Getting routersploit onto your machine is a short job with three honest routes: clone it from GitHub, install it with pip, or grab the package on Kali Linux. Each route suits a different kind of user, and this guide walks through all three, explains the Python 3 requirement that trips people up, and finishes with the first commands to run so you know your install actually works. By the end you will be sitting at the routersploit console, ready to point it at a router in your own lab.
What you need before you start
routersploit is a Linux-first tool, and every route below assumes a Linux terminal. The one hard requirement is Python 3. The current framework, the 3.x line, is written for Python 3 and will misbehave or refuse to start under the old Python 2, so check your version first if your system is older. You will also want a normal internet connection for the downloads, and a bit of patience for the dependency install, which is the slowest step on any route.
One more piece of preparation is worth it: decide where your lab lives. routersploit is meant for devices you own or have permission to test, as its own documentation states, so most people learn it against a spare router on an isolated network segment. Having that target ready makes the first session far more satisfying than poking at the console with nothing to aim at.
Route 1: Clone from GitHub
The GitHub route gives you the project’s own layout and the easiest updates. You clone the repository from github.com/threat9/routersploit, move into the new folder, and install the Python dependencies listed in the project’s requirements.txt file. The framework’s maintainers recommend doing that install inside a Python virtual environment, which keeps routersploit’s libraries separate from the rest of your system and prevents version clashes with other tools.
With the dependencies in place, you start the framework by running the rsf.py launcher from inside the repository folder. After a short load you should land at the console prompt, which shows rsf. Keeping this copy current is painless: a git pull in the folder fetches the latest modules and fixes, which matters because new device modules appear over time.
Route 2: Install with pip
If you would rather treat routersploit like any other Python package, PyPI carries it. Installing with pip install routersploit pulls the framework and its Python dependencies in one go, and gives you a routersploit command you can run from any terminal instead of navigating to a folder first.
The pip route is the quickest to type, but it has one classic snag. If you later get a “command not found” message, the usual cause is that pip’s scripts directory is not on your PATH, so your shell simply cannot see the launcher. The fixes guide linked below covers that case. Plenty of users also keep a GitHub clone alongside, since the clone makes reading module source code much easier.
Route 3: The Kali Linux package
Kali Linux, the distribution built for security testing, offers routersploit through its package repositories. Installing it with apt install routersploit lets the package manager handle the framework and its system dependencies together, and updates then arrive with your normal system updates.
This is the route most beginners on Kali should take. It is the least fiddly of the three, and because Kali is the environment most tutorials assume, screenshots and walkthroughs will match what you see on your own screen.
Optional extras some modules need
A working base install does not mean every single module can run. A few modules lean on extra system libraries beyond the standard Python dependencies. The clearest example is Bluetooth Low Energy support, which needs the bluepy stack and its own system dependencies on Linux before the generic BLE helpers will load.
Do not let that worry you at install time. The practical pattern is simple: install the base framework, and only chase extra libraries when a module you actually want tells you something is missing. The error messages name what they need, and the troubleshooting guide below walks through the common ones.
Start it and prove it works
Whichever route you took, the proof is the same. Launch the framework, either with the routersploit command from a pip or Kali install, or by running rsf.py from your cloned folder. The console banner loads and leaves you at the rsf prompt.
Run two harmless commands to confirm everything is alive:
show scannersshould list the scanner modules, including autopwn.search dlinkshould return a list of modules mentioning that vendor.
If both answer sensibly, your install is good. If the framework fails to start at all, the cause is almost always Python: either the wrong major version or dependencies that never got installed. That is the first thing the fixes guide checks, in order.
Set up your lab target
Before your first real session, prepare the device you will test. An old router you no longer rely on is perfect. Reset it, connect it as its own little network rather than plugging it into your live home setup, and note its admin address, which is commonly 192.168.1.1. That address becomes the target value in nearly every module you run.
This small ritual pays off immediately. On an isolated lab router you can try creds modules, scanners, and checks without any risk to the network your household actually uses, and you can reset the box and start again whenever an experiment leaves it in a strange state.
Choosing the route that fits you
If you are unsure which route to pick, decide by how you plan to work. Choose the GitHub clone if you want to read module source code, since having the full repository on disk makes it easy to open any module and see exactly what it does before you run it. Choose pip if routersploit is one tool among many on a general-purpose Linux box and you value a tidy, standard install. Choose the Kali package if you already live in Kali, because the package manager then owns the updates and you never think about the framework’s plumbing again.
Plenty of experienced users run two routes side by side: the packaged or pip install for everyday work, and a fresh clone they can update or inspect without touching the stable copy. There is no wrong answer here. All three routes land you at the same rsf prompt with the same module library, and everything you learn in one works identically in the others.
Conclusion
Installing routersploit comes down to picking your route: clone the GitHub repository and install requirements.txt inside a virtual environment, run pip install routersploit, or take the packaged route on Kali with apt install routersploit. Python 3 is the one firm requirement, and a git pull keeps a clone current. Launch it, see the rsf prompt, run show scanners, and you have a working install. Next, the beginner’s guide below turns that empty prompt into your first real session.
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