Install aircrack-ng with Homebrew, apk, apt, dnf, MacPorts, Nix, pacman, scoop, zypper

Project links

• Homepage
• Repository
• Package manager page

Commands and aliases

• airbase-ng
• aircrack-ng
• airdecap-ng
• airdecloak-ng
• aireplay-ng
• airmon-ng
• airodump-ng
• airodump-ng-oui-update
• airolib-ng
• airserv-ng
• airtun-ng
• airventriloquist-ng
• besside-ng
• besside-ng-crawler
• buddy-ng
• easside-ng
• ivstools
• kstats
• makeivs-ng
• packetforge-ng
• tkiptun-ng
• wesside-ng
• wpaclean

Project history

The project presents itself as a complete suite rather than a single cracker. The official README groups the suite into monitoring, attacking, testing, and cracking, and emphasizes command-line tools that are easy to script.

Aircrack-ng succeeded the earlier aircrack family as a more featureful next-generation suite. The Homebrew formula description still preserves that lineage with the phrase `Next-generation aircrack with lots of new features`, while the official project now treats Aircrack-ng as the main suite name.

The source tree and README show the breadth that accumulated around the core `aircrack-ng` executable: monitor-mode helpers, airodump capture tools, aireplay injection and replay tools, airolib-ng database support, WEP/WPA cleanup utilities, and lesser-known helpers such as besside-ng, easside-ng, tkiptun-ng, and wesside-ng.

Adoption history

Aircrack-ng became one of the standard packaged Wi-Fi security suites because it is scriptable, portable, and split into many small Unix-style tools. The README advertises Linux as the primary platform while also listing Windows, macOS, FreeBSD, OpenBSD, NetBSD, Solaris, and eComStation 2 support.

The upstream README displays package-version badges for Arch Linux, Debian, Fedora, Homebrew, and Ubuntu, and the Homebrew source facts list many more package managers and distributions. That packaging spread is not decorative: wireless-security workflows often happen on live systems, lab laptops, Raspberry Pi devices, and recovery images where distro-native packages matter.

Recent tagged releases show the project is maintained as a mature tool rather than historical abandonware: official GitHub releases include 1.6 in 2020 and 1.7 in 2022.

How it is used

A common workflow is to put a compatible adapter into monitor mode, capture traffic with airodump-ng, generate or replay traffic with aireplay-ng where authorized, and run aircrack-ng against captured handshakes or WEP IV data. The suite also includes tools for packet generation, capture cleanup, decryption, and driver/card capability testing.

Because every tool is command-line oriented, Aircrack-ng is often used inside shell scripts, lab automation, and distribution packaging test matrices. The README even notes that many GUIs have taken advantage of the CLI design.

Why package nerds care

For package maintainers, Aircrack-ng is a classic case of a security package that is really a bundle of cooperating executables with optional system-level dependencies. It pulls in libpcap, OpenSSL or libgcrypt, SQLite, libnl, PCRE/PCRE2, hwloc, and platform-specific wireless tools depending on build options.

It is also a reminder that packaging security tooling is not just copying a binary: udev permissions, monitor-mode support, adapter drivers, optional GPS logging, Cygwin/MSYS2 behavior, and distro policy around test-only dependencies can all affect whether the installed package is actually useful.

Timeline

• 2000s: Aircrack-ng emerges as the next-generation successor to the earlier aircrack Wi-Fi cracking tools.
• 2020-01-25: Aircrack-ng 1.6 published on GitHub releases.
• 2022-05-10: Aircrack-ng 1.7 published on GitHub releases.

Related projects

• aircrack is the predecessor named by package descriptions and project lineage.
• Airodump-ng, aireplay-ng, airmon-ng, airdecap-ng, airolib-ng, packetforge-ng, besside-ng, and wesside-ng are companion executables shipped by the same suite.
• Kali Linux and other security-focused environments commonly package Aircrack-ng alongside wireless auditing tools, though the upstream README itself is the source used here for package/platform breadth.

Sources

• https://api.github.com/repos/aircrack-ng/aircrack-ng/releases?per_page=5
• https://github.com/aircrack-ng/aircrack-ng
• https://www.aircrack-ng.org/documentation.html
• source_facts.package-manager