Run Various Linux Distros without Rebooting - Directly in Terminal

G-DillahKillah · Sep 7, 2025 01:22 PM

For anyone that can't quite pick between distros or wants to try them without needing to burn an image to a usb and boot into them, I wrote something to use various distros right from your terminal.

Your options are...

- Kali
- Parrot OS
- Fedora
- Kodachi (will update once the revamped release hits the scene)

I'm attaching the 3 files that will run and their virus total scans here.

PLEASE NOTE: I just had to be fucking fancy and add background music so I'd recommend the Github route if you want the full effect.
Otherwise....well....here you go LMFAO

If you have any issues getting it to run for some reason, or recommendations for Distro's to add just let know.

TO RUN...

Code 
pipenv shell

git clone https://github.com/Thr0wAway-n0w/EMily.git

cd EMily

python3 -m pip install -r requirements.txt

python3 EMily_Main.py

Code 
import os

import subprocess

import threading

import tkinter as tk

from tkinter import ttk

import requests

from PIL import Image, ImageTk

from io import BytesIO

os.system("pip install pygame")

os.system("sudo apt install python3-pygame")

import pygame

subprocess.run(["sudo", "chmod", "+x", "EMily.py"])

pygame.mixer.init()

# List of background music files

playlist = ["8-bit-dungeon-251388.mp3", "glitch-in-the-dark-306765.mp3", "circuit-blitz-387798.mp3", "circuit-pathway-387799.mp3"]

def play_music_playlist():

    while True:

        for song in playlist:

            try:

                pygame.mixer.music.load(song)

                pygame.mixer.music.play()

                # Wait until the song finishes

                while pygame.mixer.music.get_busy():

                    pygame.time.wait(100)

            except Exception as e:

                print(f"Error playing {song}: {e}")

# Start the playlist in a separate thread so it doesn't block the GUI

music_thread = threading.Thread(target=play_music_playlist, daemon=True)

music_thread.start()

# Use a thread so the damn thing doesn't stop the progress bar

def run_emily_choice(choice):

    def run_script():

        try:

            process = subprocess.Popen(['python3', 'EMily.py'], stdin=subprocess.PIPE, stdout=subprocess.PIPE, stderr=subprocess.PIPE)

            stdout, stderr = process.communicate(input=f'{choice}\n'.encode())

            print(stdout.decode())

            if stderr:

                print(stderr.decode())

        except Exception as e:

            print(f"Error running EMily.py with choice {choice}: {e}")

        finally:

            # Take a guess dumb-ass

            progress_bar.stop()

    # Hmmmm....I wonder

    progress_bar.start()

    # I love threading, but I fucking hate it

    threading.Thread(target=run_script).start()

def create_gui(root):

    global progress_bar

    # Remove any fidget widgets

    for widget in root.winfo_children():

        widget.destroy()

    # How's she lookin'

    style = ttk.Style(root)

    style.configure('TButton', font=('Arial', 20, 'bold'), foreground='red', background='black')

    # Gif URL. Don't bother with ascii, this works fine

    url = "https://media.tenor.com/QYjTsemTldcAAAAM/pixel-devil-devil.gif"

    try:

        response = requests.get(url)

        response.raise_for_status()

        image_data = response.content

        image = Image.open(BytesIO(image_data))

    except requests.exceptions.RequestException as e:

        print(f"Error fetching image: {e}")

        return

    except Exception as e:

        print(f"Error processing image: {e}")

        return

    # Yea...animating is kinda a bitch

    frames = []

    try:

        for frame in range(0, image.n_frames):

            image.seek(frame)

            frame_image = image.copy()

            frame_image = frame_image.resize((440, 400), Image.LANCZOS)

            frames.append(ImageTk.PhotoImage(frame_image))

    except Exception as e:

        print(f"Error gett'n zee frames: {e}")

        return

    # Label for animation

    image_label = tk.Label(root, borderwidth=2, relief='flat', bg='black', highlightcolor='red', highlightbackground='red')

    image_label.grid(row=0, column=0, columnspan=2, padx=10, pady=10)

    def animate(counter=0):

        frame = frames[counter]

        image_label.configure(image=frame)

        counter = (counter + 1) % len(frames)

        root.after(100, animate, counter)

    animate()

    button_width = 18

    # Buttons to run EMily.py 

    ttk.Button(root, text="Kali-Linux", command=lambda: run_emily_choice(1)).grid(row=1, column=0, padx=15, pady=15)

    ttk.Button(root, text="Parrot OS", command=lambda: run_emily_choice(2)).grid(row=1, column=1, padx=15, pady=15)

    ttk.Button(root, text="Fedora", command=lambda: run_emily_choice(3)).grid(row=2, column=0, padx=15, pady=15)

    ttk.Button(root, text="Kodachi", command=lambda: run_emily_choice(4)).grid(row=2, column=1, padx=15, pady=15)

