Arch Linux has released its November 2026 installation ISO, version 2026.11.0, giving users planning a fresh setup an updated installation medium that includes package changes from October. The new snapshot uses Linux kernel 7.2.11, up from version 7.2.7 in the previous month’s image.
October also brought updates to Arch’s core system components, including systemd 262.1, mkinitcpio 42.2, curl 8.23, OpenSSH 10.6p1, Python 3.14.9, Btrfs-progs 7.3, and XFSProgs 7.2.1. The repositories received Pacman 7.1 development builds.
On the graphics side, Mesa advanced to version 26.2.6, updating its associated Vulkan drivers for Intel, AMD, Nouveau, and other supported hardware. NVIDIA users also received driver version 615.78.08.
Desktop environments saw notable changes during October. KDE Plasma moved to version 6.8.2, accompanied by KDE Frameworks 6.31and KDE Gear 26.08.2, and COSMIC Desktop was bumped to version 1.11.
GNOME users received GNOME Shell and Mutter 51.1, along with updated versions of Nautilus, GNOME Software, GNOME Control Center, and other components from the GNOME 51 series.
On the productivity side, the repositories include LibreOffice 26.8.1 and KDE’s Calligra office suite 26.08.2. Plus, Firefox reached version 159, Chromium advanced to 156, and the Thunderbird mail client updated to 158.0.1. Other noteworthy application updates include Blender 5.2.3, Audacious 4.6.2, and VirtualBox 7.2.22.
Developers also received updated programming languages and toolchains. LLVM and Clang moved to version 23.1.4, Go reached 1.27.3, Node.js advanced to 26.13, Rust to 1.99.1, and Qt 6.12 became available in the repositories.
Container and virtualization tooling received updates as well. QEMU advanced to 11.1.3, while Podman moved to 6.1.4, containerd to 2.4.2, Buildah to 1.45.2, and Docker to 29.9.2.
Other updates worth mentioning include Nginx 1.30.6, Nextcloud 35.0.2, OpenJDK 27.0.1, NVIDIA CUDA 13.4.3, and PipeWire 1.6.10.
As usual, the monthly Arch ISO is intended for new installations. Existing users do not need to reinstall or download the new image because a regular sudo pacman -Syu will update their systems.
Arch Linux 2026.11.01 is available from the project’s official download page and its worldwide mirror network.
