TABLE OF CONTENTS The datastore system is a core component of the Metasploit Framework (MSF). The interfaces use it to configure settings, the payloads use it to patch opcodes, the exploits use it to define parameters, and it is used internally to pass options between modules. The system is logically divided into global and module datastores.
Each exploit module maintains its own module datastore, which overrides the global datastore. When you select an exploit module via the use command, the module datastore for that module is loaded and the previous one is saved. If you switch back to the previous exploit, the datastore for that module is loaded again.
Metasploit installs almost entirely below the directory into which the zipped file is extracted. The directory structure of the framework is shown in Figure 3.1.
data Contains the DLLs for use by Meterpreter, PassiveX, and the Virtual Network Computing (VNC) payloads. It also contains code for the Web site that forms the msfweb interface.
documentation Contains the documentation for the framework and also the samples of Ruby scripts that utilize the API's of the framework.
external Contains source code for the Meterpreter, VNC, and PassiveX payloads.
lib Contains the Ruby libraries used by the framework.
modules Contains the exploits, payloads, NOPs, encoders, and auxiliary modules.
plugins Contains the database connection plugins, Intrusion Prevention System (IPS) filtering code, and essentially any code that might extend the behavior and feature...
