Kali Linux

A Debian-based distribution for penetration testing and security.

Kali Linux is a Debian-based distribution maintained by Offensive Security for penetration testing and security work. It ships hundreds of security testing tools (Metasploit, Nmap, Burp Suite Community, Aircrack-ng, John the Ripper, sqlmap, Hashcat, Wireshark, and many more) preinstalled and ready to run, with metapackages organised by category (kali-tools-web, kali-tools-wireless, etc.) so users can install subsets.

Kali succeeded the older BackTrack distribution in 2013, with substantial reorganisation: rolling-release upstream from Debian testing, package metadata, and the integration of ARM and container images. The distribution is widely used by security professionals, CTF players, and educators teaching security courses.

Kali Linux is shipped as ISO images, ARM images for Raspberry Pi, NetHunter ROMs for Android phones, WSL images for Windows, and Docker images. The Live ISO is the default delivery for penetration testing engagements, where the operator typically boots from USB rather than installing on disk.

License: Composite per package

Category: Distribution

Website: https://www.kali.org/

Install

Download an ISO from https://www.kali.org/get-kali/
Or run as a container:
  docker run -it kalilinux/kali-rolling

Authors

Offensive Security

Previousk3s NextKDE Plasma