    # I couldn't figure out a true progress bar...the best you get is this animated loader...tough shit

    progress_bar = ttk.Progressbar(root, mode='indeterminate', length=200)

    progress_bar.grid(row=3, column=0, columnspan=2, pady=20)

    # window size

    root.geometry('475x650')

# Window boarder

root = tk.Tk()

root.title("~~~~~ EMilly-The Linux EMulator ~~~~~")

root.configure(background='black')

# Create GUI

create_gui(root)

# Run main loop

root.mainloop()

Code 
import os

import subprocess

import shlex

import shutil

os.system("sudo apt install qemu-system-x86")

os.system("sudo apt install lolcat")

os.system("sudo apt install aria2c")

os.system("sudo apt install axel")

# Ensure lolcat is installed

subprocess.run(["sudo", "apt-get", "install", "-y", "lolcat"])

def clear_screen():

    os.system('clear' if os.name == 'posix' else 'cls')

def display_menu():

    print("Pick a Distro:")

    print("1) Kali")

    print("2) Parrot")

    print("3) Fedora")

    print("4) Kodachi (RUNS SLOW)")

    choice = input("Enter your choice (1-4): ")

    return choice.strip()

def display_label(label):

    cmd = f'echo "{label}" | lolcat -a -d 20'

    subprocess.run(cmd, shell=True)

def ensure_iso_dir():

    subprocess.run(["sudo", "mkdir", "-p", "/mnt/iso"])

def iso_exists(path):

    return os.path.isfile(path)

def download_iso(url, filename):

    if not iso_exists(filename):

        print(f"Downloading {filename}...")

        # Use aria2c for faster multi-threaded download if available

        if shutil.which("aria2c"):

            subprocess.run(["aria2c", "-x", 16, "-s", 16, "-o", filename, url])

        else:

            subprocess.run(["axel", filename, url])

        subprocess.run(["sudo", "mv", filename, "/mnt/iso"])

    else:

        print(f"{filename} already exists. Skipping download.")

def run_qemu(iso_path, terminal_emulator):

    # Enable KVM for better performance if available

    qemu_cmd = f"qemu-system-x86_64 -boot d -cdrom {shlex.quote(iso_path)} -m 2048 -smp cores=2"

    if terminal_emulator == "gnome-terminal":

        command = [

            "gnome-terminal", "--",

            "bash", "-c",

            f"{qemu_cmd}; exec bash"

        ]

    elif terminal_emulator == "xterm":

        command = [

            "xterm", "-hold", "-e",

            f"{qemu_cmd}"

        ]

    elif terminal_emulator == "konsole":

        command = [

            "konsole", "-e",

            f"{qemu_cmd}"

        ]

    else:

        print("Unsupported terminal emulator. Please modify the script.")

        return

    subprocess.Popen(command)

def main():

    clear_screen()

    display_label(

"""

╔─────────────────╗

│                 │

│  ╔═╗╔╦╗┬┬  ┬ ┬  │

│  ║╣ ║║║││  └┬┘  │

│  ╚═╝╩ ╩┴┴─┘ ┴   │

│                 │

╚─────────────────╝

""")

    display_label("Linux Distro Emulator")

    ensure_iso_dir()

    choice = display_menu()

    iso_info = {

        "1": {

            "name": "Kali Linux",

            "url": "https://cdimage.kali.org/kali-2025.2/kali-linux-2025.2-live-amd64.iso",

            "filename": "kali-linux-2025.2-live-amd64.iso"

        },

        "2": {

            "name": "Parrot Security",

            "url": "https://deb.parrot.sh/parrot/iso/6.4/Parrot-security-6.4_amd64.iso",

            "filename": "Parrot-security-6.4_amd64.iso"

        },

        "3": {

            "name": "Fedora",

            "url": "https://download.fedoraproject.org/pub/alt/releases/42/Labs/x86_64/iso/Fedora-Security-Live-x86_64-42-1.1.iso",

