Install and configure Kali Linux in virtual box. Kali Linux is one of the best security packages for an ethical hacker or hacker, either in ethical hacking, kali Linux contains a set of tools divided by categories. It is an open-source and its official web page is here.
Generally, Kali Linux can be installed on a machine as an operating system, as a virtual machine which we will discuss in the next section. Installing Kali Linux is a convenient option as it offers more options for working and combining tools. You can also create a live or USB starter CD. All of this can be found in the following link: https://www.kali.org/downloads/
Before BackTrack was the older version of the Kali Linux distribution. The latest version is Kali 2020.1 and it is updated very often.
To install Kali Linux –
- First, let’s download the virtual box and install it.
- Later, we will download and install the Kali Linux distribution.
Download and install the Virtual Box
A virtual box is particularly useful when you want to test something on Kali Linux that you are not sure about. Running Kali Linux on a virtual box is safe when you want to experiment with unknown packages or when you want to test code.
With the help of a virtual box, you can install Kali Linux on your system (not directly on your hard drive) alongside your main operating system which can be MAC or Windows or another version of Linux.
Let’s see how you can download and install the Virtual Box on your system.
Step 1 – To download, go to https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Downloads. Depending on your operating system, select the correct package. In this case, it will be the first for Windows as shown in the following screenshot.
Step 2 – Click Next.
Step 3 – The next page will give you options to choose where you want to install the app. In this case, let’s leave it by default and click Next.
Step 4 – Click Next and the screenshot of the next custom installation will appear. Select the features you want to install and click Next.
Step 5 – Click Yes to continue the installation.
Step 6 – The Ready to Install screen appears. Click on Install.
Step 7 – Click the Finish button.
The Virtual Box application will now open as shown in the following screenshot. We are now ready to install the rest of the hosts for this manual and this is also recommended for professional use.
How to install and configure Kali Linux in virtual box
Now that we have successfully installed the Virtual Box, let’s take the next step and install Kali Linux.
Step 1 – Download the Kali Linux package from its official website: https://www.kali.org/downloads/
Step 2 – Click VirtualBox → New as shown in the following screenshot.
Step 3 – Choose the correct virtual hard drive file and click Open.
Step 4 – The following screenshot appears. Click the Create button.
Step 5 – Start Kali OS. The default username is root and the password is toor.
Update Kali
It is important to continue updating Kali Linux and its tools to the new versions, to remain functional. Here are the steps to update Kali.
Step 1 – Go to Application → Terminal. Then type « apt-get update » and the update will take place as shown in the following screenshot.
Step 2 – Now, to upgrade the tools, type « apt-get upgrade » and the new packages will be downloaded.
Step 3 – It will ask you if you wish to continue. Type « Y » and « Enter ».
Step 4 – To upgrade to a newer version of the operating system, type « apt-get distupgrade ».
Laboratory configuration
In this section, we will configure another test machine to perform the tests using Kali Linux tools.
Step 1 – Download Metasploitable, which is a Linux machine. It can be downloaded from the official Rapid7 web page : https://information.rapid7.com/metasploitabledownload.html?LS=1631875&CS=web
Step 2 – Register by providing your contact details. After filling out the form above, we can download the software.
Step 3 – Click VirtualBox → New.
Step 4 – Click on « Use an existing virtual hard disk file ». Browse to the file where you downloaded Metasploitable and click Open.
Step 5 – A screen to create a virtual machine appears. Click on « Create ».
The default username is msfadmin and the password is msfadmin.
Please follow this talking tutorial on How to install and configure Kali Linux in virtual box or in a virtual machine.
