Author: Humphrey Mpairwe
Last Updated: Thu, Aug 4, 2022Parrot OS is a free and open-source Debian-based desktop Linux distribution designed for developers, IT security experts, system administrators, and privacy-centric users. It's best known as an alternative to Kali Linux, and offers a wide range of security and digital forensic tools available through the default Mate desktop environment. This article explains how to install Parrot OS on a Vultr server instance and set up remote access.
This article uses the example IP address 192.0.2.1
and username example-user
. Replace these with your values.
By default, Parrot OS uses the Mate desktop environment. Install Mate along with a desktop display manager such as lightdm
in the following steps.
Install the Mate desktop environment.
$ sudo apt install mate-desktop-environment -y
Install the Lightdm display manager.
$ sudo apt install lightdm lightdm-gtk-greeter -y
Start Lightdm.
$ sudo systemctl start lightdm
Confirm that Lightdm is up and running.
$ sudo systemctl status lightdm
Change the default server environment from terminal to desktop.
$ sudo systemctl set-default graphical.target
Restart the server to save changes.
$ sudo reboot
NoMachine for Linux DEB amd64
package.Navigate to the directory you saved the download file, usually your Downloads folder.
$ cd ~/Downloads
Upload the NoMachine package to the server using Secure Copy.
$ scp nomachine_<version>_amd64.deb example-user@192.0.2.1:~/
Enter your server password when prompted.
When the upload is complete, SSH to the Debian server as your non-root user.
$ ssh example-user@192.0.2.1
Install the NoMachine package.
$ sudo apt install ./nomachine_<version>_amd64.deb
Configure the firewall to allow NoMachine connections.
$ sudo ufw allow 4000/tcp
Restart the Firewall.
$ sudo ufw reload
On the Machines page, click Add.
Enter a Name (label) for your connection, enter your Debian server IP address in the Host: field, and keep 4000
as the Port, NX
as the protocol.
Click Connect to establish a connection, and accept the server certificate fingerprint.
In the terminal window, update the server.
$ sudo apt update
Install git.
$ sudo apt install git -y
Clone the Parrot OS repository.
$ git clone https://nest.parrotsec.org/build/alternate-install.git
Switch to the alternate-install
directory.
$ cd alternate-install
Add execution privileges on the parrot-install.sh
file.
$ sudo chmod +x parrot-install.sh
Run the script.
$ sudo ./parrot-install.sh
Select your desired Parrot OS edition. This guide uses the Security edition (option 3).
Choose your edition.
*********************************************
Welcome to Parrot On-Debian Installer Script
rev 0.3 - 2020-03-19
** 1) Install Core Only
** 2) Install Headless Edition
** 3) Install Security Edition
** 4) Install Home Edition
** 5) Install Embedded Edition
*********************************************
Please enter a menu option and enter or enter to exit.
Enter N (case-sensitive) when prompted about the sources.list
file.
Accept the following prompt. Enter N for No (it works)
Configuration file '/etc/apt/sources.list.d/parrot.list'
==> File on system created by you or by a script.
==> File also in package provided by package maintainer.
What would you like to do about it ? Your options are:
Y or I : install the package maintainer's version
N or O : keep your currently-installed version
D : show the differences between the versions
Z : start a shell to examine the situation
The default action is to keep your current version.
*** parrot.list (Y/I/N/O/D/Z) [default=N] ?
The Parrot OS installation starts and takes about 20 minutes to complete. If you receive any errors during the download process, run the script again.
During installation, additional prompts for MAC address
, sslh
, and Wireshark
pop up, press enter to use the default options for each of the configurations.
When the installation is complete, check your Linux distribution information with the following command.
$ cat /etc/*release
Output:
PRETTY_NAME="Parrot OS 5.0 (Electro Ara)"
NAME="Parrot OS"
VERSION_ID="5.0"
VERSION="5.0 (Electro Ara)"
VERSION_CODENAME=ara
ID=parrot
ID_LIKE=debian
HOME_URL="https://www.parrotsec.org/"
SUPPORT_URL="https://community.parrotsec.org/"
BUG_REPORT_URL="https://community.parrotsec.org/"
Restart the Server to boot into the new Parrot OS system.
$ sudo reboot
Confirm your Parrot OS version.
$ cat /etc/issue
Update Parrot OS packages.
$ sudo apt update
Install Parrot Core.
$ sudo apt install parrot-core
Upgrade Parrot OS.
$ sudo parrot-upgrade
The command upgrades all existing server packages and the base Parrot OS system to the latest version. Follow the upgrade process and reply to any prompts until completion.
Reboot the server.
$ sudo reboot
You have successfully upgraded to the latest Parrot OS release. Access your Parrot OS desktop and navigate to System Information, or run $ cat /etc/issue
in the terminal to verify your new Parrot OS version.
You have successfully installed Parrot OS on a Vultr Instance. For more information and configuration options, please visit the official Parrot OS documentation.
Parrot OS contains powerful tools for security and penetration testing. Please familiarize yourself with Vultr's Terms of Service and Acceptable Use Policy before using your Parrot OS system.