Arch Linux 2026.09.01

The September 2026 Arch Linux ISO is the monthly snapshot of the install medium. We covered it when it was published.

What changed

The live environment moves from Linux 7.1.5 to 7.2.2, a full release jump rather than a point update. That matters mostly if you are installing on recent hardware, since the installer can only use drivers the ISO’s kernel has.

The rest of the toolchain on the medium moves forward too:

Component	Version
Kernel	7.2.2
GCC	16.2.1
glibc	2.44
Python	3.14.7
mkinitcpio	41.1

Do existing installs need it?

No. Arch is a rolling release, and a running system is already newer than any ISO after a normal update:

sudo pacman -Syu

The ISO is only for new installs and for rescue work. For rescue, a recent ISO is worth keeping on a USB stick, because arch-chroot into a broken system works best when the live kernel is at least as new as the installed one. Our chroot rescue guide covers the process.

Installing

The ISO boots to a root shell. archinstall provides a guided installer, or you can follow the Installation Guide on the Arch wiki by hand. Our Arch Linux explainer and pacman guide cover what to expect afterwards, and the dd bootable USB builder helps write the image.

Verify Your Download

SHA256 checksums and PGP signatures are published at archlinux.org/download.