What is ptf?

PTF (PenTesters Framework) is a Python tool that automates the installation and updating of security testing software on Linux systems. It was created by TrustedSec, a professional security consulting firm, to solve a common problem for penetration testers: keeping a full set of tools current across different machines without manually tracking down and reinstalling everything from scratch each time. When you run PTF, it opens an interactive command-line shell with a look and feel similar to Metasploit, a well-known security testing platform. From there you can install individual tools, update everything at once, or pick specific categories of tools to install. The categories follow a framework called PTES (Penetration Testing Execution Standard), which groups security tools by phase: exploitation, post-exploitation, intelligence gathering, and so on. Each tool in PTF is defined by a small module file that specifies where to download it from (GitHub, GitLab, or other sources), what system packages it depends on, and any commands that need to run after installation to finish the setup. Adding a new tool means writing one of these module files, which the README describes as taking just a few minutes. PTF detects new modules automatically when it starts, so there is no central registry to update manually. The framework installs everything to a configurable base directory, by default /pentest, organized by tool category. You can also maintain a custom list of only the tools you use regularly and run one command to install or update them all. PTF supports Debian-based Linux distributions like Ubuntu and also ArchLinux. This is a tool built for authorized security work: penetration testing against systems you have explicit permission to test.