Arch Linux April 2026 ISO Ships With Kernel 6.19 and Systemd 260

Arch Linux has released its April 2026 installation ISO (2026.04.01), which includes all package updates delivered to the repositories during March 2026. Like previous monthly snapshots, this release does not introduce any distribution-specific changes but provides an updated image for fresh installations.

The new ISO comes with Linux kernel 6.19.10, while the long-term support (LTS) kernel remains available at version 6.18.20. The guided installation tool Archinstall has been updated to version 4.1, making the setup process more streamlined. Additionally, the core system stack received updates in March, including systemd 260.1 and related components.

This snapshot also brings a comprehensive refresh of desktop environments across the repositories. KDE users get Plasma 6.6.3, along with KDE Frameworks 6.24 and KDE Gear 25.12.3. On the GNOME side, the environment has been updated to version 49.5, with GNOME 50 expected soon. Other desktops and compositors have also been upgraded, including Cinnamon 6.6, Budgie 10.10, and Hyprland 0.54.3.

Core system packages have been refreshed as well, featuring updates such as Perl 5.42.1, iproute2 6.19, curl 8.19, nss 3.122, GNU Coreutils 9.10, and xz 5.8.3. Filesystem and storage utilities were also updated, including btrfs-progs 6.19.1, e2fsprogs 1.47.4, and xfsprogs 6.19.

For developers, the release includes newer versions of popular tools and platforms, such as Docker 29.3.1, Podman 5.8.1, VSCodium 1.113, OpenJDK 26, Go 1.26.1, Rust 1.94.1, Clang 22.1.2, and CMake 4.3.1.

Hardware compatibility has been improved with updated firmware via linux-firmware 20260309. In addition, several widely used applications have been upgraded, including Chromium 146, Firefox 149, and LibreOffice 26.2.2.

The Arch Linux 2026.04.01 ISO is now available from official mirrors and is intended for new installations. Existing users can simply update their systems to the latest versions using:

sudo pacman -Syu