Parrot OS is a

Linux distribution A Linux distribution, often abbreviated as distro, is an operating system that includes the Linux kernel for its kernel functionality. Although the name does not imply product distribution per se, a distro—if distributed on its own—is oft ...

based on

Debian Debian () is a free and open-source software, free and open source Linux distribution, developed by the Debian Project, which was established by Ian Murdock in August 1993. Debian is one of the oldest operating systems based on the Linux kerne ...

with a focus on security, privacy, and development.

Core

Parrot is based on

's "stable" branch, with a Linux 6.1 kernel. It follows a LTS development model. The desktop environment is MATE, and the default display manager is LightDM. The system is certified to run on devices which have a minimum of 256MB of

RAM Ram, ram, or RAM most commonly refers to: * A male sheep * Random-access memory, computer memory * Ram Trucks, US, since 2009 ** List of vehicles named Dodge Ram, trucks and vans ** Ram Pickup, produced by Ram Trucks Ram, ram, or RAM may also ref ...

, and it is suitable for both 32-bit (

i386 The Intel 386, originally released as the 80386 and later renamed i386, is the third-generation x86 architecture microprocessor from Intel. It was the first 32-bit processor in the line, making it a significant evolution in the x86 archite ...

) and 64-bit (

amd64 x86-64 (also known as x64, x86_64, AMD64, and Intel 64) is a 64-bit extension of the x86 instruction set. It was announced in 1999 and first available in the AMD Opteron family in 2003. It introduces two new operating modes: 64-bit mode an ...

) processor architectures. Moreover, the project is available for ARMv7 (

armhf ARM (stylised in lowercase as arm, formerly an acronym for Advanced RISC Machines and originally Acorn RISC Machine) is a family of RISC instruction set architectures (ISAs) for computer processors. Arm Holdings develops the ISAs and lice ...

) architectures. In June 2017, the Parrot Team announced they were considering to change from Debian to

Devuan Devuan is an open source, Debian-based Linux distribution that aims to maintain compatibility with other init systems and avoid lock-in by systemd. Devuan offers sysvinit, runit or OpenRC as alternatives to systemd. History With the relea ...

, mainly because of problems with

systemd systemd is a software suite that provides an array of system components for Linux operating systems. The main aim is to unify service configuration and behavior across Linux distributions. Its primary component is a "system and service manage ...

. As of January 21, 2019, the Parrot team has begun to phase out the development of their 32-bit (

) ISO. In August 2020, the Parrot OS officially supports Lightweight Xfce Desktop.

Editions

Parrot has multiple editions that are based upon

, with various

desktop environment In computing, a desktop environment (DE) is an implementation of the desktop metaphor made of a bundle of programs running on top of a computer operating system that share a common graphical user interface (GUI), sometimes described as a graphi ...

s available.

Home Edition

Parrot OS Home Edition is the base edition of Parrot designed for daily use, and it targets regular users who need a "lightweight" system on their laptops or workstations. The distribution is useful for daily work. Parrot Home also includes programs to chat privately with people, encrypt documents, or browse the internet anonymously. The system can also be used as a starting point to build a system with a custom set of security tools.

Security Edition

Parrot OS Security Edition is designed for

penetration testing A penetration test, colloquially known as a pentest, is an authorized simulated cyberattack on a computer system, performed to evaluate the security of the system; this is not to be confused with a vulnerability assessment. The test is performed ...

, vulnerability assessment and mitigation,

computer forensics Computer forensics (also known as computer forensic science) is a branch of digital forensics, digital forensic science pertaining to evidence found in computers and digital storage media. The goal of computer forensics is to examine digital me ...

, and

anonymous web browsing Anonymous web browsing may refer to one of the following: * Private browsing * Dark web *Tor (network) Tor is a free overlay network for enabling anonymous communication. It is built on free and open-source software run by over seven thous ...

Parrot ARM

Parrot ARM is a lightweight Parrot release for embedded systems. It is currently available for Raspberry Pi devices.

Parrot Architect & IoT

ParrotOS with nothing pre-installed. It allows for any software and desktop environment chosen by the user.

Parrot OS tools

There are multiple tools in Parrot OS which are specially designed for Security Researchers and are related to penetration testing. A few of them are listed below, more can be found on the official website.

Tor

Tor Tor, TOR or ToR may refer to: Places * Toronto, Canada ** Toronto Raptors * Tor, Pallars, a village in Spain * Tor, former name of Sloviansk, Ukraine, a city * Mount Tor, Tasmania, Australia, an extinct volcano * Tor Bay, Devon, England * Tor ...

, also known as The Onion Router, is a distributed network that anonymizes Internet browsing. It is designed in a way that the IP Address of the client using Tor is hidden from the server that the client is visiting. Also, the data and other details are hidden from the client’s Internet Service Provider (ISP). Tor network uses hops to encrypt the data between the client and the server. Tor network and Tor browser are pre-installed and configured in Parrot OS.

Onion Share

Onion Share is an open-source utility that can be used to share files of any size over the Tor network securely and anonymously. Onion Share then generates a long random

URL A uniform resource locator (URL), colloquially known as an address on the Web, is a reference to a resource that specifies its location on a computer network and a mechanism for retrieving it. A URL is a specific type of Uniform Resource Identi ...

that can be used by the recipient to download the file over the TOR network using TOR browser.

AnonSurf

Anonsurf is a utility that makes the operating system communication go over Tor or other anonymizing networks. According to Parrot, AnonSurf secures your web browser and anonymizes your IP.

Notes

External links

Official WebsiteBlog & Release NotesDistroWatchDebian Derivatives Census
{{Linux-distro Debian-based distributions Computer security software Pentesting software toolkits Rolling release Linux distributions Linux distributions