Arch Linux’s July 2026 ISO snapshot is now available for download, providing a fresh installation medium with Linux kernel 7.0.14 and updated packages from the distribution’s rolling repositories.
As always, this is not a new “version” of Arch. The monthly ISO images are intended mainly for new installations, delivering a more current starting point so users do not need to pull in as many updates right after the first boot.
The most visible change in this month’s image is the move to Linux kernel 7.0.14. The Linux LTS kernel in the repositories has been updated to version 6.18.37. The firmware stack has also been refreshed with linux-firmware 20260622, covering AMDGPU, Intel, NVIDIA, Realtek, Broadcom, Qualcomm, MediaTek, Radeon, Atheros, and other supported hardware.
Another important update in the July snapshot is Archinstall 4.4, the project’s guided installer. The core system stack has also received updates, including systemd 261.1, GCC 16.1.1, GNU C Library 2.43, Binutils 2.46.1, Bash 5.3.15, Python 3.14.6, SQLite 3.53.3, util-linux 2.42.2, OpenSSL 3.6.3, curl 8.21, and sudo 1.9.17.p2.
On the desktop side, users get KDE Plasma 6.7.1, KDE Gear 26.04.2, KDE Frameworks 6.27, and GNOME 50.3, along with the usual refresh of desktop applications and libraries. The repositories also include COSMIC Desktop 1.1 for users interested in trying System76’s Rust-based desktop environment.
For everyday desktop use, the refreshed package set includes Firefox 152, Chromium 149.0.7827, Thunderbird 152, LibreOffice 26.2.4, GIMP 3.2.4, Krita 6.0.2, Inkscape 1.4.4, Audacity 3.7.8, and many more.
On the graphics side, the repositories include Mesa 26.1.3 and Mesa-based Vulkan drivers, including Vulkan Radeon and Vulkan Intel. NVIDIA users get the 610.43 driver series, while AMD’s ROCm stack is available at version 7.2.4.
Regarding virtualization, containers, and development tooling, the package list includes Docker 29.6.1, containerd 2.3.2, Buildah 1.43.1, BuildKit 0.31.1, CRI-O 1.36.1, CMake 4.3.4, Git 2.55, Go 1.26.4, Node.js 26.4, npm 11.16.0, Ansible 14.1.0, and Ansible Core 2.21.1.
Once again, existing Arch Linux users do not need to download the new ISO. A fully updated system already receives the same package updates through Arch’s rolling-release workflow. To update an existing installation, running the regular system upgrade (sudo pacman -Syu) is enough.
