Snort No Longer Available in Kali Linux Repositories: Here’s How to Install It

As of a recent update, Snort, the renowned open-source intrusion detection and prevention system, is no longer available in the official repositories of Kali Linux.

Snort has been a vital tool for network security professionals and penetration testers to detect and analyze network traffic for potential threats.

This change may come as a surprise to many users who rely on Kali Linux for their security testing needs.

However, you can still install Snort on Kali Linux by following these steps:

Why Can’t I Install Snort on Kali Linux?

The Kali Linux team periodically reviews and updates the software packages available in its repositories to ensure the stability and security of the distribution.

In some cases, packages like Snort may be deprecated or temporarily removed due to compatibility issues or the availability of more recent security tools.

While Snort is no longer part of the Kali Linux repositories, you can still install it by incorporating external repositories. Here’s how:

Steps to Install Snort on Kali Linux

1. Backup Kali’s Sources List

Before making any changes to your system, it’s essential to back up your existing sources.list file, which contains information about your package repositories.

Open a terminal and run the following command:

sudo mv /etc/apt/sources.list /etc/apt/sources.list.bak

This will create a backup of your sources.list as sources.list.bak.

2. Remove Updates

Next, clean up the existing package information:

sudo find /var/lib/apt/lists -type f -exec rm {} \;

This command removes cached package information to ensure that you’re working with a clean slate.

3. Change Sources List Content

Now, you need to modify your sources.list to include external repositories with Snort.

Open your sources.list file for editing:

sudo nano /etc/apt/sources.list

Or if you have leafpad installed:

leafpad /etc/apt/sources.list

Replace the existing content with the following lines, which add repositories to your sources.list:

deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ focal main restricted universe multiverse
deb-src http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ focal main restricted universe multiverse
deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ focal-updates main restricted universe multiverse
deb-src http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ focal-updates main restricted universe multiverse
deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ focal-security main restricted universe multiverse
deb-src http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ focal-security main restricted universe multiverse
deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ focal-backports main restricted universe multiverse
deb-src http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ focal-backports main restricted universe multiverse
deb http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu focal partner
deb-src http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu focal partner

If you are using Kali as a virtual machine, you should use the following content instead, which includes ARM repositories:

deb [arch=arm64] http://ports.ubuntu.com/ubuntu-ports focal main restricted universe multiverse
deb [arch=arm64] http://ports.ubuntu.com/ubuntu-ports focal-updates main restricted universe multiverse
deb [arch=arm64] http://ports.ubuntu.com/ubuntu-ports focal-security main restricted universe multiverse
deb [arch=i386,amd64] http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ focal main restricted universe multiverse
deb [arch=i386,amd64] http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ focal-updates main restricted universe multiverse
deb [arch=i386,amd64] http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-security main restricted universe multiverse

Save the file and exit the text editor.

4. Add the Specified Public Keys

Now, add the specified public keys for the new repositories:

sudo apt-key adv --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com --recv-keys 3B4FE6ACC0B21F32

sudo apt-key adv --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com --recv-keys 871920D1991BC93C

These commands fetch and add the required public keys to verify the authenticity of the packages.

5. Update

Refresh your package information to ensure that the new repositories are available:

sudo apt update

6. Install Snort

Finally, you can install Snort using the following command:

sudo apt install snort

This will download and install Snort from the newly added repositories.

Once the installation is complete, you can start configuring and using Snort for intrusion detection and prevention on your Kali Linux system.

In conclusion, while Snort may no longer be available in Kali Linux’s official repositories, you can still install it by adding external repositories and following these steps.

This ensures that you can continue to use this powerful security tool for your network analysis and security testing needs on your Kali Linux system.