Explore. Connect. Respond.
A bilingual (French/English) Debian-based Linux distribution purpose-built for amateur radio emergency communications. Boot from USB, connect your radio, and you are on the air — with JS8Call, Pat-Winlink, VARA, VarAC, fldigi, and YAAC with SAR plugin ready to go.
LiaisonOS is a ready-to-deploy Linux operating system that comes pre-loaded with everything a ham radio operator needs for digital emergency communications. Boot from a USB drive and you're operational.
This edition is built on Debian providing longer support cycles, no trademark restrictions on ISO redistribution.
With Ventoy and USB persistence, LiaisonOS remembers who you are. On boot, the system detects your saved configuration on USB storage and offers to restore it instantly — your callsign, grid location, radio rig, and all saved data come back to life in seconds. No reconfiguration, no setup wizard — just pick up where you left off.
Left: On boot, LiaisonOS detects your saved session on USB and offers to restore it or start fresh. Right: Configuration restored — callsign, grid, radio rig, maps, and all your data are back in live run mode, ready for action.
Subscribe to get notified about new LiaisonOS releases and new features.
The current ISO (version 2.3.9) is approximately 4.7 GB and includes everything you need to get started. Maps are not included in the ISO to keep the download size manageable — on first run, the system will offer to download and install the map tilesets for your region.
For devices with limited internal storage (like Panasonic Toughpads), maps can be hosted on an external drive or USB thumb drive instead of the internal disk.
LiaisonOS runs JS8 / VarAC / BBS Server as time-windowed presence modes, executes scheduled Winlink check-ins with RMS fallback, and re-tunes the radio on a QSY schedule — all from a single web editor. Operator-safety auto-pause keeps the daemon out of your way the moment you touch the rig.
VARA HF and VARA FM modems are pre-installed in the ISO with written permission from José Alberto Nieto Ros (EA5HVK), the developer.
Users must still purchase their own license directly from EA5HVK to unlock full speed. The pre-installed version runs in demo mode until registered. Visit rosmodem.wordpress.com to purchase your license.
We are committed to keeping VARA updated with new releases as they become available.
VarAC is pre-installed in the ISO and ready to use at first boot. It runs through Wine alongside VARA HF/FM for a complete digital communications setup out of the box.
The only software you need to get started is a USB boot creator. Here are the most reliable options:
For beginners, balenaEtcher works on all platforms and is the easiest option. For advanced users, Ventoy lets you put LiaisonOS, a Windows installer, and system rescue tools all on one USB.
LiaisonOS is built on Debian from the ground up, with a philosophy of staying current rather than frozen. The ham radio software landscape evolves rapidly — when JS8Call, fldigi, or pat-winlink release fixes, you need to be able to apply them. A frozen OS makes this difficult or impossible, and when the base OS reaches end-of-life, your package manager stops working entirely.
This project isn't a closed product. It's a vanilla starting point — a reusable, customizable foundation that radio clubs, regional groups, emergency organizations, and individual operators can fork and adapt to their own needs. Share the knowledge, build the community.
This is an open-source project. Contributions, bug reports, and feature requests are welcome.
This project is a derivative work of EmComm Tools OS Community, licensed under the Microsoft Public License (Ms-PL). In compliance with Ms-PL Section 3(C), we retain all copyright, patent, trademark, and attribution notices from the original software.
The Ms-PL allows creating derivative works, distributing pre-built ISO images, and modification and redistribution. The switch from Ubuntu to Debian eliminates the Ubuntu trademark restrictions that previously prevented distribution of pre-built images, while fully respecting the Ms-PL terms.