WSL Edition

Install Parrot OS on WSL (Windows Subsystem for Linux).

Compatible with the latest versions of Windows 10 and Windows 11.

Currently, only the Core Edition is available. A complete Security Edition will probably be released in the future.

Anyway, any tool from the Security Edition can be installed using apt.

Installing WSL

If you already have WSL installed on your machine, you can skip this section.

Open up PowerShell or Windows Terminal as administrator (Right-click -> Run as Administrator), and type:

wsl --install

If you see the help text, that means you have WSL already installed; otherwise, wait for the installation to finish.

Running Parrot OS on WSL

Manual Install

Download the .wsl file containing the needed files from the Parrot OS website.

Double-click the parrot-core_7.wsl file and an installation window will pop up.

Now, enter your username and password for your user account.

Your WSL “Hard Drive” will be created as a .vhdx in the folder you run the launcher from.

All updates can be performed via a standard apt upgrade / apt update. However, if you wish to rerun the installer, you must run wsl --unregister parrot, and rerun the .wsl file.

Congrats, you now have a working Parrot OS WSL instance!

Microsoft Store

Coming soon…

Troubleshooting

Packages requiring systemd (e.g., PowerShell Empire) are not working on default installs.

This can be fixed, however, by editing /etc/wsl.conf and adding:

[boot]
systemd=true

And restarting your WSL instance.

Unknown Issues

Please open an issue in The WSL GitLab Project for any bugs you encounter.