How to Install SpiderFoot on Ubuntu 18.04 | 20.04

In this post, we are going to show that how to Install SpiderFoot on Ubuntu 18.04 | 20.04. If your are going to Install SpiderFoot on your Ubuntu system then this post is ideal for you.

SpiderFoot (Smart Open source Intelligence (OSINT) Tool) is an open-source and free vulnerability testing tool that is used to asset discovery, attack surface monitoring and analyze any vulnerabilities/malicious functions on the Linux server to reduce the attacks by the hackers. 

It is a footprint tool and written in Python language and uses SQLite as a database backend. It has two flavors: The open source version and SpiderFoot HX for professionals.

For more information about SpiderFoot, please visit its official website.

How to Install SpiderFoot on Ubuntu

Simply follow below steps to install SpiderFoot on your Ubuntu system:

Step 1 : Getting Started

Update and upgrade your system packages with the latest version by using command below:

sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade

Step 2 : Install Python

SpiderFoot is built and written in Python so its required Python on the Ubuntu system. To install Python on your Ubuntu system, run the command below:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install python3 python3-pip

Step 3 : Install SpiderFoot

To install SpiderFoot, first you will need to download its package from Github repository To download latest release of SpiderFoot, run the command below:

cd ~
wget https://github.com/smicallef/spiderfoot/archive/v3.3.tar.gz

After downloaded, next run the commands below to extract the downloaded file and change the directory to the extracted directory:

tar -xvzf v3.3.tar.gz
cd spiderfoot-3.3

Next, install all dependencies to run SpiderFoot as show below:

pip3 install -r requirements.txt

At this point, SpiderFoot is installed and ready to use.

To open its help file to list all options available with SpiderFoot, run the command below:

python3 sf.py --help

The command above display a output similar as below:

usage: sf.py [-h] [-d] [-l IP:port] [-m mod1,mod2,...] [-M] [-s TARGET] [-t type1,type2,...]  [-T] [-o tab|csv|json] [-H] [-n] [-r]
 [-S LENGTH] [-D DELIMITER] [-f] [-F type1,type2,...] [-x] [-q]

SpiderFoot 3.3: Open Source Intelligence Automation.

optional arguments:
  -h, --help          show this help message and exit
  -d, --debug         Enable debug output.
  -l IP:port          IP and port to listen on.
  -m mod1,mod2,...    Modules to enable.
  -M, --modules       List available modules.
  -s TARGET           Target for the scan.
  -t type1,type2,...  Event types to collect (modules selected automatically).
  -T, --types         List available event types.
  -o tab|csv|json     Output format. Tab is default. If using json, -q is enfor
  -H                  Don't print field headers, just data.
  -n                  Strip newlines from data.
  -r                  Include the source data field in tab/csv output.

Step 4 : Access SpiderFoot Web Interface

Run the command below to access SpiderFoot web interface:

python3 sf.py -l localhost:5001

OR

python3 sf.py -l your-server-ip:5001

The command above display a output similar as below:

2021-04-01 10:12:39,735 [INFO] Starting web server at localhost:5001 ...
2021-04-01 10:12:39,742 [WARNING] 
********************************************************************
Warning: passwd file contains no passwords. Authentication disabled.
Please consider adding authentication to protect this instance!
Refer to https://www.spiderfoot.net/documentation/#security.
********************************************************************
*************************************************************
 Use SpiderFoot by starting your web browser of choice and 
 browse to http://localhost:5001/
*************************************************************
2021-04-01 10:12:39,796 [INFO] [01/Apr/2021:10:12:39] ENGINE Listening for SIGTERM.
2021-04-01 10:12:39,796 [INFO] [01/Apr/2021:10:12:39] ENGINE Listening for SIGHUP.
2021-04-01 10:12:39,796 [INFO] [01/Apr/2021:10:12:39] ENGINE Listening for SIGUSR1.
2021-04-01 10:12:39,796 [INFO] [01/Apr/2021:10:12:39] ENGINE Bus STARTING

Now open your favorite web browser and access the its web interface using the URL http://localhost:5001 or http://your-server-ip:5001.

That’s all.

If you face any error and issue in above steps , please use comment box below to report.