The FreeBSD Project has announced the release of FreeBSD 15.0-BETA3, the third beta build in the 15.0-RELEASE cycle. The update brings several critical fixes, improved WiFi compatibility, and expanded image availability for VMs, containers, and cloud platforms.
FreeBSD 15.0-BETA3 introduces a series of refinements and security updates aimed at improving system stability and hardware support. Among the notable updates is the inclusion of FreeBSD-SA-25:09.netinet, addressing vulnerabilities in the networking stack.
System performance has been enhanced with increased socket and TCP buffer autoscaling limits, now reaching 8 MB, and significant stability improvements in the dc(4) network driver and pf(4) firewall subsystem. The release also fixes issues with MediaTek mt76 WiFi cards, ensuring reliable firmware fetching and operation.
The installer now correctly retrieves 15.0-BETA3 pkgbase packages, resolving a mismatch with previous 15.0-STABLE builds. Numerous build and pkgbase-related fixes are also part of this iteration.
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In terms of distribution, VM images are now available for amd64, i386, aarch64, and riscv64, supporting QCOW2, VHD, VMDK, and raw formats. These images can be downloaded from the FreeBSD mirrors, with a typical download size of around 650 MB, expanding to 21 GB upon decompression. ARM users are reminded that a modified QEMU EFI loader is required to boot arm64 images.
OCI container images are provided for all major architectures, including variants like static, dynamic, runtime, notoolchain, and toolchain. They are accessible via the FreeBSD download site and container registries such as Docker Hub (docker.io/freebsd/freebsd-runtime:15.0.beta3) and GitHub Container Registry (ghcr.io/freebsd/freebsd-runtime:15.0.beta3).
For cloud deployments, Amazon EC2 AMIs are available for both amd64 and arm64 platforms, retrievable through the AWS Systems Manager Parameter Store.
Users of earlier FreeBSD releases can upgrade to 15.0-BETA3 using the freebsd-update(8) tool. The project advises performing system updates before upgrading due to a recent errata notice (FreeBSD-EN-25:18.freebsd-update) that prevents system failure during the upgrade process.
FreeBSD supports binary upgrades from previous amd64, i386, and aarch64 releases using freebsd-update(8). The recommended process is:
# freebsd-update fetch
# freebsd-update install
# freebsd-update upgrade -r 15.0-BETA3
# freebsd-update install
# shutdown -r now
# freebsd-update installUsers upgrading from older versions (such as FreeBSD 12.x) should rebuild and reinstall all applications or install compatibility libraries like misc/compat12x. After the upgrade, run freebsd-update install once more to remove obsolete files.
