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4. Kali Linux Advanced Penetration Testing Linux Distribution

Last Updated 10 months ago

Kali Linux is a Debian-based Linux distribution designed for penetration testing, security auditing, and digital forensics. It comes with a wide range of pre-installed security tools and is used by cybersecurity professionals, ethical hackers, and security enthusiasts.

Purpose:-

Kali Linux is specifically developed for tasks like ethical hacking, vulnerability assessment, penetration testing, and digital forensics. It provides a platform with numerous tools for these purposes.

Debian-based:-

It's built upon the Debian distribution, a widely used and stable Linux base, which ensures a solid foundation.

Security Tools:-

Kali Linux is known for its extensive collection of security-related tools, including network scanners, password crackers, web application testing tools, and more. These tools are readily available and organized for quick access.

Not a Daily Driver:-

While Kali Linux is powerful, it's not intended to be a general-purpose operating system for everyday use. It's optimized for security tasks and may not have the best performance or user experience for general computing.

Open Source and Free:-

Kali Linux is completely free to use and its source code is available for anyone to inspect and modify, according to UATTech.

Various Platforms:-

It can be installed on bare metal (desktops, laptops), virtual machines, cloud environments, and even mobile devices (through Kali NetHunter).

# Installation & Setup

  1. On Windows 11, go to the Microsoft Store, search for Windows Subsystem for Linux and click Install
  2. Restart Windows
  3. Go to the Microsoft Store again, search for Kali Linux and click Install
  4. Once installation completed, click Launch
  5. In the terminal, enter the new access credentials to complete the installation:-
    6. Installing, this may take a few minutes...
Please create a default UNIX user account.
The username does not need to match your Windows username.
For more information visit: https://aka.ms/wslusers
Enter new UNIX username: kali
New password:
Retype new password:
passwd: password updated successfully
Installation successful!
  6. Enter below command to install Kali Linux:-
    7. $ sudo apt update
$ sudo apt full-upgrade -y
$ sudo apt install -y kali-linux-default # can be kali-linux-large or kali-linux-everything
  7. To access the configuration menu enter below command:-
    8. $ kali-tweak


# GUI Desktop (Win-Kex) Installation & Setup

  1. To proceed installation, enter below command:-
    2. $ sudo apt update
$ sudo apt install -y kali-win-kex
  2. Run Win-KeX in Window mode with sound support:-
    3. $ kex --win -s
  3. To create shortcut for Windows Terminal, open Command Prompt
  4. Go to Settings
  5. Click Open JSON File
  6. Add below line:-
    7. {
"guid": "{55ca431a-3a87-5fb3-83cd-11ececc031d2}",
"hidden": false,
 "name": "Win-KeX",
"commandline": "wsl -d kali-linux kex --wtstart -s",
}
  7. Click Save


# Un-register Kali Linux from WSL2

  1. Open PowerShell as administrator.
  2. Use below command to identify the name of your Kali Linux distribution:-
    3. wsl --list
  3. Enter below command to unregister the distribution:-
    4. wsl --unregister distribution-name # replace  with the actual name
  4. Confirm the uninstallation when prompted.
  5. Verify that it's removed by running below command again:-
    6. wsl --list


# Uninstall Kali Linux from Windows 11

  1. Open Settings
  2. Go to Apps ⟶ Installed Apps
  3. Search Kali Linux from the application lists
  4. Click Uninstall


# References

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