            "filename": "Fedora-Security-Live-x86_64-42-1.1.iso"

        },

        "4": {

            "name": "Kodachi",

            "url": "https://sourceforge.net/projects/linuxkodachi/files/latest/download",

            "filename": "kodachi-8.27-64-kernel-6.2.iso"

        }

    }

    if choice not in iso_info:

        print("Invalid choice.")

        return

    label = iso_info[choice]["name"].upper()

    clear_screen()

    display_label(label)

    iso_path = f"/mnt/iso/{iso_info[choice]['filename']}"

    download_iso(iso_info[choice]['url'], iso_info[choice]['filename'])

    # Use your preferred terminal emulator

    terminal_emulator = "gnome-terminal"  # or "xterm", "konsole"

    run_qemu(iso_path, terminal_emulator)

if __name__ == "__main__":

    main()

Code 
requests

Pillow

pygame

shutil

▄︻デ══━一一一一━ · Sep 17, 2025 03:10 AM

(Sep 7, 2025 01:22 PM)G-DillahKillah Wrote: For anyone that can't quite pick between distros or wants to try them without needing to burn an image to a usb and boot into them, I wrote something to use various distros right from your terminal.

Your options are...

- Kali
- Parrot OS
- Fedora
- Kodachi (will update once the revamped release hits the scene)

I'm attaching the 3 files that will run and their virus total scans here.

PLEASE NOTE: I just had to be fucking fancy and add background music so I'd recommend the Github route if you want the full effect.
Otherwise....well....here you go LMFAO

If you have any issues getting it to run for some reason, or recommendations for Distro's to add just let know.

TO RUN...

Code
pipenv shell git clone https://github.com/Thr0wAway-n0w/EMily.git cd EMily python3 -m pip install -r requirements.txt python3 EMily_Main.py

Code
import os import subprocess import threading import tkinter as tk from tkinter import ttk import requests from PIL import Image, ImageTk from io import BytesIO os.system("pip install pygame") os.system("sudo apt install python3-pygame") import pygame subprocess.run(["sudo", "chmod", "+x", "EMily.py"]) pygame.mixer.init() [h1]List of background music files[/h1] playlist = ["8-bit-dungeon-251388.mp3", "glitch-in-the-dark-306765.mp3", "circuit-blitz-387798.mp3", "circuit-pathway-387799.mp3"] def play_music_playlist(): while True: for song in playlist: try: pygame.mixer.music.load(song) pygame.mixer.music.play() # Wait until the song finishes while pygame.mixer.music.get_busy(): pygame.time.wait(100) except Exception as e: print(f"Error playing {song}: {e}") [h1]Start the playlist in a separate thread so it doesn't block the GUI[/h1] music_thread = threading.Thread(target=play_music_playlist, daemon=True) music_thread.start() [h1]Use a thread so the damn thing doesn't stop the progress bar[/h1] def run_emily_choice(choice): def run_script(): try: process = subprocess.Popen(['python3', 'EMily.py'], stdin=subprocess.PIPE, stdout=subprocess.PIPE, stderr=subprocess.PIPE) stdout, stderr = process.communicate(input=f'{choice}\n'.encode()) print(stdout.decode()) if stderr: print(stderr.decode()) except Exception as e: print(f"Error running EMily.py with choice {choice}: {e}") finally: # Take a guess dumb-ass progress_bar.stop() # Hmmmm....I wonder progress_bar.start() # I love threading, but I fucking hate it threading.Thread(target=run_script).start() def create_gui(root): global progress_bar # Remove any fidget widgets for widget in root.winfo_children(): widget.destroy() # How's she lookin' style = ttk.Style(root) style.configure('TButton', font=('Arial', 20, 'bold'), foreground='red', background='black') # Gif URL. Don't bother with ascii, this works fine url = "https://media.tenor.com/QYjTsemTldcAAAAM/pixel-devil-devil.gif" try: response = requests.get(url) response.raise_for_status() image_data = response.content image = Image.open(BytesIO(image_data)) except requests.exceptions.RequestException as e: print(f"Error fetching image: {e}") return except Exception as e: print(f"Error processing image: {e}") return # Yea...animating is kinda a bitch frames = [] try: for frame in range(0, image.n_frames): image.seek(frame) frame_image = image.copy() frame_image = frame_image.resize((440, 400), Image.LANCZOS) frames.append(ImageTk.PhotoImage(frame_image)) except Exception as e: print(f"Error gett'n zee frames: {e}") return # Label for animation image_label = tk.Label(root, borderwidth=2, relief='flat', bg='black', highlightcolor='red', highlightbackground='red') image_label.grid(row=0, column=0, columnspan=2, padx=10, pady=10) def animate(counter=0): frame = frames[counter] image_label.configure(image=frame) counter = (counter + 1) % len(frames) root.after(100, animate, counter) animate() button_width = 18 # Buttons to run EMily.py ttk.Button(root, text="Kali-Linux", command=lambda: run_emily_choice(1)).grid(row=1, column=0, padx=15, pady=15) ttk.Button(root, text="Parrot OS", command=lambda: run_emily_choice(2)).grid(row=1, column=1, padx=15, pady=15) ttk.Button(root, text="Fedora", command=lambda: run_emily_choice(3)).grid(row=2, column=0, padx=15, pady=15) ttk.Button(root, text="Kodachi", command=lambda: run_emily_choice(4)).grid(row=2, column=1, padx=15, pady=15) # I couldn't figure out a true progress bar...the best you get is this animated loader...tough shit progress_bar = ttk.Progressbar(root, mode='indeterminate', length=200) progress_bar.grid(row=3, column=0, columnspan=2, pady=20) # window size root.geometry('475x650') [h1]Window boarder[/h1] root = tk.Tk() root.title("~~~~~ EMilly-The Linux EMulator ~~~~~") root.configure(background='black') [h1]Create GUI[/h1] create_gui(root) [h1]Run main loop[/h1] root.mainloop()

