[[!meta title="Download, verify and install"]] Tails is [[Free Software|doc/about/license]], you can download it, use it and share it without restriction.
Then, check first the [[about]] and [[warning|doc/about/warning]] pages to make sure that Tails is the right tool for you and that you understand well its limitations.
You will download Tails in the form of an [[!wikipedia ISO_image desc="ISO image"]]: a single file that you will later burn on a DVD or install onto a USB stick or SD card.
Tails [[transitioned to a new signing key|news/signing_key_transition]] in Tails 1.3.1.
If you're not sure what the cryptographic signature is, please read the part on [[verifying the ISO image|download#verify]].
[[!inline pages="inc/stable_i386_hash" raw="yes"]]
Tails [[!inline pages="inc/stable_i386_version" raw="yes"]] torrent
The cryptographic signature of the ISO image is also included in the Torrent.
Additionally, you can verify the signature of the Torrent file itself before downloading the ISO image.
Seeding back the image once you have downloaded it is also a nice and easy way of helping spread Tails.
List of current [[known issues|support/known_issues]] in Tails.
It is important to check the [[!wikipedia Data_integrity desc="integrity"]] of the ISO image you downloaded to make sure that the download went well.
Those techniques rely on standard HTTPS and [[!wikipedia Certificate_authority desc="certificate authorities"]] to make you trust the content of this website. But, [[as explained on our warning page|doc/about/warning#man-in-the-middle]], you could still be victim of a man-in-the-middle attack while using HTTPS. On this website as much as on any other of the Internet.
As a consequence, they don't provide you with a strong way of checking the ISO image [[!wikipedia Authentication desc="authenticity"]] and making sure you downloaded a genuine Tails. In a dedicated section, we will propose you some more advanced techniques to check the authenticity of the ISO image.
All Tails ISO image are cryptographically signed by our OpenPGP key. OpenPGP is a standard for data encryption that provides cryptographic privacy and authentication through the use of keys owned by its users. Checking this signature is the recommended way of checking the ISO image integrity.
If you already know how to use an OpenPGP key you can download it straight away:
[[!inline pages="lib/download_tails_signing_key" raw="yes"]]Otherwise, read our instructions to check the ISO image integrity:
The Tails signing key that you downloaded from this website could be a fake one if you were victim of a [[man-in-the-middle attack|doc/about/warning#man-in-the-middle]].
Finding a way of trusting better Tails signing key would allow you to authenticate better the ISO image you downloaded. The following page will give you hints on how to increase the trust you can put in the Tails signing key you downloaded:
It's very important to keep your version of Tails up-to-date, otherwise your system will be vulnerable to numerous security holes.
To be notified of new versions and important project news, follow our [[news feed|news]] or subscribe to our news mailing list:
Read the [[First steps|doc/first_steps]] section of our documentation to learn how to burn the ISO image on a DVD or install it onto a USB stick or SD card.