openSUSE Leap 16 Beta is now available for testing, upholding the legacy of a reliable, traditional Linux distribution derived from SUSE Linux Enterprise 16 and its new foundation, SUSE Linux Framework One (previously known as ALP). Leap continues to serve as the project's comprehensive, fully equipped Linux distribution, whereas Leap Micro is tailored for containerized and virtualized workloads. The schedule and lifecycle of Leap Micro 6.2 are in alignment with the roadmap of Leap 16.0, establishing it as a specialized version of Leap 16.X for future developments.

The beta introduces new features, including a revamped foundation and a more streamlined system, anticipated to be exclusively Wayland. It will discontinue support for SysV init and will replace the conventional YaST stack with Cockpit for system management, while Myrlyn will serve as a direct substitute for the YaST Software GUI. Leap 16.0 will no longer be compatible with machines that do not support x86_64-v2.

openSUSE Leap 16 Enters Beta

Members of the openSUSE Release Team are excited to announce that the  Leap 16 Beta is now available for testing!

Like its predecessor  Leap 15.6, the Leap 16.0 version continues the tradition of a stable, classic Linux distribution; it’s built from SUSE Linux Enterprise 16 and its new base,  SUSE Linux Framework One (formerly  ALP).

You can download both online and offline Agama installer images from  get.opensuse.org.  Leap remains the project’s traditional, full-featured Linux distribution.

Meanwhile, people looking for a modern, immutable system with point releases, take a look at our  Leap Micro instead; It’s designed for containerized and virtualized workloads.

Roadmap Highlights

The Leap Micro 6.2 schedule and lifecycle align with  Leap 16.0’s roadmap. This makes Leap Micro effectively a specialized image of Leap 16.X going forward.

• Leap Micro 6.2 Beta release within a few days
• Leap 16.0 RC is expected in July 2025
• Both Leap 16.0 and Leap Micro 6.2 releases are planned for October 2025

What’s New in the Beta?

Leap 16.0 with its fresh fork brings a renewed foundation and cleaner system.

• Expected to be Wayland-only (some Xorg remnants remain for now)
• SysV init support has been dropped
• The new  Agama installer is now the default
• The traditional YaST stack is retired in favor of:
  • Cockpit for system management
  • Myrlyn as a drop-in replacement for the YaST Software GUI **(Note: YaST is still available in Tumbleweed but will no longer be developed. YaST has been removed from Leap 16 and  Myrlyn takes on this role of software installation like YaST. If someone is interested in the maintanece of YaST for further development and bugfixes, the source are available on  github.
• Leap 16.0 will no longer run on machines that do not  support x86_64-v2.

Versions of Interest

• Kernel: 6.12 (from SLES 16.0)
• GNOME: 48.0 (targeting 48.1 for GA)
• KDE Plasma: 6.3.4 (aiming for 6.4.0 in the final release)
• AppArmor:  4.1
• GIMP: 3.0
• RPM: 4.20 coming soon
• Cockpit 334.1 (aiming for latest version available at time of RC)
• GNU Health 5.5 once it’s available in June

Revamped Repositories

Leap 16.0 now uses  RIS-based repository management through the  openSUSE-repos package and is a system already familiar to users of Leap Micro 6.0.

Leap 16.0 distribution repositories are now split per architecture, which makes metadata smaller and refreshes faster. Aside from that Leap 16.0 Beta contains experimental support for  parallel package downloads in Zypper, speeding up installs and updates`. We expect the feature to become stable and therefore enabled by default before the release.

All of these changes should hopefuly result into a much better experience with software management on Leap overall.

You can find the full list of Leap 16.0 repositories  here.

Migration Options

We recommend fresh installs to fully test the new Agama installer. If you would like to upgrade from Leap 15.6 manually with zypper dup, you’ll need to update distribution repositories. We are newly using split repodata per architecture and we no longer have a separate update repositories. Users are adviced to disable all 3rd party repositories, as these are usually the root cause of most upgrade issues.

More details at  https://en.opensuse.org/SDB:System_upgrade

sudo zypper dup --releasever 16.0

Alternatively, test our experimental migration tool which utilizes openSUSE-repos and will do the repository change for you:

sudo zypper in opensuse-migration-tool

sudo opensuse-migration-tool

You can find it on GitHub:  opensuse-migration-tool

SELinux, AppArmor and Gaming

Leap 16.0 follows SUSE Linux Enterprise in using  SELinux by default. Unlike SLE, openSUSE also provides  AppArmor, thanks to active  community contributions.

You can  switch from SELinux to AppArmor if preferred. Steam users may want to follow this  workaround until gaming-targeted SELinux policies land in 16.0 Beta.

New Release Notes System

Our documentation team has introduced a modular release notes system using  SUSE/release-notes. This allows for better sharing of SLE changes and should lead to more complete and useful documention.

Submitting Bug Reports

Your feedback is critical at this stage. People participating in alpha and beta testing help to identify and resolve issues before the general release of distributions. Whether bugs are in software packages, printing, networking or other areas, reporting these problems now ensures a smoother experience for everyone. Please report any issues on  bugzilla.opensuse.org.

Thank you for testing and being part of the openSUSE community. Let’s shape Leap 16.0 together!

openSUSE Leap 16 Enters Beta