openSUSE Leap 16.0
The stable, fixed-release branch of openSUSE, sharing its core with SUSE Linux Enterprise and offering 24 months of community support per release, with YaST-era tooling modernized.
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Leap is the half of openSUSE that holds still. Where Tumbleweed rolls continuously, Leap is a fixed-release distribution built from the same sources as SUSE Linux Enterprise, which makes it a rare thing: a community distribution with an enterprise codebase underneath it.
Leap or Tumbleweed
Choose Leap for servers, workstations you do not want to think about, and anywhere predictability outranks package freshness. Choose Tumbleweed for new hardware, current desktop environments, and development work that needs recent toolchains. Both use zypper and the openSUSE tooling, so the operational knowledge transfers in either direction.
Support window
Leap 16 delivers maintenance across two minor releases, giving each a full 24 months of community support, with minor releases arriving annually. Leap 16.0 is supported through October 2027.
What changed in 16
Leap 16 is a major modernization rather than an incremental bump: a refreshed software stack, a new installer, and simplified migration paths from Leap 15.x. Long-time openSUSE users should read the release notes before upgrading, since the tooling changes are more substantial than a typical minor release.
System requirements
- CPU: 64-bit x86 processor
- RAM: 2 GB minimum, 4 GB or more recommended for a desktop
- Storage: 20 GB minimum, 40 GB recommended
Verify Your Download
SHA256 checksums and GPG signatures are published alongside each image at get.opensuse.org.