Code
import os import subprocess import shlex import shutil os.system("sudo apt install qemu-system-x86") os.system("sudo apt install lolcat") os.system("sudo apt install aria2c") os.system("sudo apt install axel") [h1]Ensure lolcat is installed[/h1] subprocess.run(["sudo", "apt-get", "install", "-y", "lolcat"]) def clear_screen(): os.system('clear' if os.name == 'posix' else 'cls') def display_menu(): print("Pick a Distro:") print("1) Kali") print("2) Parrot") print("3) Fedora") print("4) Kodachi (RUNS SLOW)") choice = input("Enter your choice (1-4): ") return choice.strip() def display_label(label): cmd = f'echo "{label}" | lolcat -a -d 20' subprocess.run(cmd, shell=True) def ensure_iso_dir(): subprocess.run(["sudo", "mkdir", "-p", "/mnt/iso"]) def iso_exists(path): return os.path.isfile(path) def download_iso(url, filename): if not iso_exists(filename): print(f"Downloading {filename}...") # Use aria2c for faster multi-threaded download if available if shutil.which("aria2c"): subprocess.run(["aria2c", "-x", 16, "-s", 16, "-o", filename, url]) else: subprocess.run(["axel", filename, url]) subprocess.run(["sudo", "mv", filename, "/mnt/iso"]) else: print(f"{filename} already exists. Skipping download.") def run_qemu(iso_path, terminal_emulator): # Enable KVM for better performance if available qemu_cmd = f"qemu-system-x86_64 -boot d -cdrom {shlex.quote(iso_path)} -m 2048 -smp cores=2" if terminal_emulator == "gnome-terminal": command = [ "gnome-terminal", "--", "bash", "-c", f"{qemu_cmd}; exec bash" ] elif terminal_emulator == "xterm": command = [ "xterm", "-hold", "-e", f"{qemu_cmd}" ] elif terminal_emulator == "konsole": command = [ "konsole", "-e", f"{qemu_cmd}" ] else: print("Unsupported terminal emulator. Please modify the script.") return subprocess.Popen(command) def main(): clear_screen() display_label( """ ╔─────────────────╗ │ │ │ ╔═╗╔╦╗┬┬ ┬ ┬ │ │ ║╣ ║║║││ └┬┘ │ │ ╚═╝╩ ╩┴┴─┘ ┴ │ │ │ ╚─────────────────╝ """) display_label("Linux Distro Emulator") ensure_iso_dir() choice = display_menu() iso_info = { "1": { "name": "Kali Linux", "url": "https://cdimage.kali.org/kali-2025.2/kali-linux-2025.2-live-amd64.iso", "filename": "kali-linux-2025.2-live-amd64.iso" }, "2": { "name": "Parrot Security", "url": "https://deb.parrot.sh/parrot/iso/6.4/Parrot-security-6.4_amd64.iso", "filename": "Parrot-security-6.4_amd64.iso" }, "3": { "name": "Fedora", "url": "https://download.fedoraproject.org/pub/alt/releases/42/Labs/x86_64/iso/Fedora-Security-Live-x86_64-42-1.1.iso", "filename": "Fedora-Security-Live-x86_64-42-1.1.iso" }, "4": { "name": "Kodachi", "url": "https://sourceforge.net/projects/linuxkodachi/files/latest/download", "filename": "kodachi-8.27-64-kernel-6.2.iso" } } if choice not in iso_info: print("Invalid choice.") return label = iso_info[choice]["name"].upper() clear_screen() display_label(label) iso_path = f"/mnt/iso/{iso_info[choice]['filename']}" download_iso(iso_info[choice]['url'], iso_info[choice]['filename']) # Use your preferred terminal emulator terminal_emulator = "gnome-terminal" # or "xterm", "konsole" run_qemu(iso_path, terminal_emulator) if __name__ == "__main__": main()

