The Linux that never breaks
Solera is an immutable, atomic Arch-based Linux distribution with GNOME. The system ships as a versioned, reproducible image: read-only root, atomic updates, and free rollback on every reboot.
UEFI only · Btrfs + zstd · Atomic deployments
Features
A system you can always trust
Solera defines the entire operating system in Git, builds it in CI, and publishes a signed, versioned artifact. The result is a desktop that behaves the same on every machine.
Immutable root
The base system is read-only. Nothing you install or misconfigure touches it, so every machine runs the same OS.
Atomic updates with rollback
An update builds the new system next to the running one and switches over on reboot. If something breaks, pick the previous entry at boot. No half-applied state to clean up.
Reproducible releases
Every release pins to a fixed Arch Linux Archive snapshot. The same version always produces the same image, bit for bit.
Arch underneath
Recent packages and the AUR through layering, on a rolling base that stays reproducible and recoverable.
Refined GNOME desktop
A polished GNOME with dash-to-dock, subtle blur, smooth window effects, and defaults that make sense.
Modern foundation
systemd-boot, Btrfs with zstd compression, PipeWire audio, zram swap, and a Plymouth boot splash.
Software model
The right layer for everything
Solera keeps the base image small and identical across machines. Software lives in the layer that fits it.
Base system
Kernel, GNOME, services. Changes only with a full update and reboot.
GUI apps
With Flathub set up for you. Sandboxed, updated on their own schedule.
Dev & CLI
Distrobox for full mutable dev containers, Homebrew for command-line tools, both in user space.
Host escape hatch
Layer native packages onto the image for the few things that must live on the host: drivers, kernel modules, a corporate VPN client.
Installation
Up and running in minutes
- 01
Download the ISO
Grab the latest release from the Solera GitHub releases page.
- 02
Flash to USB
Write it to a USB drive with dd, GNOME Disks, Ventoy or your tool of choice.
- 03
Boot in UEFI mode
Solera is UEFI-only. In VirtualBox, enable EFI under System → Motherboard.
- 04
Run the installer
The live session opens the installer. It partitions the disk and deploys the system image.
- 05
Create your user
On first boot, create your user and you're ready to go.
Updating
One command, free rollback
An update deploys a new image as a separate subvolume. The old deployment stays on disk, so rolling back is just choosing it in the boot menu.
$ sudo solera update # deploy the new image$ sudo reboot # boot into it; old stays for rollbackUpdates land as a separate deployment and take effect on the next reboot. The previous one stays for rollback. GUI apps update on their own through Flatpak.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Everything you might wonder before flashing the ISO. Still stuck? Open an issue on GitHub.
Not yet. Solera is in alpha. It boots, installs and runs, but the public update channel and CI are still being set up. Try it in a VM or on a spare machine.
Same packages, different model. Arch is a writable system you configure by hand and update in place. Solera ships a read-only, versioned image. Updates are atomic, rollback is one reboot away, and the whole system is defined in Git instead of tweaked on a live machine.
Those build on Fedora or openSUSE. Solera is Arch-based, so you get newer packages and the AUR through layering, on a rolling base kept reproducible by pinning each release to an Arch Linux Archive snapshot.
Desktop apps through Flatpak, with Flathub already set up. Development tools and CLI utilities through Distrobox and Homebrew, in your user space. Native host packages through image layering when you need them.
The root is read-only, so you don't run pacman against the live system. AUR and native packages come in through solera layer, which adds them onto the image and applies on reboot.
The base is immutable by design, which is what keeps every machine identical and recoverable. For host-level changes there's image layering. For everything else, Flatpak and Distrobox.
Yes on AMD and Intel without any setup. Steam, Lutris and Heroic run as Flatpaks, and gamemode is included. NVIDIA's proprietary driver comes through image layering.
Yes. It's UEFI only, so enable EFI in your hypervisor. In VirtualBox: Settings → System → Motherboard → Enable EFI.
A 64-bit UEFI machine, 4 GB of RAM and about 20 GB of disk to start, plus a GPU from AMD, Intel or NVIDIA.
Help shape Solera
Solera is open source and built in the open. Every part of the distribution lives in one Git repository.
Build & test images
Build and test images locally and report what breaks.
Read the build docsSend pull requests
Send pull requests for fixes and improvements.
Open a pull requestReport issues
Report issues and request features.
Open an issueImprove the docs
Improve the docs so new users can get started faster.
Edit the READMEBy contributing you agree your work is licensed under GPL-3.0-or-later, the same license as Solera.
Try Solera today
Solera is open source. It boots, installs and runs — the public update channel and CI pipeline are still being set up, so it's not a daily-driver just yet.