You can help Tails! The first (and hopefully only) release candidate for the upcoming version 0.21 is out. Please test it and see if all works for you.

  1. How to test Tails 0.21~rc1?
  2. What's new since 0.20.1?
  3. Known issues in 0.21~rc1

How to test Tails 0.21~rc1?

  1. Keep in mind that this is a test image. We have made sure that it is not broken in an obvious way, but it might still contain undiscovered issues.

  2. Download the ISO image and its signature:

    Tails 0.21~rc1 ISO image

    Tails 0.21~rc1 signature

  3. Verify the ISO image.

  4. Have a look at the list of known issues of this release and the list of longstanding known issues.

  5. Test wildly!

If you find anything that is not working as it should, please report to us! Bonus points if you check that it is not a known issue of this release or a longstanding known issue.

What's new since 0.20.1?

  • Security fixes

    • Don't grant access to the Tor control port for the desktop user. Else, an attacker able to run arbitrary code as this user could obtain the public IP with a get_info command.

    • Don't allow the desktop user to directly change persistence settings. Else, an attacker able to run arbitrary code as this user could leverage this feature to gain persistent root access, as long as persistence is enabled.

  • New features

    • Add a persistence preset for printing settings.

    • Support SD card connected through a SDIO host adapter.

  • Minor improvements

    • Add a KeePassX launcher to the top GNOME panel.

    • Exclude the version string in GnuPG's ASCII armored output.

    • Prefer stronger ciphers (AES256,AES192,AES,CAST5) when encrypting data with GnuPG.

    • Use the same custom Startpage search URL than the TBB. This apparently disables the new broken "family" filter.

Known issues in 0.21~rc1

  • Regarding the persistence settings migration: only rough notes for the documentation are included. A much better draft can be read online.
  • Vidalia is not translated.
  • Web browser windows are not resized as expected (#6367).
  • The Persistent Volume Assistant does not error out as it should when asked to delete an active persistent volume (#6374).

All these issues have fixed pending in Git and should be fixed in Tails 0.21.