Berserker OS

A minimal, powerful, and clean Arch Linux-based distribution for penetration testing and security research. Built for performance and control, without the bloat.

---

About The Project

Berserker OS was born from a desire for a clean, efficient, and fully customized penetration testing environment. While distributions like Kali Linux and Parrot OS are excellent, they often come with a large number of tools and configurations that may not fit every workflow. BlackArch, while incredibly comprehensive, can be overwhelming.

Berserker OS follows the Arch philosophy: start with a minimal base and build up intentionally. This results in a lean, fast system where the user has complete knowledge and control over every installed tool and configuration.

Our goal is to find the sweet spot: a distribution that is more feature-rich than a bare Arch install but significantly leaner and more customizable than the major security distros.

---

Current Status: Phase 2 Has Begun!

The foundational work for Berserker OS is complete!

• Build System: The archiso-based build environment is fully functional, automated with a Makefile for streamlined building and testing via QEMU.
• Core Desktop: A minimal Openbox desktop is implemented, featuring LightDM, tint2, feh for wallpaper management, and rofi for application launching.
• Functional Installer: After extensive debugging, the Calamares installer is fully working for UEFI systems. This was achieved by building a custom calamares-git package and adopting a stable configuration baseline.

The project is now officially moving into Phase 2: Polishing & Branding and Phase 3: Adding Tools.

---

Building from Source

Prerequisites

• A running Arch Linux system.
• The following packages installed: archiso, git, qemu-system-x86, edk2-ovmf.
• A configured custom package repository (e.g., vigarch) to host the self-built calamares-git package.

Build Instructions

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/thehackersbrain/berserker-arch.git
   cd berserker-arch

2. Build the ISO: The provided Makefile automates the entire process.

   make build

   The final ISO will be located in the out/ directory.

3. Test the ISO: You can quickly boot the ISO in a QEMU virtual machine for testing.

   make run

4. Clean up: To remove all build artifacts and start fresh, use the clean target.

   make clean

---

Project Roadmap

The development of Berserker OS is divided into three main phases:

• 🏆 Phase 1: The Foundation (Complete)

  • Created a minimal, bootable ISO.
  • Integrated a fully functional Calamares installer.

• ⏳ Phase 2: The Desktop Environment (In Progress)

  • Refine the Openbox theme and tint2 panel.
  • Implement custom themes, icons, and cursors.
  • Create custom scripts and quality-of-life improvements.

• 📋 Phase 3: The Arsenal

  • Incrementally add a curated list of penetration testing tools.
  • Organize tools into logical categories within the application menu.
  • Configure tool-specific settings and aliases.

---

Contributing

Contributions are what make the open-source community such an amazing place to learn, inspire, and create. Any contributions you make are greatly appreciated.

If you have a suggestion that would make this better, please fork the repo and create a pull request. You can also simply open an issue with the tag "enhancement".

1. Fork the Project
2. Create your Feature Branch (git checkout -b feature/AmazingFeature)
3. Commit your Changes (git commit -m 'Add some AmazingFeature')
4. Push to the Branch (git push origin feature/AmazingFeature)
5. Open a Pull Request

---

License

Distributed under the MIT License. See LICENSE.txt for more information.