Install Parrot Linux on VMware Workstation (Step by Step)

If you want to install Parrot Linux on VMware without touching the disk of your main computer, a virtual machine is the safest way to do it. You get a full Parrot OS desktop in a window, you can snapshot it before every risky experiment, and you can throw it away in seconds if something breaks. This guide walks through the whole process on VMware Workstation, from downloading the right ISO to installing the guest tools that make the VM pleasant to use. It is written for Parrot 7.x, which is based on Debian 13 and ships KDE Plasma 6 as the default desktop, but the steps are the same for the MATE, LXQt and Enlightenment spins.

What you need before you install Parrot Linux on VMware

Check these four things first and the installation itself will be quick:

A host with virtualization enabled. Intel VT-x or AMD-V must be switched on in the firmware (BIOS/UEFI). On Windows hosts, also make sure Hyper-V, Memory Integrity (Core Isolation) and Windows Hypervisor Platform are either off or that your VMware version supports running alongside them; older versions fall back to a much slower mode when Hyper-V is active.
Enough resources. Give the VM at least 2 CPU cores, 4 GB of RAM and 40 GB of disk. For the Security edition with its larger tool set, 8 GB RAM and 60 GB disk make a noticeable difference. Compare this with the official system requirements and leave some headroom for the host.
VMware Workstation Pro or Player. Workstation Pro is now distributed by Broadcom; check the current licensing terms on the VMware Workstation page before you download, because they have changed more than once.
The Parrot ISO. Pick an edition using our Parrot Linux download guide. For a virtual machine, the regular live/installer ISO of Home or Security is the right choice; the Architect edition works too but asks more questions during setup.

Verify the ISO before you boot it

A corrupted download is the most common cause of an installer that freezes halfway. Compare the SHA-512 checksum of your file with the one published next to the download. On Linux or macOS run sha512sum parrot-*.iso; on Windows PowerShell use Get-FileHash .parrot-*.iso -Algorithm SHA512. If you also want to check the signature, follow the steps in Verify the Parrot ISO.

Step 1: Create the virtual machine

Open VMware Workstation and choose File → New Virtual Machine.
Select Custom (advanced). The typical wizard is fine, but the custom path lets you set UEFI firmware and the right disk controller in one pass.
Keep the default hardware compatibility unless you need to move the VM to an older VMware version later.
When asked for the installer, choose I will install the operating system later. If you point the wizard at the ISO now, VMware tries “Easy Install”, which does not understand the Parrot installer and can leave you with a half-configured guest.
Guest operating system: Linux, version Debian 12.x 64-bit or the newest Debian entry your VMware version offers. Parrot 7 is built on Debian 13, so the closest Debian profile gives the best default devices.
Name the VM (for example parrot-7-lab) and store it on an SSD if you have one.
Firmware type: UEFI. Leave Secure Boot unchecked. Parrot boots fine in legacy BIOS mode as well, but UEFI matches modern physical hardware, which matters if you later clone the VM to a USB drive.
Processors: 2 cores minimum, 4 if the host has 8 or more.
Memory: 4096 MB minimum, 8192 MB recommended for the Security edition.
Network: NAT is the sensible default. It gives the guest internet access through the host without exposing it to your LAN. Switch to Bridged only when you need the VM to be reachable from other machines in a home lab.
I/O controller: LSI Logic (default). Disk type: NVMe if offered, otherwise SCSI.
Create a new virtual disk of 40–60 GB, choose Store virtual disk as a single file, and leave “Allocate all disk space now” unchecked so the file grows only as you use it.
Finish the wizard.

Attach the ISO and enable 3D acceleration

Open Edit virtual machine settings. Under CD/DVD, select Use ISO image file and browse to the Parrot ISO; make sure Connect at power on is ticked. Under Display, enable Accelerate 3D graphics and give it 1–2 GB of graphics memory. KDE Plasma 6 renders through the GPU, and without 3D acceleration the desktop feels sluggish and some effects fall back to software rendering.

Step 2: Boot the live system

Power on the VM. The Parrot boot menu appears with several entries. Live starts the full desktop from the ISO without writing anything to the virtual disk; this is the best entry to pick first because you can confirm that the display, keyboard and network work before you commit. If the screen stays black after the menu, reboot and pick the entry that mentions failsafe or safe graphics, or temporarily disable 3D acceleration in the VM settings.

Once the live desktop loads, click the virtual screen so it captures your keyboard and mouse. You can release them with Ctrl+Alt at any time. Open a terminal and run ip a to confirm the NAT interface (usually ens33) has an address in the 192.168.x.x range.

