Official riscv64 support in Debian 13
Debian 13 (Trixie) is the first Debian stable release with riscv64 (64-bit RISC-V) as an official architecture — RISC-V hardware can now run stock Debian.
Debian 13 (Trixie) is the first Debian stable release to officially support riscv64 (64-bit RISC-V). After years of porting work, RISC-V devices can now run the exact same stock Debian as amd64 and arm64 — no unofficial port required.
What it means
Before Trixie, riscv64 was only available through the unofficial debian-ports archive. Being an official architecture now means:
- The same quality bar as other official architectures — security updates (DSAs) and point releases ship in sync with amd64
- A complete install experience — official riscv64 installation images with debian-installer support
- About 69,800 packages — the official archive is essentially fully covered on riscv64
Debian 13 supports seven architectures: amd64, arm64, armel, armhf, ppc64el, riscv64 and s390x.
The hardware ecosystem is growing
Typical riscv64 hardware includes RISC-V dev boards such as the StarFive VisionFive 2 and Milk-V boards, plus newer RISC-V laptops and servers. Driver and firmware maturity varies by device — validate in a test environment before production deployments.
Installing on RISC-V hardware
- Get a riscv64 installation image from the download page or an official mirror
- Write it to media following bootable media (some boards need an SPI flash payload or board-specific bootloader first)
- Follow the installation guide — the flow is identical to amd64
Package management and system configuration after install are the same as on any other architecture.
Why it matters
RISC-V is a fully open instruction set architecture — no licensing fees, no proprietary restrictions. With official riscv64 support, an open ISA and an open operating system come together as an official combination for the first time, with long-term value for open hardware, education and custom silicon.
Next steps
- Debian 13 hub - back to the release overview
- Download Debian 13 - grab a riscv64 image
- Hardware & drivers - hardware guides per architecture
Debian 13 and the year 2038
In Debian 13 (Trixie) every architecture except i386 moves to a 64-bit time_t, so 32-bit ARM boards can represent dates beyond 2038 correctly.
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