We’re pleased to announce the release of Qubes 4.0.3! This is the third stable patch release of Qubes 4.0. While it includes only minimal changes over 4.0.3-rc1 and 4.0.2, it includes many updates over the initial 4.0 release, in particular:

• All 4.0 dom0 updates to date
• Fedora 30 TemplateVM
• Debian 10 TemplateVM
• Whonix 15 Gateway and Workstation TemplateVMs
• Linux kernel 4.19 by default

Qubes 4.0.3 is available on the Downloads page.

What is a patch release?

A patch release does not designate a separate, new major or minor release of Qubes OS. Rather, it designates its respective major or minor release (in this case, 4.0) inclusive of all updates up to a certain point. Installing Qubes 4.0 and fully updating it results in the same system as installing Qubes 4.0.3.

What should I do?

If you installed Qubes 4.0, 4.0.1, 4.0.2, or 4.0.3-rc1 and have fully updated, then your system is already equivalent to a Qubes 4.0.3 installation. No further action is required.

Regardless of your current OS, if you wish to install (or reinstall) Qubes 4.0 for any reason, then the 4.0.3 ISO makes this more convenient and secure, since it bundles all Qubes 4.0 updates to date.

Note: The Qubes 4.0.3 ISO will not fit on a single-layer DVD (for the technical details underlying this, please see issue #5367). Instead, we recommend copying the ISO onto a sufficiently large USB drive. However, if you would prefer to use optical media, we suggest selecting a dual-layer DVD or Blu-ray disc.

Thank you to all the release candidate users for testing this release and reporting issues!