This step by step guide explains what is Katoolin3 and how to install Kali Linux tools in Ubuntu, Debian and other DEB-based systems like Linux Mint and Pop_OS!.
Important: It seems the development of Katoolin 3 has been stopped. There is no update since February 2020. So Katoolin 3 may not work as expected.
Table of Contents
Introduction to Katoolin3
As some of you might already know, Katoolin is a Python script to install Kali Linux tools in Ubuntu, Debian and other DEB-based systems.
If you're a security researcher or enthusiast, Katoolin allows you to install any Kali Linux tools of your choice on top of your Ubuntu system in couple minutes.
It seems that Katoolin is not being updated regularly (the last commit was April, 2019) and it doesn't work in recent Ubuntu versions. The Caveats started adding up due to lack of maintenance.
Fortunately, someone has taken up the torch and is keeping a very stable branch of katoolin. Say hello to Katoolin3, a fork of Katoolin, that helps you to get your favorite Kali Linux tools on Debian, Ubuntu and its derivatives like Linux Mint. Katoolin3 is completely free and open source program.
Important Warning: It looks like the Katoolin3 messes up the existing repositories. Many users have complained that Katoolin3 removes the GNOME DE, and other packages that are not even related to Katoolin when they try to uninstall Katoolin. So I strongly suggest you to try it in a test machine for a while and see if it works perfectly.
Katoolin3 Features
Katoolin3 offers several improvements over katoolin as listed below.
- Katoolin3 is ported to Python 3. Katoolin is written in Python 2.x.
- It provides up-to-date packages. The old katoolin uses an outdated package list.
- The old katoolin breaks if a package isn't available in the repositories anymore. Katoolin3 detects the missing packages and simply ignores them.
- Unlike old Katoolin, it is possible to remove all packages installed by Katoolin3. You can remove packages individually or all at once.
- Some user have complained that they can’t update or upgrade their Ubuntu OS after installed old Katoolin. This issue has been addressed and fixed in the newer Katoolin3 version. The upgrade won't break your system, because the Kali repositories only get enabled during the runtime of katoolin3.
- The old katoolin modifies and even deletes important system configuration files. These potentially dangerous operations have been changed in Katoolin3.
- It is difficult to add new packages to package list in the old Katoolin. Not anymore! Maintaining the package list just got better and a lot easier with Katoolin3.
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Install Katoolin3 in Ubuntu 20.04 LTS
I have tested Katoolin3 in Ubuntu 20.04 LTS server edition. However, It should work on other Ubuntu versions and derivatives.
Katoolin3 requires the following prerequisites in your Ubuntu system.
- Python >= 3.5.
- Git.
- sh, bash.
- python3-apt.
These packages comes preinstalled in latest Ubuntu 20.04 LTS, so you probably don't need to install anything.
Also, make sure you have enabled [universe]
repository.
$ sudo add-apt-repository universe
Clone the Katollin3 GitHub repository using command:
$ git clone https://github.com/s-h-3-l-l/katoolin3
Please make sure the repository name is correct. In the above URL, it should be two lower case “L” letters in the word "s-h-3-l-l".
The command will clone the contents of Katooolin3 repository in a local folder named "katoolin3" in the current directory.
Go to the katoolin3 directory:
$ cd katoolin3/
Make the install.sh executable:
$ chmod +x ./install.sh
Then install Katoolin3 using command:
$ sudo ./install.sh
Upon successful installation, you will see the following message:
Executing: /tmp/apt-key-gpghome.r4OwC90o2Q/gpg.1.sh -qq --keyserver pool.sks-keyservers.net --recv-keys ED444FF07D8D0BF6 Successfully installed. Run it with 'sudo katoolin3'.
Please note: If you get the error "Please install the python3-apt package", please make sure katoolin3 runs with exactly the same python3 version as the python3-apt package. On modern distributions python3-apt is only for python3.7 and on older distributions python3-apt is only for python3.5. Katoolin3 has to be run accordingly with python3.7 or python3.5. In Ubuntu 20.04 LTS version, I don't have any issues with Katoolin3 installation.
