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

0.4.0 is finally out of 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

The stable release of StartOS 0.4.0, ending the 0.4.0 early-access program.
Identical to 0.4.0-beta.10 in code and functionality — this release declares
the version stable and prepares the material around it:

Changed

Docs prepared for general availability. The Update to StartOS 0.4.0
guide now documents the over-the-air update as the standard (and only
documented) path — the USB-install walkthrough is removed — and the
early-access warnings are gone. Installing StartOS gains Raspberry Pi
microSD flashing instructions (Raspberry Pi 4 only), which the update
guide points Raspberry Pi users to, since a Raspberry Pi cannot update in
place.
0.3.5.1 update prompt. The release notes served with the 0.3.5.1 → 0.4.0
migration OTA payload now carry the migration guide's full pre-update
checklist instead of a one-line summary.
Release welcome. The post-update welcome notification and its "What's
new" highlights now land with 0.4.0 rather than beta.10, so servers updating
from any 0.4.0 beta see them on arrival at the stable release.

Image Downloads

OS Images Checksums

SHA-256

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BLAKE-3

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Start9Labs/start-technologies start-os/v0.4.0 start-os v0.4.0 on GitHub