Black Arch

How to start with Linux

Black Arch, another complete pentesting distro.

Black Arch is a fully functional pentesting distro based on Arch Linux. It comes with many tools installed by default and therefore very suited to run from LiveUSB/LiveCD.

Very important: Only do this inside networks or against equipment for which you have permissions, Black Arch should not be used to attack networks, websites or equipment withouth permission.

What can you do with pentesting:
– Check for security issues against ports on devices - Check for application vulnerabilities
– Check websites for vulnerabilities
– Check hardware devices for vulnerabilities
– Internal testing (test from inside allowed networks for vulnerabilities)
– External testing (test from outside the allowed networs for vulnerabilities)
– Test WiFi security
– And much more


Black Arch does not come with a fancy desktop but with Openbox, of course, you can install any desktop you want after main installation.
As I also mentioned on the Kali Linux page, distro’s like this come with a lot of responsibillities, use with caution, don’t break stuff that does not belong to you 😉

Nice review on Black Arch

Install the Black Arch tools on Arch main.

Yes, when you run Arch main, you don’t have to reinstall to use Black Arch, you can simply add the repo’s to your existing Arch installation and use pacman, to fetch the complete Black Arch bundle.

Follow this guide: Install Black Arch on Arch

Complete list of all tools available in Black Arch: Black Arch tools

LXDM login screen Black Arch

Black Arch LXDM

Download Black Arch

Create a bootable USB drive

System requirements

– CPU: 1Ghz is recommended – RAM: 512MB is recommended
– HDD: about 20G is recommended
– GPU: almost any
– CD-Rom drive or use a LiveUSB for installation
– Sound support, only if you want to hear something
– Internet connection preferably