Code
requests Pillow pygame shutil

These days kali also have multiple varients.

G-DillahKillah · Oct 2, 2025 07:45 PM

(Sep 17, 2025 03:10 AM)▄︻デ══━一一一一━ Wrote: These days kali also have multiple varients.

Like Kali Purple correct?

▄︻デ══━一一一一━ · Oct 3, 2025 04:08 AM

(Oct 2, 2025 07:45 PM)G-DillahKillah Wrote: Like Kali Purple correct?

Purple for defensive and blue for offensive.

G-DillahKillah · Oct 6, 2025 11:14 AM

(Oct 3, 2025 04:08 AM)▄︻デ══━一一一一━ Wrote: Purple for defensive and blue for offensive.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but Kali Purple IS for both offensive and defensive purposes.
Red (Team) + Blue (Team) = Purple

▄︻デ══━一一一一━ · Oct 6, 2025 11:23 AM

(Oct 6, 2025 11:14 AM)G-DillahKillah Wrote: Correct me if I'm wrong, but Kali Purple IS for both offensive and defensive purposes.
Red (Team) + Blue (Team) = Purple

Kali Purple usually emphasizes defensive security tools, which acts as a "SOC-in-a-box" and supports blue and purple team exercises.

G-DillahKillah · Oct 6, 2025 11:43 AM

(Oct 6, 2025 11:23 AM)▄︻デ══━一一一一━ Wrote: Kali Purple usually emphasizes defensive security tools, which acts as a "SOC-in-a-box" and supports blue and purple team exercises.

Gotcha gotcha, I thought you were saying purple was strictly defensive tools. My misunderstanding my Man.
I used to use Purple a lot but there seemed to be a number of malicious mirrors that were troublesome. Although it did educate me heavily on rootkits and bootkits so I'm definitely grateful for that (now LMFAO)

Have any other distro's of note?

▄︻デ══━一一一一━ · Oct 6, 2025 11:51 AM

(Oct 6, 2025 11:43 AM)G-DillahKillah Wrote: Gotcha gotcha, I thought you were saying purple was strictly defensive tools. My misunderstanding my Man.
I used to use Purple a lot but there seemed to be a number of malicious mirrors that were troublesome. Although it did educate me heavily on rootkits and bootkits so I'm definitely grateful for that (now LMFAO)

Have any other distro's of note?

Parrot OS is also a good flavor if you are into these things.

G-DillahKillah · Oct 6, 2025 11:59 AM

(Oct 6, 2025 11:51 AM)▄︻デ══━一一一一━ Wrote: Parrot OS is also a good flavor if you are into these things.

True true but it's Already in the tool.

It has Kali Blue, Parrot os, Fedora and Kodachi linux

s0lo · Oct 6, 2025 10:31 PM

never heard about Kodachi linux, interesting to try it out, been using mostly Kali and Qubes

G-DillahKillah · Oct 7, 2025 08:34 PM

(Oct 6, 2025 10:31 PM)s0lo Wrote: never heard about Kodachi linux, interesting to try it out, been using mostly Kali and Qubes

I love Kodachi but if you run it in a vm it's unbearably slow. It's reached it's end of life but nine is set to release soon. Always wanted to try Qubes.

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