Install Kali Linux Tools Using Katoolin3 In Ubuntu 20.04 LTS
To run Katoolin3, enter the following command:
$ sudo katoolin3
Katoolin3 will add necessary Kali Linux repositories on your Ubuntu machine and update the sources lists.
Once the repositories are added and the source lists are updated, you will see the Katoolin3 main menu.
[...] Main Menu 0) View Categories 1) Install All 2) Uninstall All 3) Search repository 4) List installed packages 5) List not installed packages 6) Install Kali Menu 7) Uninstall old katoolin 8) Help 9) Exit kat>
Important note: Please note that you should not update your packages, upgrade your system or modify your package cache in any other way while katoolin3 is still running. Always close Katoolin3 before updating system or modifying package cache. Unlike the old Katoolin, the new Katoolin3 will not break the system while upgrading because the Kali repositories only get enabled during the runtime of katoolin3.
As you can see in the above screenshot, the Katoolin3 main menu has 9 sub-menus and each sub-menu performs different operations. To open a sub-menu, just enter the corresponding number.
View categories
Type 0
(zero) and press ENTER to view the list of available categories.
[...]
kat> 0
Select a Category
0) Exploitation Tools 8) Sniffing & Spoofing
1) Forensics Tools 9) Stress Testing
2) Hardware Hacking 10) Vulnerability Analysis
3) Information Gathering 11) Web Applications
4) Maintaining Access 12) Wireless Attacks
5) Password Attacks 13) HELP
6) Reporting Tools 14) BACK
7) Reverse Engineering
kat>
As you can see, there are 12 categories available. Each category may contain one or more packages. To go back to the previous menu, type 14
and hit ENTER.
To view the list of available packages in a category, simply type its corresponding number and press ENTER:
kat> 1
Select a Package
0) Bulk Extractor 12) Pdf Parser
1) Capstone Tool 13) pdfid
2) chntpw 14) Distorm3
3) dc3dd 15) Capstone
4) ddrescue 16) Distorm3
5) dumpzilla 17) regripper
6) extundelete 18) volatility
7) foremost 19) xplico
8) galleta 20) ALL
9) guymager 21) HELP
10) Libdistorm3 3 22) BACK
11) p0f
kat>
The above output shows the list of available packages under "Forensics Tools" category.
Installing packages
You can install all packages at once. However, it is not recommended and not necessary. To install a package, go to the category of your choice and enter the corresponding number.
For example, I am going to install "foremost" tool (number 7
).
[...]
Select a Package
0) Bulk Extractor 12) Pdf Parser
1) Capstone Tool 13) pdfid
2) chntpw 14) Distorm3
3) dc3dd 15) Capstone
4) ddrescue 16) Distorm3
5) dumpzilla 17) regripper
6) extundelete 18) volatility
7) foremost 19) xplico
8) galleta 20) ALL
9) guymager 21) HELP
10) Libdistorm3 3 22) BACK
11) p0f
kat> 7
The selected package will be downloaded from Kali Linux repositories and installed in your Ubuntu system.
Reading package lists... Installing 1 package... Get:1 http://ftp.harukasan.org/kali kali-rolling/main amd64 foremost amd64 1.5.7-9+b1 [42.1 kB] Fetched 42.1 kB in 6s (0 B/s) Selecting previously unselected package foremost. (Reading database ... 108229 files and directories currently installed.) Preparing to unpack .../foremost_1.5.7-9+b1_amd64.deb ... Unpacking foremost (1.5.7-9+b1) ... Setting up foremost (1.5.7-9+b1) ... Processing triggers for man-db (2.9.1-1) ...
To install multiple packages at once specify a range like 3-5
, a list like 1,2,3
or combine them like 1,2,5-7,9
.
Uninstall packages
To uninstall all Kali Linux tool from your Ubuntu system, type 2
from main menu.
Search Kali Linux repositories
To search for a specific tool, enter number 3
from main menu and then enter a package name to get information about a package or enter a keyword to search for package. Here I am searching for "recovery" related tools.
