KITPro Linux Server 1.0: a controlled foundation for self-hosted servers

KITPro Linux Server 1.0 became publicly available on October 24, 2026. It is an Arch Linux-derived server distribution for Linux enthusiasts, homelab operators, and administrators who want a defined package baseline, inspectable release artifacts, and a recovery path they can understand.

This article is retrospective release coverage, written after the original release. The release date identifies the software publication, not this article's first publication.

A release built around controlled package promotion

The first final release brings a guided installer, a signed production package repository, manual previous-kernel fallback, an offline rescue environment, and locally generated sanitized support bundles. These pieces address different stages of operating a server: installation, maintaining a known package set, investigating a failure, and preparing information for support.

The installed baseline is immutable generation 1.0-g0002, with 199 packages, including 36 explicitly selected packages, and Linux LTS 6.18.55-1. An immutable generation identifies an exact package set. It is distinct from the public operating-system version and does not create another product release by itself.

Installation has a deliberately narrow scope

Version 1.0 requires an x86_64 processor, UEFI firmware with Secure Boot disabled, at least 2 GiB RAM, and a target disk of at least 16 GiB. KITPro recommends 4 GiB or more RAM and a 32 GiB or larger SSD or NVMe drive. Installation media requires a USB drive of at least 4 GiB. Wired Ethernet is the qualified networking path.

The guided installer replaces the selected disk with GPT, an EFI System Partition, and an ext4 root filesystem. This is a destructive whole-disk workflow. Back up the target, check its identity, and review the exact ERASE confirmation before proceeding. Version 1.0 does not provide custom partitioning, disk encryption, LVM, RAID, ZFS, or dual boot. Legacy BIOS and Secure Boot are unsupported.

Recovery is explicit

Previous-kernel fallback is selected manually from the boot menu. A fresh installation has no previous kernel. The fallback becomes available only after a real kernel transition retains a previous known-good kernel.

The offline rescue environment mounts the root filesystem and EFI System Partition read-only by default. Repairs require an explicit separate action. Support bundles stay local and apply sanitization controls; they are not uploaded automatically. Inspect any bundle before sharing it.

Qualification included reproducible builds, static and SPDX checks, installation at 2 GiB RAM, update and fallback testing, offline signature verification, rescue testing, and physical lifecycle qualification. The documented 14-day physical burn-in completed its required warm reboots and cold cycles with zero defects. This is evidence for the tested configurations, not universal hardware certification.

Downloads, verification, and support

The final release retains the qualified RC3 ISO filename because publication did not rebuild or modify its signed bytes. Download kitpro-linux-server-1.0-rc3-x86_64.iso from the official final release, together with its checksums and detached signatures. Verify the full production ISO fingerprint 607D71E399E645164471C8EBA998AA6B6095B621, verify the signed metadata, then compare the downloaded ISO checksum. Importing a key alone does not establish trust.

Standard support runs from October 24, 2026 through October 24, 2027. Version 1.0 remains part of the release archive. New deployments should review the current stable release and the documented upgrade path before selecting historical media.

• Official final release, downloads, and full release notes
• Version 1.0 installation guide
• Version 1.0 verification guide
• Released source

Download and verification files

• Download the 1.0 ISO
• SHA-256 checksums
• Checksum detached signature
• Frozen release manifest
• Manifest detached signature