This release fixes many security vulnerabilities. You should upgrade as soon as possible.

  1. Changes
  2. Known issues
  3. Get Tails 3.12
  4. What's coming up?

Changes

New features

New installation methods

The biggest news for 3.12 is that we completely changed the installation methods for Tails.

In short, instead of downloading an ISO image (a format originally designed for CDs), you now download Tails as a USB image: an image of the data as it needs to be written to the USB stick.

  • For macOS, the new method is much simpler as it uses a graphical tool (Etcher) instead of the command line.

  • For Windows, the new method is much faster as it doesn't require 2 USB sticks and an intermediary Tails anymore. The resulting USB stick also works better on newer computers with UEFI.

  • For Debian and Ubuntu, the new method uses a native application (GNOME Disks) and you don't have to install Tails Installer anymore.

  • For other Linux distributions, the new method is faster as it doesn't require 2 USB sticks and an intermediary Tails anymore.

We are still providing ISO images for people using DVDs or virtual machines.

The methods for upgrading Tails remain the same.

Upgrades and changes

  • Starting Tails should be a bit faster on most machines. (#15915)

  • Tell users to use sudo when they try to use su on the command line.

Included software

  • Update Linux to 4.19. Update Intel and AMD microcodes and most firmware packages. This should improve the support for newer hardware (graphics, Wi-Fi, etc.).

  • Remove Liferea, as announced in Tails 3.9.

  • Update Tor Browser to 8.0.5.

  • Update Thunderbird to 60.4.0.

Fixed problems

  • Fix the black screen when starting Tails with some Intel graphics cards. (#16224)

For more details, read our changelog.

Known issues

See also the list of long-standing issues.

Tails fails to start a second time on some computers (#16389)

On some computers, after installing Tails to a USB stick, Tails starts a first time but fails to start a second time. In some cases, only BIOS (Legacy) was affected and the USB stick was not listed in the Boot Menu.

We are still investigating the issue, so if it happens to you, please report your findings by email to tails-testers@boum.org. Mention the model of the computer and the USB stick. This mailing list is archived publicly.

To fix this issue:

  1. Reinstall your USB stick using the same installation method.

  2. Start Tails for the first time and set up an administration password.

  3. Choose Applications ▸ System Tools ▸ Root Terminal to open a Root Terminal.

  4. Execute the following command:

    sgdisk --recompute-chs /dev/bilibop

You can also test an experimental image:

  1. Download the .img file from our development server.

  2. Install it using the same installation methods.

    We don't provide any OpenPGP signature or other verification technique for this test image. Please only use it for testing.

Get Tails 3.12

What's coming up?

Tails 3.13 is scheduled for March 19.

We need your help and there are many ways to contribute to Tails (donating is only one of them). Come talk to us!