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Parrot Linux 6.0 Release Notes

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Released on 24 January 2024, Parrot Linux 6.0 is the biggest change to the distribution since 5.0. The whole system moved to Debian 12 “Bookworm”, roughly a year after 5.2 shipped.

Highlights

  • Debian 12 base. Every package was rebuilt on Bookworm, bringing glibc, Python 3.11 and a modern toolchain.
  • Linux 6.5 kernel. Parrot chose 6.5 over Debian’s own 6.1 LTS to get wider hardware support, especially on new laptops.
  • PipeWire replaces PulseAudio as the default audio stack.
  • Calamares installer with a cleaner, more reliable installation flow.
  • Refreshed look for the MATE desktop, which remains the default.
  • GRUB fail-safe boot entries so a broken kernel update does not leave you locked out.
  • VirtualBox backported from Debian Sid.
  • Every penetration-testing tool refreshed to its latest version, plus an experimental container feature for tools that are hard to package natively.

Editions

6.0 shipped as Security Edition, Home Edition and Hack The Box Edition. A Raspberry Pi build with Raspberry Pi 5 support followed shortly after the main release.

Upgrading from 5.x to Parrot Linux 6.0

Because 6.0 is a new Debian base, the project recommended a clean install. If you want to try an in-place upgrade anyway, run the full-upgrade twice and reboot between runs:

sudo apt update && sudo apt full-upgrade

Back up /home first. For a fresh system, follow the installation guide.

Known considerations

Third-party tools installed outside the Parrot repositories may need to be reinstalled against Python 3.11. Check troubleshooting if a tool fails to start after the upgrade.

Upgrade checklist

  1. Back up /home and any tool configs you customised (Burp projects, Metasploit database, wordlists).
  2. Make sure you have at least 5 GB free on /; kernel and tool updates are large.
  3. Run the upgrade on a wired connection or stable Wi-Fi; if it is interrupted, re-run sudo apt --fix-broken install then sudo parrot-upgrade again.
  4. Reboot. Confirm the kernel with uname -r and the release with cat /etc/os-release.
  5. 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.