Parrot Linux tools are the security, privacy and development programs packaged in the Parrot repositories. The Security Edition installs them for you; on the Home Edition you add the ones you need. This page explains how the tools are organised, how they are installed and kept up to date, and where the guides on this site are.
Parrot Linux tools by category
| Category | What it is for | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Privacy and anonymity | Routing traffic through Tor and browsing privately | AnonSurf, Tor Browser |
| Sandboxing and hardening | Limiting what an application can reach on your system | Firejail, AppArmor |
| Network analysis | Inspecting traffic and mapping the hosts on a network you manage | Wireshark, Nmap |
| Web application testing | Reviewing the security of web applications you are authorised to test | Burp Suite, OWASP ZAP, Caido |
| Wireless auditing | Assessing the security of your own wireless networks | Aircrack-ng, Kismet |
| Password auditing | Checking the strength of password hashes in an assessment | John the Ripper, Hashcat |
| Reverse engineering and forensics | Analysing binaries, mobile apps and memory images | Rizin with Cutter, jadx, volatility3 |
| Development | Writing and building software | Editors, compilers and containers |
The Security Edition page has a longer list taken from recent release notes. The exact set changes with every release.
How the tools are installed
- Preinstalled. The Security Edition and the Hack The Box Edition ship with the toolset.
- One at a time. On any edition, install a single tool with
sudo apt install <package>. See software management. - In containers. Run tools without installing them on the base system; see Docker images for Parrot.
Keeping the tools up to date
Tools are updated through the same repositories as the rest of the system. Run sudo parrot-upgrade regularly; it refreshes the package lists and upgrades the system and the tools together.
Guides on this site
- AnonSurf: route the whole system through Tor.
- Firejail: sandbox applications with profiles.
- AppArmor: confine applications with mandatory access control.
- Troubleshooting Tor: fix common Tor Browser and connection problems.
- Hash and key verification: check downloads with checksums and GPG.
- OpenCL for Hashcat: set up an OpenCL runtime.
- Supported Wi-Fi chipsets: adapters that work for wireless auditing.
- Helpme cheat sheet: everyday commands.
Use the tools responsibly
Security tools are meant for systems you own or have written permission to assess, and for training labs built for that purpose. Using them against other systems is illegal in most countries. If you are learning, a local virtual machine or a dedicated lab platform is the right place to practise; see Hack The Box Edition.