ABOUT Exton|Defender Build 260721
Exton|Defender, based on Fedora Rawhide (upcoming Fedora 45), 64 bit, is an extra version built mainly because I finally found a way to install Calamares Installer in Fedora Rawhide and make it work. This build is not really a “Defender SRS” system. You can, however, install all the rescue tools you may need also when running this version live. (I.e. from a USB stick or a DVD). GNOME 51~alpha-1-fc45 is used as DE. Fedora 44 was released in a stable version on April 28, 2026 so Exton|Defender fc45 (being based on upcoming Fedora 45) should be very “unstable”. I have, however, not noticed anything special. I.e. programs won’t crash or anything like that. One “bug” though: You can’t change wallpaper the “normal” way. I.e. by clicking on the Desktop. You can, however, open your desired image with gThumb and set your image as wallpaper. Or, while logged in as liveuser, you can just open Filer (Nautilus) and click on the picture you want to use as wallpaper.

REFRACTA SNAPSHOT
You can create your own Fedora Rawhide system using Refracta Snapshot, which is pre-installed. I.e. change everything to your liking and then create a new ISO. That can be done after a hard drive installation. If you have plenty of RAM it is also possible to create a new ISO while running Exton|Defender Rawhide live. NOTE: For Refracta Snapshot to work you will need to run “my” kernel 7.1.3-amd64-exton. It won’t work with Fedora’s original kernel. Actually you can run another kernel when starting Refracta Snapshot, but you must keep the links /vmlinuz and /initrd.img pointing to my kernel.
NOTE: When you start up Refracta Snapshot you will get a message saying that your ISO won’t boot on UEFI computers. Don’t worry. I’ve arranged so that it will.

Study all installed packages in Exton|Defender Build 260721…

Runs from RAM
Exton|Defender can run live from RAM. Running any Linux system in RAM means that it runs very fast. When Exton|Defender has booted up you can eject the USB stick/DVD. Watch this screenshot…

KERNELS
While running live “my” kernel 7.1.3-amd64-exton will be used. After a hard drive installation you can use Fedora’s original kernel, which right now is 7.2.0-0.rc3.260715g58717b2a1365.29.fc45.

CALAMARES INSTALLER
Calamares is very simple to use. Just start it from the menu and follow the instructions. If you are installing Exton|Defender on a UEFI computer you should read my general install instructions in advance. If you want to make your own Fedora distribution (with Refracta Snapshot) you should install Exton|Defender on a partition of about 40 GB and use a SWAP space of about 2 GB. Do not create special home or boot partitions. When Calamares runs in VirtualBox it can look like this. If you want to use Calamares in your own distribution you’ll have to reinstall it. That is done with the command sudo dnf install calamares.
NOTE1: The very important folder /etc/calamares is kept after a hard drive installation.
NOTE2: For Calamares to work you may have to disable the module Welcome. Edit /etc/calamares/settings.conf on line 127 as this screenshot shows.

LOGIN
Log in to the GNOME 51 Desktop as the normal user liveuser with password live or as Super User (root) with password root. 

DNF – Fedora Package Management
DNF is a software package manager that installs, updates, and removes packages on RPM-based Linux distributions. Used by Fedora. Basically you’ll only need two commands in Fedora Rawhide: sudo dnf distro-sync and sudo dnf install MyGreatProgram. Read more about DNF. You can also use the Package Manager DnfDragora, which isn’t pre-installed. It can be compared with Debian’s Synaptic. However, right now DnfDragora doesn’t work so well in Fedora Rawhide (and also in Fedora 44). I have therefore excluded DnfDragora. You can later on install it with sudo dnf install dnfdragora.

THE IMPORTANCE OF Exton|Defender Build 260721 being based on UPCOMING fc45
Programs won’t “crash” or anything like that. And I haven’t noticed any important “bugs”. That said you should of course be a bit careful. Version 260721 of Exton|Defender is for people who like to use “cutting-edge” software and the latest kernels etc. You will always have the latest Linux/Fedora software installed if you regularly run the command sudo dnf distro-sync. Watch this screenshot…

IMPORTANT NOTE
After a hard drive installation you should boot up Exton|Defender using “my” kernel 7.1.3-amd64-exton. After a full upgrade of the system (sudo dnf upgrade) you can switch to Fedora’s kernel 7.2.0-0.rc3.260715g58717b2a1365.29.fc45 (or a newer one).

SCREENSHOTS
1. Calamares is running
2. Refracta Snapshot has started
3. The Desktop for root
4. Showing a Samba connection
5. Showing how to upgrade the Rawhide System

DOWNLOAD

Exton|Defender can be downloaded from SourceForge.net – Fast, secure and free downloads from the largest Open Source applications and software directory

md5sum for exton-defender-rawhide-gnome-calamares-refractasnapshot-3010mb-260721.iso