[...] kat> 3 Enter a package name to get information about a package or enter a keyword to search for packages... Search: recovery bacula/kali-rolling 9.6.3-1 all network backup service - metapackage bacula-bscan/kali-rolling 9.6.3-1 amd64 network backup service - bscan tool bacula-client/kali-rolling 9.6.3-1 all network backup service - client metapackage bacula-common/kali-rolling 9.6.3-1 amd64 network backup service - common support files bacula-common-mysql/kali-rolling 9.6.3-1 amd64 network backup service - MySQL common files [...]
List installed packages
To view all installed kali linux tools, enter number 4
from the Katollin3 main menu:
Main Menu
0) View Categories
1) Install All
2) Uninstall All
3) Search repository
4) List installed packages
5) List not installed packages
6) Install Kali Menu
7) Uninstall old katoolin
8) Help
9) Exit
kat> 4
foremost
As you can see, I have installed "foremost" tool.
List not installed packages
To view all not installed packages, type number 5
from main menu.
[...]
kat> 5
Ace Voip
aircrack-ng
airgraph-ng
amap
Android Sdk
Apache Users
apktool
arachni
arduino
armitage
[...]
Install Kali Menu
This option will install Kali Menu on your Ubuntu system. This will add a dedicated menu for all installed Kali Linux tools, so you can qucikly find and launch any tools from this menu.
To install Kali Menu, type number 6
from main menu and press ENTER.
Uninstall old katoolin
It removes the old Katoolin version if it is already installed.
Display Katoolin3 Help
Don't know how to use Katoolin3? Just open the Help section by entering number 8
.
kat> 8
The program flow of this program is realized by presenting
a list of options that you can choose from.
When selecting packages you can select
more than one by passing a comma-separated list like
'0,1,2,3' or specifying a range like '12-24' or combining
those two '0,1,3-5,12'.
If you want to remove packages simply prepend '~' before a
string like above.
If you want information about a specific package
presented to you enter the number of the package
followed by a '?'.
If the list of options gets out of sight type '!!'
to print it again.
Packages which you have already installed are shown
in this color.
Exit Katoolin3
To quit Katoolin3, type number 9
and hit ENTER.
Update Katoolin3
Go to the directory where you have cloned Katoolin3:
$ cd katoolin3/
Make the update script executable:
$ chmod +x ./update.sh
Run update script to update Katoolin3 to latest available version.
$ sudo ./update.sh
It would be better if the developer included an option to update Katoolin3 from the main menu.
Uninstall Katoolin3
Don't use Katoolin3 anymore? Simply uninstall it as shown below.
Go to the directory where you have cloned Katoolin3:
$ cd katoolin3/
Make the uninstall script executable:
$ chmod +x ./uninstall.sh
Finally, remove Katoolin3 from your system using command:
$ sudo ./uninstall.sh
Conclusion
In this guide, we discussed what is Katoolin3, and its features and then how to install Kali Linux tools using katoolin3 in Ubuntu, Debian and other DEB-based systems.
Resource:
56 comments
Hello
i succesful to install like in tutorial
thanks
When try ti install get :
Reading package lists…
Error with package beef-xss: E:Unable to correct problems, you have held broken packages.
Trying to ignore this…
Error with package set: E:Unable to correct problems, you have held broken packages.
Trying to ignore this…
Warning: Could not find package ‘cuckoo’
Warning: Could not find package ‘peepdf’
Error with package xplico: E:Unable to correct problems, you have held broken packages.
Trying to ignore this…
Warning: Could not find package ‘ace-voip’
Warning: Could not find package ‘apt2’
Warning: Could not find package ‘cdpsnarf’
Error with package copy-router-config: E:Error, pkgProblemResolver::Resolve generated breaks, this may be caused by held packages.
Trying to ignore this…
Traceback (most recent call last):
File “/usr/local/bin/katoolin3”, line 714, in install
self._cache[pkg].mark_install()
File “/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/apt/package.py”, line 1549, in mark_install
fixer.resolve(True)
apt_pkg.Error: E:Error, pkgProblemResolver::Resolve generated breaks, this may be caused by held packages.
