Tails 7.11

Tails is an amnesic live operating system that routes all connections through Tor and forgets everything at shutdown. Version 7.11 fixes an issue that could prevent Persistent Storage from activating on some computers. We covered the release when it landed.

The Persistent Storage fix

Persistent Storage is the encrypted volume on your Tails USB stick that survives reboots, holding Tor Browser bookmarks, GnuPG keys, network connections, and files you deliberately keep. Everything else is amnesic by design.

A bug tracked as issue #19913 prevented that volume from activating on certain hardware. The failure mode is unpleasant in a distribution built around amnesia: the storage is intact, but the system boots without it, and the natural assumption is that the data is gone.

It was not. This was an activation failure, not data loss, and 7.11 restores normal behavior. Anyone affected should upgrade before drawing conclusions about the state of their data.

Tor Browser 15.0.20

The bundled browser moves to 15.0.20. Tails ships Tor Browser as its primary application, and keeping it current is the single most important security property the system has, since browser vulnerabilities are the realistic attack path against a Tails user rather than anything in the base system.

What Tails is for

Tails is a specific tool for a specific threat model, not a general-purpose desktop:

• All network traffic goes through Tor, with no way for an application to bypass it
• The system runs from removable media and leaves no trace on the host disk
• Memory is wiped at shutdown
• Persistent Storage is opt-in and encrypted

If you need one of those properties, Tails is excellent. If you do not, it is an inconvenient way to run a computer, and a hardened normal install serves you better.

Installing

Tails installs to a USB stick rather than a disk. The installation process differs by platform and is documented thoroughly on the official install page, which is worth following rather than improvising with dd.

Upgrades from Tails 7.0 or later happen automatically. If the automatic upgrade is unavailable, or if Tails fails to start after one, a manual upgrade following the installation instructions will work.

Verify Your Download

This is one case where verification genuinely matters rather than being good practice. Tails provides browser-based verification and OpenPGP signatures, both documented at tails.net/install/download.

If your threat model justifies running Tails, it justifies verifying the image.