Is metasploit-framework free?

Check its license. It has its own license: read it before using it for work.

Is metasploit-framework still maintained?

Yes, active. Last change today.

Can I trust metasploit-framework?

Widely used. 39k stars, 15 years old, by an organization. As with any download, get it from the official repo.

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Reading the repo

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How to install metasploit-framework on macOS (rapid7/metasploit-framework) · gitmanual

How to install on macOS

rapid7/metasploit-framework

Metasploit Framework

Ruby#hacktoberfest

Before you start

Is it free?: Check its licenseIt has its own license: read it before using it for work.
Still maintained?: Yes, activeLast change today.
Can I trust it?: Widely used39k stars, 15 years old, by an organization. As with any download, get it from the official repo.

Difficulty: Moderate
Time: about 15 min
Stars: ★ 39,494
Activity: Updated this month

Saved setup from 10 h ago

Will it work on macOS?

Yes, it runs on macOS

You'll build it yourself with Ruby.
It also needs PostgreSQL running (Docker handles this).

Your system

macOS Windows Linux

Start here

Docs ↗docs.metasploit.comLinked from the README.Website ↗metasploit.comThe project's own site.

Heads-upIt also needs PostgreSQL.

4 steps on macOS

Download setup.sh

Then run bash setup.sh. It stops at the first error and is safe to run again. Servers and tests aren't started; it lists them at the end. Read it first.

1
Clone the repository
Needs Git: xcode-select --install. The repo uses git submodules, so the clone fetches them too.
```
git clone --recurse-submodules https://github.com/rapid7/metasploit-framework.git
cd metasploit-framework
```

Install the required runtimes

Ruby 3.3.13

brew install rbenv ruby-build
rbenv install --skip-existing

3
Start backing services
Needs: PostgreSQL
```
brew install --cask docker  # Docker Desktop
docker compose -f docker-compose.yml up -d
```
If you see Cannot connect to the Docker daemon: start Docker Desktop (or the Docker service) first.
4
Install dependencies
```
bundle install
```

From the README: Using Metasploit

To get started with Metasploit:

Start msfconsole: This is the primary interface for interacting with Metasploit.
Explore Resources:
- Visit the Using Metasploit section of the documentation.

Did you get it running?

No reports for macOS yet.

Still stuck? Get a written guide

GitManual AI Agent reads the 13 key files and writes a step-by-step guide for macOS. Once written, it's saved for everyone.

Parts list

1×Ruby 3.3.13runtime
1×bundler package manager
1×PostgreSQL service

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Good to know

Dockerfile available (base image: ruby:3.3.13-alpine3.24).
Has AGENTS.md — instructions for coding agents. You can open Claude Code (or another agent) in the cloned folder and ask it to do the setup for you.
Nested projects: docs/Gemfile, external/source/exploits/CVE-2020-17136/POC_CloudFilter_ArbitraryFile_EoP/POC_CloudFilter_ArbitraryFile_EoP.csproj, external/source/exploits/cve-2013-0074/SilverApp1/SilverApp1.csproj

Details

License: Not detected
Open issues: 608
Branch: master

Files we read (13)

.github/workflows/command_shell_acceptance.yml

.github/workflows/docs.yml

.github/workflows/extended_tests.yml

.github/workflows/labels.yml

.github/workflows/lint.yml

.github/workflows/weekly-dependencies-pr.yml

.gitmodules

.ruby-version

CONTRIBUTING.md

Dockerfile

Gemfile

README.md

docker-compose.yml

15,139 files in the repo