Double-click that OVA file and Virtualbox will open the Import Virtual Appliance window for you.Ĭhange the name of the VM to whatever you'd like, though you can leave it alone now and always change it later. This will give you an OVA file, which is a standard compressed virtual machine image format. Once the Kali Linux VM Image has finished downloading go ahead and decompress it. Seeing a Linux laptop popping up on a network during a Red Team engagement might give an observant sysadmin the freak out, so I like to keep it standard Windows and run the virtualized tools on top of that.

I run Virtualbox on Windows development desktops and my road laptops during engagements. Virtualbox runs on pretty much every mainstream platform out there. You'll need Virtualbox installed and running if you don't have it already - I recommend installing or updating to the latest stable version. If you choose the torrent method it's always nice to seed the download for a bit. On some customer engagements I scale it down to a bare minimum Ubuntu Server install with just Metasploit Framework and a few other tools running in a VM on a laptop that only has 1GB of RAM and 2 virtual CPU cores.įirst, start the download of the Prebuilt Kali Linux VirtualBox Image so it finishes while you download and install (or update) Oracle Virtualbox.

Running the VM in full screen allows for a seamless experience with minimal overhead.Ĭurrently I run Kali Linux in 4GB of RAM with 2 virtual CPU cores inside Oracle Virtualbox. By using a VM we limit hardware compatibility issues, have the ability to do snapshots (and revert if things go wrong), and easily export the VM for backup and portability. While Kali Linux can be installed on bare-metal like a desktop or laptop, it's often easier to use a VM instead. Need help with implementation or an upcoming project? We offer professional services at reasonable rates to help you with your next network rollout, security audit, architecture design, and more.

How to kali linux virtualbox