How to Install Fedora 44: Complete Installation Guide

✅ Tested with Fedora 44 (GNOME 50) — Released April 28, 2026

Installing Fedora 44 gives you one of the most polished, up-to-date, and developer-friendly Linux distributions available. Fedora is where new Linux technologies debut — it shipped Wayland, PipeWire, Btrfs by default, and systemd long before other distros adopted them. Fedora 44 ships with GNOME 50, Linux kernel 6.19, and DNF5 as the default package manager.

This guide walks you through a complete Fedora 44 installation, from downloading the ISO to having a fully working system with all the software you need.

Table of Contents

• Why Choose Fedora 44
• Fedora Editions Explained
• System Requirements
• Download Fedora 44 ISO
• Create Bootable USB
• Installation Steps (Anaconda)
• Post-Installation Setup
• Enable RPM Fusion (Codecs and Drivers)
• Essential DNF5 Commands
• Software to Install First
• Troubleshooting FAQ

Why Choose Fedora 44

Fedora occupies a unique position in the Linux ecosystem: it is the upstream testing ground for Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), which means it is backed by serious corporate engineering while remaining 100% free and open source. Features that land in Fedora today appear in RHEL and its derivatives (CentOS Stream, AlmaLinux, Rocky Linux) 6–12 months later.

• Cutting-edge software: Fedora 44 ships kernel 6.19, GNOME 50, and DNF5. You get new technology early, without sacrificing stability.
• Vanilla GNOME: Fedora ships the GNOME desktop exactly as the GNOME project designs it — no custom patches or heavy theming. If you want the true GNOME experience, Fedora is it.
• Btrfs by default: Fedora has used Btrfs as the default filesystem since Fedora 33. Btrfs gives you snapshots, transparent compression, and easy rollbacks out of the box.
• Wayland by default: Fedora was one of the first distros to default to Wayland. GNOME 50 brings further Wayland improvements including better Variable Refresh Rate (VRR) and HDR screen sharing.
• DNF5: The new package manager (default since Fedora 41) is significantly faster than the old DNF — dependency resolution that took 10 seconds now takes under 2.
• Security first: SELinux enabled by default, mandatory access control, regular security updates within hours of upstream release.

Fedora Editions Explained

Fedora 44 ships in several editions. Choose based on your use case:

This guide covers Fedora 44 Workstation (GNOME 50). The installation process is identical for other editions — only the desktop environment changes.

System Requirements

Fedora 44 supports x86_64 and aarch64 (ARM64). There is no 32-bit support.

Download Fedora 44 ISO

Download the Fedora 44 Workstation ISO from the official Fedora Project website:

# Direct download (replace with current mirror if slow)
wget https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/releases/44/Workstation/x86_64/iso/Fedora-Workstation-Live-x86_64-44-1.5.iso

# Verify the checksum (compare with the CHECKSUM file on the download page)
sha256sum Fedora-Workstation-Live-x86_64-44-*.iso

Always verify the SHA256 checksum against the value listed on the official download page before burning. A corrupted ISO is the most common cause of failed installations.

Create Bootable USB

On Linux

# Find your USB drive (look for /dev/sdX or /dev/nvme*)
lsblk

# Write the ISO — replace /dev/sdX with your actual device, NOT a partition
sudo dd if=Fedora-Workstation-Live-x86_64-44-1.5.iso of=/dev/sdX bs=4M status=progress oflag=sync

Double-check the target device with lsblk. dd will overwrite everything on the target device without warning.

On Windows or macOS

Use Fedora Media Writer — the official tool from the Fedora Project. It downloads and writes the correct ISO automatically, and handles partition table setup correctly for UEFI boot. Available for Windows, macOS, and Linux at fedoraproject.org/en/workstation/download.

Installation Steps

Fedora uses the Anaconda installer. In Fedora 44, Anaconda was updated to create network profiles only for configured network devices, simplifying post-installation network setup.

1. Boot from USB

Insert the USB drive and restart. Enter your firmware's boot menu (usually F2, F12, Del, or Esc depending on your motherboard). Select the USB drive. You will see the Fedora boot menu — select Start Fedora-Workstation-Live 44.

2. Try or Install

Fedora boots into a live environment. You can use the desktop to test hardware compatibility before committing to installation. When ready, click Install to Hard Drive on the desktop.

3. Language and Keyboard

Select your language and keyboard layout. These affect system locale and default input method — they can be changed later but it is cleaner to set them correctly now.

4. Installation Destination (Disk Partitioning)

Select the disk where Fedora will be installed. For most users, Automatic partitioning is the right choice — Anaconda will create:

• /boot/efi — 600 MB EFI system partition (UEFI systems)
• /boot — 1 GB Btrfs subvolume
• / — Btrfs subvolume on the remaining space (with @ and @home subvolumes)

If you are dual-booting with Windows, select Custom and manually assign the Fedora partition. Do not let Anaconda format the Windows EFI partition.

5. Network and Hostname

Set your hostname here. The network is optional during installation — Fedora will configure it automatically after boot via NetworkManager.

6. Begin Installation

Click Begin Installation. The installer copies files in the background — typically 10–20 minutes depending on your hardware. When it finishes, click Finish Installation and reboot. Remove the USB drive when prompted.

7. First Boot Setup

GNOME 50 presents a setup wizard on first boot: create your user account, connect to Wi-Fi, and configure privacy settings. This wizard is cleaner than in previous Fedora versions.

