StartOS v0.4.0

v0.4.0 is a complete rewrite of StartOS. After six years of building, we believe we have arrived at the correct architecture and foundation to deliver on the promise of sovereign computing.

⚠️ Before You Update

Everyone is welcome to participate in the public beta! However, the only way to update is by following the 0.4.0 Update Guide precisely. This is a sensitive update between two essentially distinct operating systems — skipping steps or improvising can result in data loss.

👉 Read the full update guide before proceeding

If anything goes wrong, stop and contact support — do not attempt to troubleshoot on your own.

Highlights

• Redesigned UI — faster, more intuitive, mobile-friendly, with a real-time system metrics dashboard
• Completely new networking stack — LAN port forwarding, Wireguard VPN gateways, private and public domains (clearnet), Let's Encrypt, built-in DNS, and Tor as an optional plugin
• StartTunnel — free, open-source reverse tunnel to expose services on a public domain without revealing your home IP
• LXC container runtime — replacing Docker/Podman with a reliable, nested container architecture supporting hardware acceleration and multi-container setups
• Improved backups — differential backups, cross-server restore, and a new FUSE module for cross-platform reliability
• Internationalization — multiple languages and keyboard layouts for StartOS and services
• TypeScript SDK — build and ship a StartOS package in minutes
• New S9PK format — signature verification, partial downloads, and multi-architecture support
• SMTP notifications — email alerts from StartOS and services via Gmail, SES, or any SMTP provider

Important

Previous backups are incompatible with v0.4.0. After updating, immediately update all services and create a fresh backup.

What's Changed

• fix: use Tls::Required for STARTTLS in test_smtp by @MattDHill in #3161
• fix: skip postgres migration when PGDB_DO_NOT_MIGRATE sentinel exists by @dr-bonez in #3162
• chore: bump version to 0.4.0-beta.3 by @dr-bonez in #3163
• fix: improve addresses layout and mobile UX by @MattDHill in #3164
• fix: miscellaneous fixes by @dr-bonez in #3165
• backup improvements:
  • fix: buffered O_DIRECT I/O for ext4 backing stores by @dr-bonez in Start9Labs/start-fs#2
  • perf: pipeline O_DIRECT flushes via io_uring by @dr-bonez in Start9Labs/start-fs#3

Full Changelog: v0.4.0-beta.2...v0.4.0-beta.3

ISO Downloads

• x86_64/AMD64
• x86_64/AMD64 + NVIDIA
• x86_64/AMD64-slim (FOSS-only)
• aarch64/ARM64
• aarch64/ARM64 + NVIDIA
• aarch64/ARM64-slim (FOSS-Only)
• RISCV64 (RVA23)
• RISCV64 (RVA23)-slim (FOSS-only)

StartOS Checksums

SHA-256

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BLAKE-3

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bf5a7386a919f6eb90caad907420b060f9e60500e483a08e6a421f145eb55a5d  startos-0.4.0-beta.3_x86_64.iso
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Start-Tunnel Checksums

SHA-256

26b9ddb646c791163bbf98b7cd07c65814dcca5c3f362f1c8490ee5253b1ebda  start-tunnel-0.4.0-beta.3-3fa2cd5~dev_aarch64.deb
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BLAKE-3

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start-cli Checksums

SHA-256

a35ca2090b47f39693a272e81ee9f3de162844b7c9025550e5b3dcdb9f54b588  start-cli_aarch64-linux
3ce8b3cec7957373025e51cd75d1f1270f066b4fbf908b11de60880c31fa46b0  start-cli_aarch64-macos
37fb8abad7161b4e5a753b55bf011efd618c617ea0891485b02aded844215bc0  start-cli_riscv64-linux
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22d1ab34f4c1c6d9fcf7ac9744c88ed65fc82aa947a574959a962b1309a214af  start-cli_x86_64-macos

BLAKE-3

1d350a887ee36ff2e7062674fb9b72c8b1d6c3aac9ec236e65bc657cbfd2fbc2  start-cli_aarch64-linux
9d764617d1e22ff516bea5837471722a3373aee422720b5022923d6e5cab7866  start-cli_aarch64-macos
d2ca840d1339faf82fe4d6e86247d658fe5458871ccc98391bb974a95d773315  start-cli_riscv64-linux
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5a5fca3566a9749f80811e0a0d6ede91b05ff3f48f93a2c012b9f9a50b40b7cb  start-cli_x86_64-macos