TrueNAS Community Edition Download: Official ISO, Checksum and CORE vs SCALE

Short answer: Download TrueNAS Community Edition from truenas.com/download. The current stable release is TrueNAS 25.10.7 (Goldeye), released September 2, 2026. The file is TrueNAS-SCALE-25.10.7.iso, and its published SHA-256 is 54ce9441ce66966a392e28f63604ca3c2c083d0bec4db7bb5af2f74f7a007c8e. TrueNAS Community Edition is the new name for TrueNAS SCALE, and it is free and open source. TrueNAS CORE, the FreeBSD version, is no longer under active development. You need a 64-bit Intel or AMD PC with at least 8 GB of RAM and a 20 GB SSD to boot from.

Where to download TrueNAS Community Edition

The official download page is truenas.com/download. The ISO itself comes from download.sys.truenas.net, the TrueNAS software CDN. Those are the only sources this site links to. Copies on mirror or “download portal” sites can’t be checked against a signature you trust, so skip them. Our guide to spotting fake download sites explains what to look for.

When you select Download Community Edition, the page asks you to subscribe to the TrueNAS newsletter. You don’t have to. The same box has a No Thanks, I’ve Already Signed Up link that takes you straight to the files.

On September 26, 2026, the page offered two builds:

The dates and user types come from the TrueNAS Software Status page. Pick 25.10.7 unless you’re deliberately testing the beta on hardware that holds nothing you care about.

Verify the ISO before you install

TrueNAS publishes a SHA-256 checksum and a PGP signature for each ISO. For 25.10.7 the values are:

We took the hash from the download page and confirmed it matches the .iso.sha256 file on the TrueNAS CDN. The size is the server’s reported file size. We didn’t download the ISO for this article.

To check your copy, run one of these in the folder where you saved the ISO:

• Windows (PowerShell): Get-FileHash .\TrueNAS-SCALE-25.10.7.iso -Algorithm SHA256
• macOS: shasum -a 256 TrueNAS-SCALE-25.10.7.iso
• Linux: sha256sum TrueNAS-SCALE-25.10.7.iso

The TrueNAS installation guide is blunt about a mismatch: different checksum values mean “a corrupted installer file that you should not use.” Download it again from truenas.com. If you want stronger proof of origin, the page also links a .iso.gpg signature, and the installation guide shows how to check it with GnuPG or Gpg4win.

Don’t be put off by “SCALE” in the file name. The 25.10 ISO still uses the old product name, even though the software is now called Community Edition.

What happened to TrueNAS CORE and SCALE?

For several years, iXsystems maintained two free versions of TrueNAS:

• TrueNAS CORE, based on FreeBSD. This was the original, and the successor to FreeNAS.
• TrueNAS SCALE, based on Linux.

In a blog post dated May 15, 2025, TrueNAS said that with the release of TrueNAS 25.04 “Fangtooth” on April 15, 2025, “TrueNAS SCALE is now officially known as TrueNAS Community Edition.” Asked what changed, the post answers: “Nothing. Just the name.” It describes Community Edition as “the singular, free, open source storage platform for non-enterprise users.”

The same post explains the reason. SCALE had begun to surpass CORE “in capability, performance, and quality,” and keeping both meant splitting engineering work and confusing users. CORE was moved to its maintenance phase.

Today the TrueNAS Software Status page says: “TrueNAS CORE is no longer under active development.” It lists CORE’s final releases as 13.0-U6.8 (July 14, 2025) and 13.3-U1.2 (April 29, 2025), under “Final Release Versions.”

So in practice:

• If you were on SCALE, you’re already on Community Edition. Keep updating as normal.
• If you’re on CORE, your system keeps working, but it won’t get new features. Plan a migration.
• If you’re starting fresh, install Community Edition. There’s no longer a CORE vs SCALE choice to make.

TrueNAS Enterprise is a separate, licensed product. TrueNAS says it’s built on the same codebase, with extras such as high availability, and is usually sold as turnkey appliances with support.

Moving from CORE to Community Edition

TrueNAS’s migration documentation says moving from the FreeBSD-based version to the Linux-based version “is a one-way operation.” Trying to roll back to a FreeBSD boot environment “can break the system.” Its main points:

1. Update CORE to the latest 13.0 or 13.3 maintenance release first.
2. Download your system configuration file and keep it somewhere safe.
3. If your CORE system is joined to Active Directory, leave it before migrating.
4. To go straight to 24.10 or later, do a clean install from the ISO, then upload the saved configuration and import your pools. The documentation says migrating directly to 24.10 or later through the web interface “is not supported.”
5. Alternatively, update through the web interface to 24.04, then step through each later release.