Step 3: Run the Parrot installer

Double-click Install Parrot on the live desktop. Parrot uses the Calamares installer, which is a graphical wizard with the following screens:

Language and location. Pick your language and time zone. The locale you set here also decides the default keyboard layout on the next screen, so double-check it if you type in a non-US layout.
Keyboard. Test a few special characters in the text box before continuing.
Partitions. Choose Erase disk. Inside a VM the “disk” is just the virtual file you created, so there is nothing else on it to lose. Leave swap on Swap (with hibernate) or Swap (no hibernate); either is fine. If you want the whole virtual disk encrypted, tick Encrypt system and set a passphrase; you will type it at every boot.
Users. Set your name, username, hostname and password. Leave “Use the same password for the administrator account” checked unless you want a separate root password. Avoid enabling automatic login on a machine you will use for security testing.
Summary. Review the partition layout and click Install.

Installation takes between 5 and 15 minutes depending on your storage. When it finishes, tick Restart now. VMware normally disconnects the ISO automatically after the first install; if the VM boots back into the live menu, shut it down, go to CD/DVD in the settings and untick Connect at power on.

If you would rather follow a screenshot-style walkthrough of the Calamares screens themselves, the Install Parrot Linux doc covers them in detail.

Step 4: Install open-vm-tools (VMware guest tools)

This is the step most people skip, and it is why their VM has a tiny fixed-size screen and no clipboard sharing. VMware’s own menu item “Install VMware Tools” mounts a legacy ISO that you should ignore on Linux guests. The supported way on Debian-based systems is the open-vm-tools package from the repositories.

sudo apt update
sudo apt install open-vm-tools open-vm-tools-desktop
sudo reboot

After the reboot you should get automatic screen resizing when you change the window size, a shared clipboard in both directions, and drag-and-drop of files from the host. Check the service is running with:

systemctl status vmtoolsd

If the resolution still does not follow the window, choose View → Autosize → Autofit Guest in VMware, then log out and back in once. On KDE Plasma 6 under Wayland, automatic resizing depends on the virtual GPU; if it refuses to work, select the Plasma (X11) session from the login screen’s session menu, which behaves more predictably inside VMware.

Step 5: Update Parrot and take a snapshot

Parrot is a rolling-style distribution that receives frequent updates, and the ISO you installed is already a few weeks behind. Bring the system current with Parrot’s own wrapper rather than a plain apt upgrade:

sudo parrot-upgrade

The command runs the correct combination of apt update and a full upgrade that handles package replacements the way the Parrot maintainers intend. Expect a large download the first time. When it is done and you have rebooted, go to VM → Snapshot → Take Snapshot and call it something like clean-install. From now on every experiment with a new tool or kernel is one click away from being undone.

Optional: set up shared folders

Shared folders let you move wordlists, reports and scripts between host and guest without a network share. In the VM settings under Options → Shared Folders, enable Always enabled and add a host directory. Inside Parrot, mount it with:

sudo mkdir -p /mnt/hgfs
sudo vmhgfs-fuse .host:/ /mnt/hgfs -o allow_other

To make it permanent, add this line to /etc/fstab:

.host:/  /mnt/hgfs  fuse.vmhgfs-fuse  defaults,allow_other  0  0

Fixing common VMware problems with Parrot Linux

Symptom	Likely cause	Fix
“This host supports Intel VT-x, but VT-x is disabled”	Virtualization off in firmware	Enable VT-x / AMD-V in BIOS/UEFI and cold-boot the host.
VM is extremely slow on Windows	Hyper-V or Core Isolation active	Update VMware to a version that supports Hyper-V, or disable Memory Integrity and Windows Hypervisor Platform.
Black screen after the boot menu	3D acceleration incompatibility	Disable 3D in Display settings, install, then re-enable after open-vm-tools is in place.
Screen does not resize	open-vm-tools-desktop missing	Install the package, reboot, or switch to the X11 session.
No internet in the guest	NAT service stopped on host	Open VMware’s Virtual Network Editor and restore defaults, or restart the VMware NAT service.
Wi-Fi adapter not visible in guest	VMs see only a virtual Ethernet card	Pass a USB Wi-Fi adapter through via VM → Removable Devices; check it against the supported chipsets list.

For Wi-Fi hardware questions, the supported Wi-Fi chipsets page explains which USB adapters are known to work when passed through to a virtual machine.

FAQ

Does Parrot Linux provide a ready-made VMware image?

Historically the project has published pre-built virtual machine images for some releases. Whether one exists for the current version depends on the release, so check the official download page at parrot.sh or our download guide. Installing from the ISO as described here takes about 15 minutes and gives you a cleaner system with your own disk size and user account.

Can I use VMware Workstation Player instead of Pro?

Yes. Player lacks snapshots and some advanced networking, but the installation steps are identical. Given that snapshots are the main reason to run a security distribution in a VM, it is worth checking whether Pro is available to you under the current licensing.

How much disk space does Parrot actually use after installation?

Run df -h / after your first parrot-upgrade to see the real figure on your system. The Home edition is considerably smaller than Security because it does not include the penetration-testing tool set. Since you created the virtual disk as a growable file, the .vmdk on the host only occupies what the guest has written so far.

How to Install Parrot Linux on VMware Workstation (Step by Step)