▷ How to install kali linux in virtualbox and configure it step by step

We are expanding our repertoire to dedicate ourselves today to installing Kali Linux in VirtualBox, the quintessential Linux distribution of network management and other more… interesting practices. In this way we can carry out tests with this system having it installed directly on our physical equipment through a virtual machine.

Index of contents

Linux distributions are boring, and the virtualization procedure for each one is very similar, although we must pay attention to certain particular aspects. That is why in this article we will dedicate ourselves to seeing the process of creating and installing Kali Linux in a virtual machine, and in another article we will see in more detail, how to configure the Internet connection and other aspects of this security distribution of networks.

Quick look to see what Kali Linux is

Kali Linux is a Debian-based GNU / Linux distribution that is specifically designed to perform network auditing and test security on computer networks. This distribution is the evolution of the old BackTrack, developed by the same company Offensive Security. Unlike Backtrack, which was based on the Ubuntu kernel, this new distribution is based on Debian 9.4.

As it will not escape us, this distribution with computer network security testing tools is a good tool for hackers who want to break security on Wi-Fi networks and look for weak points in network infrastructures that are in their path.

Kali Linux is very useful to investigate, for example, how a hacking attack has occurred in a network, detecting causes and the trace left by the node that was used for hacking. But it is also capable of doing it itself as long as the user has sufficient knowledge. This distro has many interesting applications related to computer security, which we can use to our liking as long as we have advanced knowledge of networks and security.

Finally we will see what requirements Kali Linux needs for its installation, something that we will have to keep in mind when configuring our virtual machine:

• CPU: ARM, i386 or x64 processor Storage space: 15 GB or more RAM memory: 1 GB minimum for desktop version and 2 GB recommended Wired or Wi-Fi network card for testing

Install Kali Linux in VirtualBox

After having known a little about what this distribution is about, we will see the entire procedure of creating and installing Kali Linux in VirtualBox.

Create virtual machine with Kali Linux in VirtualBox

To start the procedure, two things will be necessary, firstly the Hypervisor, in this case it will be VirttualBox and an ISO image of Kali Linux to proceed with its installation.

• We will use the VirtualBox 6.0 version, which we can download from this link We will also use the latest version of Kali Linux available which is 2018.4 in its 64-bit version. Download it from its official website

With everything ready, we will open VirtualBox and, located on the main screen, click on " Machine -> New " to start the creation of this VM.

We recommend clicking on the lower button " Expert mode " to obtain all the configuration options of the virtual machine.

Well, we put a name for it, and select as the Linux system type, and as the Debian (64-bit) version, since our system is based on Debian.

We will also put the amount of RAM, we will use the minimum required which is 1024 MB, but if you have more, put at least 2 GB.

Finally we select the option to " create a virtual hard disk now ", since the virtual machine will be created from scratch. When we finish and everything is as we want, click on " Create ".

On the next screen, we will have to select the storage space for the virtual hard disk. As before, we will use the minimum required, which will be 15 GB. Once again we recommend that, if you are going to use this system actively, select more space to not fall short, at least 25 GB.

As a format of the virtual hard disk, we will leave it by default in VDI, and we will select the option of " dynamically reserved ", so that the real space on our hard disk is dynamically allocated the more we use it. When we have finished, click on " Create ".

Set up Kali Linux virtual machine in VirtualBox

Before installing the operating system, of course we will have to select our ISO image to place it in the virtual CD player so that the system can be installed.

Click on the created virtual machine, and select the " Configuration " option.

The first modification we will make will be to remove the floppy disk in the " General " section from the boot list, since we do not want it at all. In principle, we will not have to activate the EFI option for the BIOS, because it will only cause us problems.

In the " System " section, we will select the use of two cores of our processor, if we have more or we want to assign them all, go ahead. Greater speed we will obtain if we are going to give intense use to the distro.

Now we will go directly to the " Storage " section to select our virtual CD player and click on the disk icon on the right. We will select the Kali Linux ISO image wherever we have stored it during the download.

In the network section, for now we will leave it as it is, that is, in NAT mode to access the Internet through our physical equipment. In a subsequent article, we will see how to configure this aspect in more detail, in case it does not give any problem at first.

Well, we proceed to start the virtual machine to install the operating system.

Kali Linux 2018.4 installation process

The wizard is quite similar to that of all Debian-based distributions. We start by selecting the option " Graphical install " if we want it with GUI.

We select our installation language and accept the notice that the translation will not be complete.

Now we will have to put the name of the machine, this will be important to identify this machine on the network, so we put one that we can familiarize ourselves with if necessary.

Then we are asked if the machine is going to be in a network under domain, for example, with Active Directory, or simply because we have an active domain. Since we are in a domestic environment, we will not be able to do anything about it.

In the new window, we will place the password of the root user. This user will be the one that is natively active in the system, that is, we will always be root, so we will have to put a good password for your security, such as 1234… or not.

Now we already enter the own configuration of the installation mode that we will carry out. We will not complicate ourselves and we will choose the Guided mode, in which we will use the entire hard drive. At the end of the day it is a virtual machine.

We will also choose that all the files bay on the same partition, although if we wish, we can choose to have the system make three partitions to install the / home, / var and / tmp on different partitions.

We will be shown a summary of the actions to be carried out. In any case, Linux always designates, by default, 1 GB of space to put the virtual memory or swap. This will be immovable.

Before starting the file installation process, we will be asked if we want to make a replica of the network, generally for program updates. We choose that we do want to do it, nor are we going to lose anything.

At this point, if we do not have an active network, we will be shown an error. We should not worry, since after making sure that the network card is active in the MV, later we can repeat the process to make this option appear.

To finish, we will be asked if we want to place the grub to manage the startup of our virtual team. We recommend installing it, in case we have a problem with it in the future or we want to modify this sequence with another system.

We choose, of course, the active partition of the system, that is, where we are going to install Kali Linux.

Finally, the process will take place and start our virtual machine. We must remember that the default user will be root, and the password that we have previously placed in the wizard.

Configure Kali Linux virtual machine and Wi-Fi network card.

If we look above, we do not configure any type of network especially for our virtual machine. We have left this section to create a specific article in which we have better developed some important aspects to have our system fully functional and ready to use.

Visit this article to configure Kali Linux virtual machine and Wi-Fi network card in VirtualBox.

We also recommend these tutorials:

We trust that you had no problems during the creation of this virtual machine. What are you going to use Kali Linux for?