Installation on Ubuntu Linux
The Metasploit Framework is well-supported on the Ubuntu platform. The following instructions should also apply to Kubuntu, Xubuntu, and Debian.
If these instructions do not work for your version of Ubuntu, please try the Generic Linux instructions instead.
Dependencies
Install the Ruby dependencies:
$ sudo apt-get install ruby libopenssl-ruby libyaml-ruby libdl-ruby libiconv-ruby libreadline-ruby irb ri rubygems
Install the Subversion client:
$ sudo apt-get install subversion
In order to build the native extensions (pcaprub, lorcon2, etc), the following packages need to be installed:
$ sudo apt-get install build-essential ruby-dev libpcap-dev
Metasploit Framework
Once the dependencies have been installed, download the Unix tarball from the download page and run the following commands:
$ tar xf framework-3.X.tar.gz
$ sudo mkdir -p /opt/metasploit3
$ sudo cp -a msf3/ /opt/metasploit3/msf3
$ sudo chown root:root -R /opt/metasploit3/msf3
$ sudo ln -sf /opt/metasploit3/msf3/msf* /usr/local/bin/
When you've completed this step, you should have a working installation and be able to run modules, pivot through compromised systems, and use most of the Metasploit Framework's features. The following optional installation steps will give you extra functionality.
Database Configuration (optional)
Now that the framework is installed, you'll want to configure a database connection, and enable the Metasploit Framework to connect to it:
For postgres, see postgres_setup (recommended)
For mysql, see mysql_setup
For sqlite, see sqlite_setup (not supported!!).
Extensions (optional)
The Metasploit Framework includes a few native Ruby extensions that must be compiled in order to use certain types of modules.
To enable raw socket modules:
$ sudo apt-get install libpcap-dev
$ sudo bash
# cd /opt/metasploit3/msf3/external/pcaprub/
# ruby extconf.rb
# make && make install
To enable WiFi modules:
$ sudo bash
# cd /opt/metasploit3/msf3/external/ruby-lorcon2/
# svn co http://802.11ninja.net/svn/lorcon/trunk lorcon2
# cd lorcon2
# ./configure --prefix=/usr && make && make install
# cd ..
# ruby extconf.rb
# make && make install
Updates
The Metasploit Framework is updated daily with the latest exploits, payloads, features, and bug fixes. To update your installation of the Metasploit Framework:
$ sudo svn update /opt/metasploit3/msf3/
This can also be installed into the root user's crontab:
$ sudo crontab -e -u root # enter the line below
1 * * * * /usr/bin/svn update /opt/metasploit3/msf3/ >> /var/log/msfupdate.log 2>&1