How to Successfully Transition to Fedora Atomic Desktops 44: Key Changes and Action Steps

Introduction

Fedora Linux 44 has arrived, bringing significant updates to the Atomic Desktop variants—Silverblue, Kinoite, Sway Atomic, Budgie Atomic, and the new COSMIC Atomic. To help you navigate these changes smoothly, this guide provides clear, step-by-step instructions. Whether you're troubleshooting AppImage issues or migrating encryption backends, you'll find everything you need to keep your system running seamlessly.

What You Need

• A working installation of a Fedora Atomic Desktop (Silverblue, Kinoite, etc.)
• Administrative privileges (sudo access) for package management
• A terminal emulator (GNOME Terminal, Konsole, etc.)
• Internet connection for downloading packages and updates
• Basic familiarity with the command line and rpm-ostree

Step-by-Step Guide

Step 1: Update to Fedora Linux 44

Before making any adjustments, ensure your system is fully updated to the latest release. Open a terminal and run:

sudo rpm-ostree update

After the update completes, reboot to apply the new deployment. This step ensures you have the base image with all changes included.

Step 2: Adapt to the New Issue Tracker and Documentation

The cross-variant issue tracker has moved to the new Fedora Forge. For variant-specific issues, please use the respective SIG trackers listed in the atomic-desktops repository README. Additionally, the unified documentation for all Atomic Desktops is now live at the new Forge. Note that translations have not yet been migrated; if you relied on localized docs, consider helping re-translate once the translation setup is ready.

• Use the new Forge for cross-variant bug reports and feature requests.
• Bookmark the unified docs for consistent guidance across variants.

Step 3: Resolve AppImage Compatibility After FUSE2 Removal

Fedora 44 removed legacy FUSE version 2 libraries, which may break older AppImages. Follow these sub-steps to identify and fix affected applications.

3.1 Check Your AppImages

Run this command to inspect the AppImage runtime version:

file /path/to/appimage.AppImage | grep -i 'FUSE'

If the output mentions FUSE 2 or lacks FUSE 3 support, the AppImage likely won't run without modifications.

3.2 Find a Flatpak Alternative

Search for the same application on Flathub or via the flatpak search command. Installing via Flatpak ensures compatibility and better integration with Atomic Desktops.

flatpak search <app-name>

3.3 Report the Issue Upstream

If no Flatpak exists, notify the application developers about the need to update their AppImage runtime. Provide details from step 3.1 and link to the Fedora Discussion thread for reference.

Step 4: Migrate Plasma Vault Backends (Kinoite Users)

KDE removed support for EncFS and CryFS backends in Plasma Vault because they rely on FUSE2. You must migrate your vaults to the maintained gocryptfs backend. Ideally, do this before updating to Fedora 44.

4.1 Pre-Update Migration (Recommended)

Back up your vault data, then open Plasma Vault, unmount the old vault, and create a new one using the gocryptfs backend. Copy your files into the new vault. After confirming everything works, proceed with the update in Step 1.

4.2 Post-Update Recovery (If Already Updated)

If you have already updated and cannot access your vaults, temporarily layer the required packages:

sudo rpm-ostree install fuse-encfs cryfs

Reboot, mount your old vaults, migrate data to a new gocryptfs vault, then remove the layered packages:

sudo rpm-ostree reset

Finally, reboot again to restore a clean system.

Step 5: Check for Legacy pkla Polkit Rules

Fedora 44 removed support for the pkla format of PolicyKit rules. Although unlikely, if you have custom rules in /etc/polkit-1/rules.d/ or legacy *.pkla files in /var/lib/polkit-1/localauthority/, you must convert them to JavaScript rules. Find any such files with:

find /etc /var -name '*.pkla' 2>/dev/null

If found, rewrite the rules using the JavaScript syntax as documented by polkit(8).

Tips for a Smooth Transition

• Back up important data before performing any migration steps, especially when dealing with encrypted vaults.
• Use Flatpak whenever possible—it isolates dependencies and avoids conflicts with system library removals.
• Stay engaged with the community – report issues on the new Forge and contribute translations once the setup is ready.
• Test AppImages with the --appimage-extract flag as a temporary workaround if upstream doesn't update quickly.
• Monitor the official changelog for future updates to Atomic Desktops.

By following these steps, you'll be well-prepared to enjoy the latest enhancements in Fedora Atomic Desktops 44 while avoiding common pitfalls. Happy computing!