First release of HexOS Imager, a fork of balenaEtcher 2.1.6 for writing HexOS installer images to USB drives.
Downloads
| Platform | File |
|---|---|
| Windows (x64) | HexOS-Imager-v2.1.6-20260902-Setup.exe |
| macOS (Apple Silicon) | HexOS-Imager-v2.1.6-20260902-arm64.dmg |
| macOS (Intel) | HexOS-Imager-v2.1.6-20260902-x64.dmg |
| Linux (Debian/Ubuntu, x64) | HexOS-Imager-v2.1.6-20260902-x64.deb |
| Linux (Debian/Ubuntu, arm64) | HexOS-Imager-v2.1.6-20260902-arm64.deb |
| Linux (Fedora/RHEL, x64) | HexOS-Imager-v2.1.6-20260902-x64.rpm |
| Linux (Fedora/RHEL, arm64) | HexOS-Imager-v2.1.6-20260902-arm64.rpm |
hexos_imager-2.1.6-full.nupkg and RELEASES are Windows updater files; you don't need to download them.
What's different from Etcher
- Download HexOS fetches the latest HexOS release directly, verifies its checksum, and selects it as the image — no separate download step. Flashing a local file still works.
- HexOS branding throughout.
- Rebuilt release pipeline: every binary is signed, and the macOS builds are notarized by Apple.
Verifying a download
SHA256SUMS.txt lists the checksum of every file above.
- Windows: the installer is signed by Eshtek Inc. Because this certificate is new, SmartScreen may still show "Windows protected your PC" — the Publisher line will read Eshtek Inc. This warning goes away as the certificate builds reputation.
- macOS: both the app and the disk image are signed and notarized; Gatekeeper opens them without a prompt.
Known limitations
- No automatic updates yet. Check this page for new versions.
- Linux packages are unsigned.