¶ September 27, 2026 - Public beta for Virtual Machines and Buddy Backup, restart history, and protected app data
Here is a summary of changes shipped since our last update.
- See when your server last restarted. The Activity page now shows when your server last restarted. A Restart history button beside Archive opens the full log, including restarts from the power button, from TrueNAS, or after a power cut.
- Clearer answers when a server is unavailable. Every screen that stands in for a page now shares one layout that tells you what is happening and what to do next. When a server is not answering, Command Deck tells you right away, and any section that cannot load offers Try again.
- Know when TrueNAS needs attention. When the HexOS app on your server is running but TrueNAS has stopped responding to it, the server list shows TrueNAS not responding and the unavailable page walks you through recovery. HexOS also recognizes common causes, such as the TrueNAS Allowed IP Addresses setting or a TrueNAS version with a known connection issue, and tells you exactly what to change.
- On your local Command Deck, a banner lets you know when online services are reconnecting or when your server is still starting up.
- App data stays protected. When you reinstall an app with Start clean, or uninstall it and delete its data, HexOS keeps any folder that another installed app or a network share uses. The reinstall dialog tells you exactly which apps and shares are using it.
- Your installed apps stay listed even when your server cannot reach HexOS.
¶ Storage and folders
- When a folder cannot be unlocked, the unlock dialog now tells you why.
- Creating or expanding a pool, replacing a drive, and adding a hot spare now wait until any drive being formatted has finished.
- When one of your server's DNS servers stops answering, HexOS now sends you a notice naming it, and your DNS settings stay exactly as you set them.
- A more helpful DNS rebind warning. The warning appears only after HexOS confirms your router is blocking local access, and only on devices that cannot reach your server locally. It explains the fix in your router settings, stays dismissed once you close it, and a Check connection button confirms your change right away. Learn more about DNS rebind protection.
- Signing in is faster and works with more browser extensions and privacy settings.
Virtual Machines and Buddy Backup are moving to public beta. Thank you to everyone in the private beta for helping us test. Beta signups are now closed, and starting the week of September 28 both features begin rolling out to everyone, first in small batches and then in larger ones as we monitor for any scaling issues. Both keep their Beta label until they leave beta on November 27. The updates below are for our current beta participants. Everyone else will get them as the rollout reaches their server.
Virtual Machines let you run Windows, Linux or an appliance like Home Assistant directly on your server, with a hands-off installation that sets up your account and installs the apps you choose before you ever sign in. Read the full announcement.
- Use the VM console from your phone. The console now supports touch input, a soft keyboard, pinch-to-zoom up to 4x, and a key strip with Esc, Tab, arrows, function keys and sticky modifiers. A trackpad mode is available for targets smaller than a fingertip, and the console adapts its layout to phone-width screens with a collapsible menu.
- Attach and swap ISOs on an existing VM. The Disks tab now lists a VM's disc drives with Remove and Eject actions. Attach ISO is available beside Add Disk, and ISOs can be inserted into a running VM without a restart.
- Power controls where you need them. A Power menu in the console toolbar lets you shut down, restart or force power off without leaving the session, and a Reboot option is available in the VM details Power menu.
- Clear minimum requirements. VMs need 4 CPU cores, 8 GB of RAM and 32 GB of free storage. When a server falls short, the VMs page lists each requirement next to what HexOS detected, and the setup hardware scan warns about CPU or memory.
- Device discovery and IPv6 in your VMs. VMs now receive the network discovery traffic that Home Assistant and similar software rely on, such as mDNS and Matter, along with IPv6 addresses.
Buddy Backup lets you back up folders from one HexOS server to another, whether it is a second server you own or a friend's server across the internet, with end-to-end encryption over a private mesh network. Read the full announcement.
- Detect and repair damaged backups. If a drive problem on your buddy's server leaves part of a backup unreadable, HexOS lets you both know, marks the affected folder and restore points as Damaged, and offers Repair backup to send a fresh copy once their storage is healthy.
- Hourly schedule for your own servers. Backups between two servers you own can now run hourly for a tighter recovery window.
- Interrupted backups resume automatically. When a server restart interrupts a backup, it picks up where it stopped.
- Stopping a backup keeps your progress. A backup you stop stays stopped, even through a server restart, and the next run continues from the last completed backup.
- Offline buddies are put on hold. When your backup partner's server goes offline, the backup waits and resumes on its own when the connection returns.
- Stall detection. A transfer whose progress stops moving for ten minutes is flagged as stalled, with a suggested next step.
- Safer connection removal. Removing a connection clearly states that every restore point it holds is permanently deleted, points to pause as the reversible alternative, and asks you to confirm with a checkbox.
- Clearer storage messages. When a backup needs more space than is available, the notification shows exactly how much is needed and how much is free.
- Accepted request notification. When someone accepts your backup request, you receive a notification on your server.
- A smarter folder picker. Whether you are setting up a backup or adding folders to one, HexOS keeps you from choosing a folder that is inside, or contains, a folder already in the backup, so nothing is backed up twice. The folder picker also scrolls smoothly on touchscreens.
- The backup map shows partial connections. A server whose HexOS app is connected while its TrueNAS link is not shows as Partly connected on the backup map, matching the server list. Screen readers now name each card and line on the map, and a keyboard can open a card.
NOTE: All of these updates are applied automatically to your Command Deck. You may need to clear your cache. Help with clearing your cache is available here.