Parrot is free to download and use. The current release is 7.4 (October 2026), built on Debian 13 with the Linux 7.1 kernel. This Parrot Linux download guide helps you pick the right image and check it before you install.
Where the files come from: parrotlinux.org is an independent guide and does not host Parrot images. Official ISO, virtual machine and container images are published by the Parrot project on its official download page. Use the table below to decide which one you need.
Which edition should I download?
| Edition | Best for | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Security Edition | Penetration testing, forensics and red teaming, with the security toolset preinstalled | KDE Plasma 6 by default; MATE, LXQt and Enlightenment spins since 7.1 |
| Home Edition | Daily use, development and privacy, without the pentesting toolset | Same base system and repositories as Security |
| Hack The Box Edition | Hack The Box labs | Security Edition customised for HTB |
| Raspberry Pi images | Raspberry Pi 4, 400 and 5 | ARM64, MATE desktop |
| Minimal install (Architect / Core) | Building a system with only what you choose | See the page for what current releases offer |
| Servers and containers | Headless use on a VPS, in Docker or in a lab | Docker images, VM disk images and Vagrant boxes |
Image formats
- ISO for bare-metal installs: boot it from USB, try it live, then install. See creating a Parrot USB drive.
- Virtual machine images: OVA for VirtualBox, VMDK for VMware, QCOW2 for QEMU/KVM and UTM for Apple Silicon. See Parrot on VirtualBox.
- Vagrant boxes for Home and Security editions (since 7.3).
- Docker images. See Parrot on Docker.
- WSL image for Windows.
- Optimized ISOs (amd64v3 and arm64v8.2) for recent CPUs, new in 7.4. Use the standard ISO if you are not sure your CPU supports them.
How big is the download?
The images are large. The official download page listed the 7.3 Security ISO at about 8.5 GiB and the virtual machine images at roughly 10 GB each, so use a 16 GB or larger USB stick and a stable connection.
System requirements
A 64-bit dual-core CPU, 2 GB of RAM as a minimum (4 GB recommended) and 40 GB of disk space. Details: system requirements.
Verify your download
The project publishes a file of hashes for every release and signs its repository with a GPG key. Compare the hash of the file you downloaded before writing it to USB. The steps are in hash and key verification.
Already running Parrot?
You do not need a new ISO. Run sudo parrot-upgrade to move to 7.4. See software management and the 7.4 release notes.