Parrot Linux 5.3 arrived in May 2023, about two and a half months after 5.2. It is the third release of the 5.x “Electro Ara” series and the last one before the Debian 12 rebase that came with 6.0. It is a maintenance release: a newer long-term-support kernel and better hardware compatibility.
What’s new in Parrot Linux 5.3
- Linux 6.1 LTS replaces the 6.0 kernel that shipped with 5.2, adding drivers for more hardware.
- MATE 1.24.1 desktop.
- Virtual machine images for 64-bit PCs (amd64) and ARM64: OVA files for VirtualBox and VMware, and a UTM image for Apple Silicon Macs.
- Performance improvements for existing installations.
How to upgrade from 5.2
If you already run Parrot Linux 5.x, you do not need to reinstall. Open a terminal and run:
sudo parrot-upgradeor, with plain APT:
sudo apt update && sudo apt full-upgradeReboot when the kernel update finishes so that the 6.1 kernel is active.
Should you still install 5.3?
No. It is listed here for the record. New installations should use the current release from the download guide; 6.0 moved to Debian 12 and 7.0 to Debian 13.
Upgrade checklist
- Back up
/homeand any tool configs you customised (Burp projects, Metasploit database, wordlists). - Make sure you have at least 5 GB free on
/; kernel and tool updates are large. - Run the upgrade on a wired connection or stable Wi-Fi; if it is interrupted, re-run
sudo apt --fix-broken installthensudo parrot-upgradeagain. - Reboot. Confirm the kernel with
uname -rand the release withcat /etc/os-release. - If a tool misbehaves after the upgrade, check troubleshooting or run it through Rocket in a container.
Fresh install instead?
Download the current ISO from the download page, verify the hash (guide), write it to USB (guide) and follow the installation guide. Minimums are in system requirements.
Official images are published by the Parrot project on its download page.