---
title: New Mender packaging and distribution channels
description: Simplify installing and updating Mender with new apt repositories, improving security, dependency handling, and version control.
---

[Mender Blog ](https://mender.io/blog)

# [New Mender packaging and distribution channels](https://mender.io/blog/new-mender-packaging-and-distribution-channels)

 Written by [Editorial Team](https://mender.io/blog/author/editorial-team) | Oct 28, 2025 8:08:37 PM

Installing and updating Mender components is simplified with the addition of new package repositories. Mender users can now leverage the new package repositories to install and update Mender components.

Note: In certain use cases and workflows, the new way of installing Mender may break backward compatibility. None of the breaking changes affect currently supported Mender versions, see below for more information.

## New Mender component repositories

From now on, Mender components are shipped in two *separate* apt repositories:

- [workstation-tools](https://downloads.mender.io/repos/workstation-tools/pool/main/m/): Includes tools for developers and users workstations (e.g., mender-artifact).
- [device-components](https://downloads.mender.io/repos/device-components/pool/main/m/): Includes components for *Devices* running Mender.

The [Downloads page](https://docs.mender.io/downloads) reflects this change and provides instructions for setting up either of the above repositories based on the Mender component(s) to be installed.

**Note:** The [all-purpose repository](https://downloads.mender.io/repos/debian) remains functional; however, it is now considered *deprecated* and will no longer receive new packages.

## Advantages of the new Mender repositories

Enabling the new repositories and installing repository packages using *apt install* is now the preferred way of installing Mender components. The new *apt install* approach offers multiple benefits over the old approach (downloading individual *.deb* packages and installing them with *dpkg -i*). The *apt install* approach enables:

- proper signature verification,
- automatic installation of dependencies, and
- standard package upgrade process (not recommended for *Devices*).

The Mender [Downloads](https://docs.mender.io/downloads) page no longer provides links to individual packages provided in one of the new repositories. However, individual packages can still be downloaded from the repositories using the [workstation-tools](https://downloads.mender.io/repos/workstation-tools/pool/main/m/) or [device-components](https://downloads.mender.io/repos/device-components/pool/main/m/) repository links.

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## Raspberry Pi OS and Debian armhf device package changes

In the old Debian repository, the provided *armhf* *Device* component packages  are actually *armhf* packages for the respective versions of 32-bit Raspberry Pi OS devices, *ARMv6* architecture, while 32-bit Debian is actually using the *ARMv7* architecture. The structure of the old Debian repository created confusion, where in some cases, devices received ARMv6 architecture instead of the required 32-bit ARMv7 architecture.

The new *device-components* repository provides ARMv7 *armhf* packages for the Debian distributions, remediating the previous confusion. Packages for 32-bit Raspberry Pi OS are no longer provided in the repository. Respective ARMv8/aarch64 Debian packages also work well for 64-bit Raspberry Pi OS.

## mender-convert moving to apt install

In conjunction with the repository changes, the *mender-convert* tool now also uses the new repositories and *apt install* to install the requested Mender components into the converted image. A significant benefit, the new *mender-convert* enhances security through proper signature verification.

In order to preserve the ability of *mender-convert* to install specific versions of Mender

components, the *device-components* repository is structured to provide multiple versions of the same package. *apt-cache madison* can list all the provided versions, and *apt install* can install a specific version.

**Note:** The new repositories only provide supported versions of Mender components (at the moment of their creation); installation of older versions of Mender components using the latest mender-convert is not supported.  The latest *mender-convert* also does not support converting 32-bit Raspberry Pi OS images, as the ARMv6 32-bit packages do not exist in the new repositories. (32-bit Raspberry Pi OS images require an older version of *mender-convert*, and using 64-bit Raspberry Pi OS is recommended.)

## Share your feedback

We hope these changes will simplify and help Mender users going forward. Share your feedback about the new Mender features and suggestions for future improvements in the [Mender Hub General Discussions forum](https://hub.mender.io/c/general-discussions). If you encounter any issues with the new release, please report them in the Mender [JIRA issue tracker](https://northerntech.atlassian.net/browse/MEN) with detailed reproduction steps and system information.

[View full post](https://mender.io/blog/new-mender-packaging-and-distribution-channels)

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