Modules and Locations

Almost all of your interaction with Metasploit will be through its many modules, which it looks for in two locations. The first is the primary module store under /usr/share/metasploit-framework/modules/ and the second, which is where you will store custom modules, is under your home directory at ~/.msf4/modules/.

root@kali:~# ls /usr/share/metasploit-framework/modules/
auxiliary  encoders  exploits  nops  payloads  post

All Metasploit modules are organized into separate directories, according to their purpose. A basic overview of the various types of Metasploit modules is shown below.

In the Metasploit Framework, exploit modules are defined as modules that use payloads.

root@kali:~# ls /usr/share/metasploit-framework/modules/exploits/
aix        bsdi        firefox  irix       multi    solaris
android    dialup      freebsd  linux      netware  unix
apple_ios  example.rb  hpux     mainframe  osx      windows

Auxiliary modules include port scanners, fuzzers, sniffers, and more.

root@kali:~# ls /usr/share/metasploit-framework/modules/auxiliary/
admin    client   dos         gather  scanner  spoof  vsploit
analyze  crawler  example.rb  parser  server   sqli
bnat     docx     fuzzers     pdf     sniffer  voip

Payloads consist of code that runs remotely, while encoders ensure that payloads make it to their destination intact. Nops keep the payload sizes consistent across exploit attempts.

root@kali:~# ls /usr/share/metasploit-framework/modules/payloads/
singles  stagers  stages
root@kali:~# ls /usr/share/metasploit-framework/modules/encoders/
cmd  generic  mipsbe  mipsle  php  ppc  ruby  sparc  x64  x86
root@kali:~# ls /usr/share/metasploit-framework/modules/nops/
aarch64  armle  mipsbe  php  ppc  sparc  tty  x64  x86

Metasploit gives you the option to load modules either at runtime or after msfconsole has already been started. Pass the -m option when running msfconsole to load additional modules at runtime:

root@kali:~# msfconsole -m ~/secret-modules/

If you need to load additional modules from with msfconsole, use the loadpath command:

msf > loadpath
Usage: loadpath </path/to/modules>

Loads modules from the given directory which should contain subdirectories for
module types, e.g. /path/to/modules/exploits

msf > loadpath /usr/share/metasploit-framework/modules/
Loaded 399 modules:
    399 payloads