This page includes information on upgrading a Fedora pre-release (Alpha, Beta, or Preview (rawhide)) of the next release of Fedora, to the final release.
Can I update the Fedora 42 Alpha/Beta/Snap#/Preview release to the final Fedora 42 release?
Yes. Shortly before F42 is finally released, at 10am EST, there will be an updated fedora-release package which will change your release name from Rawhide to the general release Fedora 42, and more importantly, change your package repositories from rawhide to the general release repositories automatically. A layman's version of the specific details is available.
While upgrading from rawhide to final usually works without issue, some corner case issues may exist where bad interim rawhide updates leave the system in a different state than a final clean install, or even a regular F41 to F42 upgrade (or preupgrade). The likelihood of such issues generally decreases as the general release approaches and stabilization efforts increase.
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fedora-release changes back to Rawhide a few weeks after releaseIf you delay updating too long after F42 is released, you may miss the final F42
fedora-release transition package, and instead of going from Rawhide to Fedora 42, you will remain on Rawhide.I found a Fedora 42 ISO leak before release day! Is it legit or is it exploited?
The only way to know for sure is to verify the leaked SHA1SUM's GPG signature (if available) with the official Fedora GPG key. If you can't, or won't do this, it's safer to just be patient and wait for release day. Also note that even if the early leak does check out, it might not be the FINAL release. Fedora has in the past had to re-push last-minute changes to the official releases.
If I report my problem to fedora-test list or post in fedora forum, will my issues reach the developers?
You can use such avenues for discussions however for maximum efficiency, we always recommend that all actual bugs be reported to the Fedora bug tracker (Bugzilla) against the appropriate package in rawhide. This is the only assured way of reaching the right developers.
When is Fedora 42 going to be released?
An up-to-date release schedule is always maintained at Releases/42/Schedule.
What are the new features in Fedora 42?
The Fedora 11 FAQ and Fedora 42 feature list has more details.
Should I upgrade to Fedora 42?
We offer you the choice of the greatest and latest release. Per the Fedora lifecyle policy, each release of Fedora is maintained until a month after the second following release. For example, Fedora 40 will stop getting updates a month after Fedora 42 release. We highly recommend that users of unmaintained, "end-of-life" (EOL) releases upgrade to a newer release to continue getting critical security fixes.
How can I upgrade?
Refer to Upgrading.
Where can I get support for 42 pre-releases?
For IRC Support, please use the #fedora-qa channel instead of the main #fedora channel. The FedoraForum site has a dedicated forum for Alpha, Beta, and Preview pre-releases; please use that forum instead of the main forum. For email list discussions, please use the fedora-test-list.