You can help Tails! The first release candidate for the upcoming version 1.3 is out. Please test it and see if it works for you.

  1. How to test Tails 1.3~rc1?
  2. How to automatically upgrade from 1.2.3?
  3. What's new since 1.2.3?
  4. Known issues in 1.3~rc1
  5. Required persistent configuration updates

How to test Tails 1.3~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. Either try the automatic upgrade, or download the ISO image and its signature:

    Tails 1.3~rc1 ISO image

    Tails 1.3~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 first check if it is a known issue of this release or a longstanding known issue.

How to automatically upgrade from 1.2.3?

These steps allow you to automatically upgrade a device installed with Tails Installer from Tails 1.2.3 to Tails 1.3~rc1.

  1. Start Tails 1.2.3 from a USB stick or SD card (installed by the Tails Installer), and set an administration password.

  2. Run this command in a Root Terminal to select the "alpha" upgrade channel and start the upgrade:

    echo TAILS_CHANNEL=\"alpha\" >> /etc/os-release && \
     tails-upgrade-frontend-wrapper

  3. Once the upgrade has been installed, restart Tails and look at Applications ▸ Tails ▸ About Tails to confirm that the running system is Tails 1.3~rc1.

What's new since 1.2.3?

Notable changes since Tails 1.2.3 include:

  • Major new features

    • Distribute a hybrid ISO image again: no need for anyone to manually run isohybrid anymore! (#8510)
    • Confine the Tor Browser using AppArmor to protect against some types of attack. Learn more about how this will affect your usage of Tails. (#5525)
    • Install the Electrum bitcoin client, and allow users to persist their wallet. (#6739)

  • Minor improvements

    • Support obfs4 Tor bridges (#7980)
    • Touchpad: enable tap-to-click, 2-fingers scrolling, and disable while typing. (#7779)
    • Support Vietnamese input in IBus. (#7999)
    • Improve support for OpenPGP smartcards. (#6241)

See the online Changelog for technical details.

Known issues in 1.3~rc1

Required persistent configuration updates

If you have the Pidgin persistence preset enabled, then you perform the following manual steps to make it open links in the Tor Browser:

  • Start Tails
  • Enable persistence without the read-only option
  • Start Pidgin
  • Choose Tools ▸ Preferences
  • Click the Browser tab
  • Type /usr/local/bin/tor-browser %s in the Manual field
  • Click the Close button