blackarchlinux

A lightweight, pentest distribution

BlackArch Linux is a lightweight expansion to Arch Linux for penetration testers.


Currently we have over 60 tools in our toolset that continues to grow. All tools are thoroughly tested before being added to the codebase to maintain the quality of the repository. Each tool can be installed individually and does not require full installation of the distribution, the source code for each package can be found here.


This is a relatively new project and as we continue to grow the distribution with the help of the community, we continue to make it better. If you find bugs, have suggestions or have feature requests please feel free to visit our github repository or email us.

Just about due2013-05-13

There's a lack of updates lately due to relocation, new job, rebuilding my lab, all things fun. I have decided to abandon the release of an ISO image, primarily because it goes against all of what The Arch Way stands for. As I've said before the InfoSec community and the developer community are two different beasts, and I find a good balance is to release a signed packages repository only, rather than a VM, an ISO, and the package repositories. I'll also provide a package that builds the BlackArch menu this way Arch Linux users can keep their awesome customized systems and still add the BlackArch toolset without major modifications. This will make BlackArch truly modular. To start I'll be updating the toolset to the latest stable versions, then I'll follow with the official release of the package repositories in both 32bit and 64bit. Thanks all for your patience!

We're almost ready!2013-03-08

Coming to a pacman.conf near you! i686 package repository and x86-64 package repository. All packages will be signed that you can verify with this public key. Thank you to all who are helping to make BlackArch better!

Also pdfid got an upgrade visit Didier Stevens blog here for information about this update.

Change in qt packages2013-03-03

Arch Linux removed qt, they use extra/qt4 now, the binary that compiles qt source is qmake-qt4. We fixed all that in the new update to the repository, this change does not reflect in the RC1 Preview release. Two tools are affected by the change, edb and netglub.

If you installed BlackArch Linux using the install scripts you can easily get these changes. Download the new PKGBUILD files for edb and netglub, and build.

Quick Update2013-03-01

The Arch Linux community and the InfoSec community are two different beasts. I want to continue to support Arch Linux because I really do prefer it over other distros and I support the Arch Way. In order to satisfy this fork in the road I'm in, I've decided to upload as many PKGBUILD files as I can to the AUR that don't already exist there, and keep to the Arch Linux standards. I will also continue to maintain a separate repository for BlackArch Linux, one that I can manage so that new updates to tools don't break the distribution. Before the final release of BlackArch 1.0 there will be a database repository and all packages will be signed.

Inspiration2013-02-27

It comes from the strangest places when you realize just how significant a single voice can be when it's heard. This project will take a turn and keep true to The Arch Way. More details to come.

RC1 Preview Released!2013-02-25

A few teaser screenshots of Release Candidate 1 can be found here, here, here, here, and here. You can download the Virtual Machine on our download page. Please email us with any bugs or comments!

New Icons2013-02-23

In preparation for our VM 1.0 release there are new XFCE menu icons in the set, if you downloaded the package before today feel free to upgrade if you like, you don't have to, it's just a cosmetic update but future releases will follow the new icon scheme, the old set will be deprecated.