when they attempt to use su (Closes: #15583).

Fixed problems

  • Fix Totem's access to the Internet when it's started from the Applications menu.

For more details, read our changelog.

Known issues

There are no known issues specific to Tails 3.12~rc1 so far.

See the list of long-standing issues.

How to test Tails 3.12~rc1?

Keep in mind that this is a test image. We tested that it is not broken in obvious ways, but it might still contain undiscovered issues.

But test wildly!

If you find anything that is not working as it should, please report to us on tails-testers@boum.org.

Bonus points if you first check if it is a known issue of this release or a longstanding known issue.

Upgrade from 3.11

  1. Start Tails 3.11 on a USB stick installed using Tails Installer and set an administration password.

  2. Run this command in a Terminal to select the "alpha" upgrade channel and start the upgrade:

    echo TAILS_CHANNEL=\"alpha\" | sudo tee -a /etc/os-release && \
         tails-upgrade-frontend-wrapper
    

    and enter the administration password when asked for the "password for amnesia".

  3. After the upgrade is installed, restart Tails and choose Applications ▸ Tails ▸ About Tails to verify that you are running Tails 3.12~rc1.

Download and install

If you intend to install Tails on a USB drive

Tails 3.12 will be the first release to use our simplified USB installation method so we really would like you to try it out with this release candidate!

First download the USB image:

Tails 3.12~rc1 USB image OpenPGP signature

Then follow the new installation instructions.

If you intend to burn Tails to a DVD

You can also install 3.12~rc1 by following our old installation instructions, skipping the Download and verify step.

Tails 3.12~rc1 ISO image OpenPGP signature

What's coming up?

Tails 3.12 is scheduled for January 29.

We need your help and there are many ways to contribute to Tails (donating is only one of them). Come talk to us!