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OpenIndiana 2026.10 is available: UEFI display, software and updates

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English edition published on .

French original published on Ā· Announcement:

OpenIndiana 2026.10 available: UEFI display, software and updates, with an illustrated monitor and virtual machine cubes on a blue background.

OpenIndiana Hipster 2026.10 is available. The projectā€™s announcement, published on 7 November 2026, accompanies a new snapshot of this illumos-based system. The practical points are a change to the Live sessionā€™s display support, refreshed software and images to distinguish according to your intended use.

Already running Hipster? A new installation image does not mean you need to reinstall your computer. The project provides updates for existing installations through IPS. For a first trial, choose media suitable for your hardware and check drivers before making disk changes.

Three changes to consider for your use

1. A possible starting point for Live media display problems

The official announcement says the illumosfb Xorg driver is included and enabled on the Live image, with automatic configuration on illumos framebuffer consoles. This notably concerns UEFI display support.

If a previous image booted without providing a usable desktop, this change is a reason to try the Live media again. Check resolution, external displays and display stability on your computer. The announcement does not guarantee support for every graphics card or 3D performance.

2. Refreshed applications and development tools

The project announces browser, email and development-tool updates, together with the addition of TeX Live 2026 and the Foliate ebook reader.

For a desktop computer, check your actual uses: browser extensions, document formats and essential tools. For a development environment, retain a list of dependencies and run your project-specific checks after updating. A newer interpreter does not guarantee compatibility with every program.

3. Changes to follow for virtual machines

QEMU and VirtualBox are updated; the QEMU guest agent is now provided in a separate package. The project also offers cloud images and a Vagrant box for libvirt.

If your deployment procedures expect that agent, check its presence and operation in the image you use. For an automated lab, record the downloaded fileā€™s name and date so you can reproduce the environment; do not silently replace a reference image with a different one.

Which image should you choose, and what does its date mean?

The official download page distinguishes Live, Text and Minimal media for 64-bit x86 PCs. The 2026.10 installation images are dated 30 October 2026, while the supplemental cloud and Vagrant images were rebuilt on 7 November 2026. These build dates are separate from this articleā€™s publication date.

  • Exploring the desktop: start with Live media and the instructions for preparing it. Use the driver utility to examine detected hardware.
  • Installing without a desktop: compare the contents of Text and Minimal images with your needs; they are not equivalent Live media.
  • Deploying a VM: choose the format intended for your tool and read the image-specific instructions. A cloud image is not interchangeable with USB installation media.

SPARC images remain labelled beta on the projectā€™s website. For links and documentation, use our OpenIndiana download page.

Before updating an existing installation

Hipster follows continuous development. The IPS handbook explains its package manager and the boot environments used to retain a previous system state.

  1. Back up important data to independent storage and check that you can read it back.
  2. Review your configuration: repositories, additional software, services and availability requirements. Set aside time when a reboot and checks are possible.
  3. Follow the projectā€™s IPS procedure. Check available space and retained boot environments; rolling back the system does not replace a data backup.
  4. After restarting, check networking, graphics, applications and the services you depend on before resuming normal work.

Our OpenIndiana profile provides further context on its Solaris family and differences from Linux. This news article covers announced changes and preparation; it does not report a hardware test.

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