Arch Linux has released its May 2026 ISO snapshot, providing updated installation media with Linux kernel 7.0.3, core system packages, newer desktop environments, updated firmware, and recent application builds.
As usual, this is not a new Arch Linux release in the traditional sense. Instead, the monthly ISO primarily provides new installations with a current starting point. Existing users do not need to reinstall and can get the same updates through a regular full system upgrade.
The main update in the new image is Linux kernel 7.0.3. The repositories also provide Linux 6.18.25 LTS for users who prefer the long-term support kernel branch.
Hardware support is refreshed through linux-firmware 20260410 and amd-ucode 20260410, along with updated split firmware packages for AMDGPU, Intel, NVIDIA, Realtek, Qualcomm, MediaTek, Atheros, Broadcom, Marvell, Radeon, and other hardware families.
The core system stack also received a broad refresh. The May ISO includes systemd 260.1, Glibc 2.43, GNU Coreutils 9.11, util-linux 2.42, iproute2 7.0, iptables 1.8.13, LVM2 2.03.40, device-mapper 2.03.40, cryptsetup 2.8.6, Python 3.14.4, Perl 5.42.2, SQLite 3.53, and Nano 9.0.
Security and trust-related packages were updated as well, including OpenSSH 10.3p1, OpenSSL 3.6.2, NSS 3.123.1, ca-certificates-mozilla 3.123.1, libgcrypt 1.12.2, libgpg-error 1.60, and archlinux-keyring 20260420.
On the desktop side, KDE users get Plasma 6.6.4, KDE Frameworks 6.25, and KDE Gear 26.04 applications. The updated KDE application set includes Dolphin, Kate, Konsole, Okular, Ark, Gwenview, Spectacle, KDE Connect, Akregator, and Kdenlive.
GNOME users receive GNOME Shell 50.1, Mutter 50.1, GNOME Control Center 50.1, GNOME Settings Daemon 50.1, Nautilus 50.1, and GTK 4.22.4. Other desktop and compositor updates include Cinnamon 6.6.8, COSMIC 1.0.11 components, Hyprland 0.54.3, Niri 26.04, LXQt 2.4, Wayland 1.25, Wayland Protocols 1.48, and X.Org Server 21.1.22.
Graphics, audio, and Bluetooth components are also current in this snapshot. Arch’s repositories include Mesa 26.0.6, updated Vulkan Mesa drivers, PipeWire 1.6.4, and BlueZ 5.86.
For everyday desktop use, the updated package set includes Firefox 150, Chromium 147, Thunderbird 150, LibreOffice 26.2.3, GIMP 3.2.4, Krita 6.0.1, Inkscape 1.4.3, Blender 5.1.1, OBS Studio 32.1.2, and VLC 3.0.22.
Developer, container, and infrastructure tooling have also been refreshed. The repositories include Git 2.54, CMake 4.3.2, LLVM and Clang 22.1.3, Go 1.26.2, Rust 1.95, Node.js 25.9, Deno 2.7.14, Bun 1.3.11, Docker 29.4.1, Docker Compose 5.1.3, Podman 5.8.2, Buildah 1.43.1, containerd 2.2.3, QEMU 11.0, libvirt 12.2.0, Ansible 13.6.0, Terraform 1.14.9, kubectl 1.35.4, and Helm 4.1.4.
The guided installer has also been updated, with Archinstall now at version 4.3. It remains available for users who want a guided text-based installation instead of performing the full Arch setup manually.
You can download the updated Arch Linux 2026.05.01 ISO from any official Arch mirror now. As always, the ISO is meant for new installations only. If you’re already running Arch, a simple sudo pacman -Syu will fully update your system to the latest packages.