During handling of the above exception, another exception occurred:
Traceback (most recent call last):
File “/usr/local/bin/katoolin3”, line 1166, in
main()
File “/usr/local/bin/katoolin3”, line 1099, in main
choice()
File “/usr/local/bin/katoolin3”, line 926, in install_all_packages
APT.install(all_packages())
File “/usr/local/bin/katoolin3”, line 723, in install
self._cache[pkg].mark_delete()
File “/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/apt/package.py”, line 1524, in mark_delete
fix.resolve()
apt_pkg.Error: E:Error, pkgProblemResolver::Resolve generated breaks, this may be caused by held packages.
Any ideas?
This issue has already been reported in Katoolin3 github page – https://github.com/s-h-3-l-l/katoolin3/issues/14
when I run “sudo katoolin3” then this outpiut comes
Hit:1 http://dl.google.com/linux/chrome/deb stable InRelease
Ign:2 http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:/sarimkhan/xUbuntu_14.04 ./ InRelease
Get:3 http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-security InRelease [107 kB]
Err:4 http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:/sarimkhan/xUbuntu_14.04 ./ Release
404 Not Found [IP: 195.135.221.134 80]
Hit:5 http://bd.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal InRelease
Get:7 http://bd.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-updates InRelease [111 kB]
Hit:6 http://ftp.belnet.be/pub/kali/kali kali-rolling InRelease
Get:8 http://bd.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-backports InRelease [98.3 kB]
Reading package lists…
E: The repository ‘http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:/sarimkhan/xUbuntu_14.04 ./ Release’ does not have a Release file.
Apt update failed
Remove the opensuse and other problematic repositories and try again.
when i clone into git it asks me for a username and password for git…. i have never encountered this before… what should i do?
I’ve never been asked to enter username and password. Anyone can clone this repository without username/password. Please file an issue in the official github page.
I had the same thing, but I found out I had entered 2 “1”s in this line github.com/s-h-3-l-l/. It should be two lower case “L”s.
you have probably done the same.
Hello,
thank you for your great work…
i have a problem that my laptop became slower when i boot it and the startup takes about 3 mins to complete …
is there any command i can run to fix it
thanks ^^
Check your startup items. Something is running in the background which causes the slow boot. Find it and disable if you don’t need it anymore. https://ostechnix.com/how-to-list-startup-services-at-boot-in-linux/
problem is that it cannot connect to kali-rolling sources to get the packages…. it has to be another better and clearer solution than this
After installing katooling3 I quit the software ad reboot.
The splash screen does not allow me to log in, but its not showing any error. I type my password and hit enter, but nothing happens…
Do you have any advice on how I could solve the problem?
That’s odd. I never had such issue. Please go to single user mode and undo Katoolin installation. Also don’t upgrade your system while Katoolin is still running. Always close the Katoolin and then update the system.
I have now access to the machine via cli with single user mode.
I uninstalled katoolin3 but after reboot the login screen is still the same: I see my user, I can write my password, but when I hit enter nothing happens.
Also, when I access in single user mode, I got no wifi access. I successfully accessed my wifi, but I’m unable to update repos or ping anything outside the LAN.
I don’t know what I did, probably I messed up using katoolin3 in the first place. At this point I will be very happy if I can avoid to do a fresh install. How could I “reset” the OS to an original state? Iìm using kubuntu 20.04.
Any help would be appreciated, I don’t want to do a fresh install ’cause I gon Win10 in the same machine and I don’t want to mess up the bootloader.
Thanks!
I am sorry Katoolin messed your installation. There is a way to reset Ubuntu, but I don’t know how effective it is with Dual boot. It is highly recommended to backup everything before resetting Ubuntu. Please try Resetter application to reset Ubuntu to factory defaults. https://ostechnix.com/reset-ubuntu-factory-defaults/
Also try to repair the broken the Ubuntu system as described in this guide – https://ostechnix.com/how-to-fix-broken-ubuntu-os-without-reinstalling-it/. Again, I highly recommend to backup your data before trying this method.