One inconsistency to note. The download page offers a 25.10.7 manual update file labeled “Upgrade From 13.0-U6.8 or 24.04,” but the migration guide says moving to 24.10 or later needs a clean install. Where they differ, follow the migration guide, and back up your configuration and data first.

If you run VMs on CORE, read the release notes before you migrate. The TrueNAS blog points CORE users to them for help, “especially with VM migrations.”

Hardware basics

TrueNAS’s hardware guide lists these minimums for Community Edition:

The guide adds some practical advice:

• RAM: 8 GB is enough “for basic TrueNAS operations with up to eight drives.” Other workloads need more. For iSCSI backing VMs, it suggests at least 16 GB, and 32 GB or more for best performance.
• ECC memory: most users strongly recommend it, but the guide also says “Many TrueNAS systems operate every day without ECC RAM.” It’s recommended, not required.
• Boot drive: don’t boot from a USB stick or SATA DOM. The guide says they vary too widely in quality and often can’t handle the writes TrueNAS makes to the boot pool.
• No hardware RAID: ZFS does the RAID. If your controller supports HBA, passthrough or JBOD mode, use that instead of its RAID feature.
• Drives: avoid SMR hard drives. TrueNAS doesn’t recommend drive-managed or host-aware SMR, and host-managed SMR doesn’t work at all. Avoid USB-connected disks for your main pool.

Most people write the ISO to a USB stick to install. The TrueNAS guide uses dd on Linux and lists Ventoy and Rufus among other options. Our Ventoy vs Rufus vs balenaEtcher comparison covers the trade-offs. The installer then writes TrueNAS to your permanent boot SSD.

What TrueNAS Community Edition is not

• Not a program you install on Windows or macOS. It’s a full operating system. The installer replaces whatever is on the boot drive you pick.
• Not supported by TrueNAS staff. Help comes from the community forums. Support contracts are for Enterprise customers.
• Not meant to run inside a VM for real data. The hardware guide says that while you can virtualize TrueNAS, “it is not safe for regular deployment of TrueNAS when storing production or critical data,” and virtual disks in a pool are “not a supported configuration.” If you run Proxmox VE, keep TrueNAS VMs for testing, or pass the whole disk controller through as the guide describes.
• Not a backup by itself. ZFS redundancy protects against a failed drive, not against deletion, ransomware or a dead server. Keep a copy elsewhere.

Weighing TrueNAS against a paid alternative? Read TrueNAS vs Unraid. For file hashes and the full download list, see our TrueNAS app page.

Questions

Is TrueNAS Community Edition free?

Yes. TrueNAS describes it as free and open source. The download page’s newsletter sign-up is optional.

Is TrueNAS SCALE the same as Community Edition?

Yes. TrueNAS renamed SCALE to Community Edition with the 25.04 release. The ISO file name still says SCALE.

Can I still download TrueNAS CORE?

The Software Status page lists 13.0-U6.8 and 13.3-U1.2 as final releases. TrueNAS says CORE is no longer under active development, so we don’t recommend it for new systems.

What is the latest TrueNAS version?

The latest stable release is 25.10.7, released September 2, 2026. Version 26.0.0-BETA.3 is a beta.

How do I check the TrueNAS ISO checksum?

Run Get-FileHash, shasum -a 256 or sha256sum on the ISO and compare the result with the SHA-256 on the download page. They must match exactly.

How much RAM does TrueNAS need?

At least 8 GB, according to the TrueNAS hardware guide. More helps with more drives, apps and VMs.

Do I need ECC RAM for TrueNAS?

No. It’s recommended as an extra data-integrity protection, but TrueNAS notes that many systems run without it.

Can I install TrueNAS on a USB stick?

You can boot the installer from USB, but TrueNAS advises against using a USB stick as the permanent boot device. Use an SSD of at least 20 GB.

Can I upgrade from CORE without losing my data?

TrueNAS documents a migration path that keeps your pools. It’s one-way, so save your configuration file and back up your data before you start.

Sources

• Download TrueNAS (25.10.7 and 26.0.0-BETA.3 files, checksums, PGP key), TrueNAS, checked September 26, 2026
• TrueNAS-SCALE-25.10.7.iso.sha256, TrueNAS software CDN
• TrueNAS Software Status (release dates, recommendations, CORE status), TrueNAS Documentation Hub
• 25.10 (Goldeye) Version Notes, TrueNAS Documentation Hub
• Meet TrueNAS Community Edition: The Future of Open Storage, TrueNAS blog, May 15, 2025
• Migrating from TrueNAS CORE, TrueNAS Documentation Hub
• TrueNAS Hardware Guide, TrueNAS Documentation Hub
• Installing TrueNAS (verifying the ISO, creating boot media), TrueNAS Documentation Hub