Post-Installation Setup

Update the System

The first thing to do after any Fedora installation is apply all pending updates:

sudo dnf upgrade --refresh

DNF5 (the default package manager since Fedora 41) is significantly faster than the old DNF. Dependency resolution that previously took 10+ seconds completes in under 2 seconds.

Install Firmware Updates

sudo fwupdmgr refresh
sudo fwupdmgr get-updates
sudo fwupdmgr update

Enable RPM Fusion (Codecs and Drivers)

Fedora ships only free and open-source software by default. RPM Fusion provides packages that Fedora cannot include for legal reasons — codecs (H.264, HEVC, AAC), NVIDIA drivers, Steam, and more.

# Enable RPM Fusion Free and Non-Free
sudo dnf install 
  https://mirrors.rpmfusion.org/free/fedora/rpmfusion-free-release-$(rpm -E %fedora).noarch.rpm 
  https://mirrors.rpmfusion.org/nonfree/fedora/rpmfusion-nonfree-release-$(rpm -E %fedora).noarch.rpm

# Install multimedia codecs
sudo dnf group install multimedia

# Install ffmpeg
sudo dnf install ffmpeg

# Install GStreamer plugins (for GNOME Videos, Rhythmbox, Cheese)
sudo dnf install gstreamer1-plugins-{bad-*,good-*,base} gstreamer1-plugin-openh264

NVIDIA Drivers

# After enabling RPM Fusion Non-Free:
sudo dnf install akmod-nvidia

# For CUDA support:
sudo dnf install xorg-x11-drv-nvidia-cuda

The akmod-nvidia package automatically rebuilds the NVIDIA kernel module when a new kernel is installed — you never have to run the NVIDIA installer manually again.

Essential DNF5 Commands

Software to Install First

Development Tools

# GCC, make, git and essential build tools
sudo dnf group install "Development Tools" "Development Libraries"

# Python development
sudo dnf install python3-pip python3-venv python3-devel

# Node.js (via dnf or nvm for version management)
sudo dnf install nodejs npm

# Docker (official Fedora package — Podman is pre-installed)
sudo dnf install docker-ce docker-ce-cli containerd.io
sudo systemctl enable --now docker

GNOME Extensions and Tweaks

# GNOME Tweaks — advanced desktop settings
sudo dnf install gnome-tweaks

# Extension Manager — install/manage GNOME Shell extensions from the desktop
sudo dnf install gnome-extensions-app

# Popular extensions (install via GNOME Extensions website or Extension Manager)
# - Dash to Dock
# - AppIndicator (for system tray icons)
# - GSConnect (KDE Connect integration)

Productivity and Communication

# Flatpak (pre-installed on Fedora, but add Flathub if missing)
flatpak remote-add --if-not-exists flathub https://flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo

# Install apps via Flatpak from Flathub
flatpak install flathub com.visualstudio.code          # VS Code
flatpak install flathub com.discordapp.Discord         # Discord
flatpak install flathub org.mozilla.Thunderbird        # Thunderbird
flatpak install flathub com.spotify.Client             # Spotify
flatpak install flathub org.libreoffice.LibreOffice    # LibreOffice

What is New in GNOME 50

Fedora 44 ships GNOME 50, released March 18, 2026. Key improvements you will notice immediately:

• Parental Controls: Full screen time management with bedtime schedules and per-app limits — useful for family machines.
• Accessibility: The Orca screen reader has global settings, automatic language switching, and improved braille support. A new Reduced Motion option reduces animation-related discomfort.
• Variable Refresh Rate (VRR): Improved VRR support and fractional scaling, plus HDR screen sharing via Remote Desktop.
• Files app: Faster thumbnail loading, reduced memory usage, reworked batch rename, floating file properties window.
• Remote Desktop: Hardware acceleration (Vulkan/VA-API), HiDPI support, camera redirection, Kerberos authentication.
• Document Viewer: Annotation tools — text, lines, highlights, color options, and line thickness controls.

Troubleshooting FAQ

Boot hangs after installation

Add nomodeset to the kernel boot parameters temporarily. Boot into GRUB, press e to edit the boot entry, find the line starting with linux, and add nomodeset at the end. This forces software rendering and lets you boot to install NVIDIA or AMD drivers.

Wi-Fi not working

# Check if the driver is loaded
lspci -k | grep -A 3 -i "network|wireless"

# For Broadcom cards (requires RPM Fusion Non-Free)
sudo dnf install broadcom-wl

# For Intel Wi-Fi firmware
sudo dnf install linux-firmware

SELinux blocking something

# Check SELinux denials
sudo ausearch -m AVC -ts today | audit2why

# Set SELinux to permissive temporarily to debug (do NOT disable permanently)
sudo setenforce 0

# Re-enable
sudo setenforce 1

NVIDIA screen tearing or black screen after driver install

# Verify the kernel module is loaded
lsmod | grep nvidia

# Check the akmod build completed (run as root after install)
akmods --force

# Regenerate initramfs
sudo dracut --force

dnf transaction fails with dependency error

# Clean the DNF5 cache completely and retry
sudo dnf clean all
sudo dnf upgrade --refresh

# If conflicts persist, check for broken packages
sudo dnf distro-sync

Further Reading

• How to Install NVIDIA Drivers on Linux — get your GPU working correctly after installing Fedora
• How to Install Docker on Linux — set up containers on your new Fedora system
• How to Set Up SSH on Linux — enable remote access and key authentication
• Linux Commands Cheat Sheet — 50+ essential commands every Fedora user should know
• Bash Scripting Tutorial — automate tasks on your new Fedora installation