Linuxlandit & The Conqueror Penguin

Kali Linux Guide; Virtualization

2026-05-22T05:23:00.000-07:00

Customizing a Kali Vagrant Vagrantfile

Vagrant has a great feature when getting started where you create a Vagrantfile unique to the box you are trying to install. For example, Kali has this Vagrantfile when starting up a Kali Vagrant machine:

kali@kali:~$ cat Vagrantfile | grep -v '#'

Vagrant.configure("2") do |config|

  config.vm.box = "kalilinux/rolling"








end

What we see here is that Vagrant is configuring to use ‘2’ and the ‘vm.box’ is Kali. Perfect! But what does that mean? Well, ‘2’ is actually just what version of Vagrant we are running (Vagrant 1.1 and newer) and ‘vm.box’ just says that we are using Kali. So what can we do with this? Well HashiCorp actually provides some pretty nice documentationon how to configure it and discusses all of the different configuration values, so we aren’t going to go through them all. Instead we will discuss some of them that will make Kali a better experience for you.

Vagrantfile configuration to improve Kali

We will not be discussing the actual description of the configuration option, as that is better explained by HashiCorp, but we will discuss how Kali may benefit from it.

config.vm.base_address - Setting the default IP address may be useful for quite a lot of circumstances, however it also is just helpful to know what your IP is when setting up reverse shells.
config.vm.hostname - Set a new hostname so you don’t have the default one!
config.vm.provider - It may be helpful to select which VM provider you want if you have multiple. Note that this can also be done with the command flag --provider.
config.vm.provision - This optionmay be helpful for people who want to configure some type of option post Vagrant start up. For example, if we want to post-startup ensure that Kali is up-to-date and we have kali-linux-large installed, we can do that pretty easily.
config.vm.usable_port_range - If we want to use a larger port range then this is a must know.
config.ssh.forward_x11 - This option may be helpful if you are wanting GUI access for a certain app.

Deploying Kali over Network PXE Install

2026-05-15T09:33:00.000-07:00

It is possible to boot and installing Kali Linux over the network, using Preboot eXecution Environment (PXE). There is a range of environments where this beneficial such as a single laptop install with no CDROMor USBports, to enterprise deployments supporting pre-seedingof the Kali Linux installation.

By using a “slimed down” image, network booting (Netboot), it only has the essential packages in order for the setup to work. Everything else is pulled down during installation, making sure everything is fully up-to-date after the installation.

We will cover a few different ways of using PXE. The first way will be how to manually set up PXE with dnsmasq. The final way will utilize netbootxyz, which hosts the PXE files and uses a separate DNS server to properly direct computers.

Manually setting up a PXE Server with `dnsmasq`

First, we need to install dnsmasqwhich will provide the DHCP/TFTP service:

kali@kali:~$ sudo apt install -y dnsmasq
[...]
kali@kali:~$

In dnsmasq.conf, enable DHCP, TFTP and PXE booting and set the dhcp-range to match your environment (we are using 192.168.101.100-200). If needed you can also define your DNS servers (8.8.8.8 & 8.8.4.4) and gateway (192.168.101.1) with the dhcp-option directive as shown below:

kali@kali:~$ cat <<EOF | sudo tee /etc/dnsmasq.conf
interface=eth0
dhcp-range=192.168.101.100,192.168.101.200,12h
dhcp-boot=pxelinux.0
enable-tftp
tftp-root=/tftpboot/
dhcp-option=3,192.168.101.1
dhcp-option=6,8.8.8.8,8.8.4.4
EOF
kali@kali:~$

Now in our above example, we used /tftpboot/ for the home directory of TFTP, which we now need to create, as this will hold the Kali Linux Netboot image:

kali@kali:~$ sudo mkdir -pv /tftpboot/
mkdir: created directory '/tftpboot/'
kali@kali:~$

With the edits in place, the dnsmasq service needs to be restarted in order for the changes to take effect:

kali@kali:~$ sudo systemctl restart dnsmasq
kali@kali:~$
kali@kali:~$ sudo systemctl enable dnsmasq
kali@kali:~$
kali@kali:~$ sudo systemctl status dnsmasq
[...]
kali@kali:~$

Download Kali PXE Netboot Images

We can now download the Kali Netboot image we wish to serve:

# 64-bit:
sudo wget https://http.kali.org/kali/dists/kali-rolling/main/installer-amd64/current/images/netboot/netboot.tar.gz -P /tftpboot/

The last step is to extract the contents and do a little bit of house keeping:

kali@kali:~$ sudo tar -zxpvf /tftpboot/netboot.tar.gz -C /tftpboot
[...]
kali@kali:~$
kali@kali:~$ sudo rm -v /tftpboot/netboot.tar.gz
removed '/tftpboot/netboot.tar.gz'
kali@kali:~$

Configure Target to Boot From Network

With everything configured, you can now boot your target system and configure it to boot from the network. It should get an IP address from your PXE server and begin booting Kali Linux.

Depending on the manufacture, will depending on the keyboard shortcut required to bring up the boot menu. Common keys are: ESC, F2, F8 and F12:

Afterwards, select the network card:

If everything works right, you should shortly see a screen similar to the following. Please note, it may take a few seconds in order to get an IP address:

Finally, you should see the Netboot GRUB:

Troubleshooting

If you see either of the following screens, it could be due to the machine unable to get an IP address from the PXE service:

The first thing would be to check the status of dnsmasq:

kali@kali:~$ sudo systemctl status dnsmasq
[...]
     Active: active (running) since Wed 2023-06-07 13:48:15 BST; 17s ago
[...]
Jun 07 13:48:15 kali dnsmasq-dhcp[1960]: DHCP, IP range 192.168.101.100 -- 192.168.101.200, lease time 12h
Jun 07 13:48:15 kali dnsmasq-tftp[1960]: TFTP root is /tftpboot/
Jun 07 13:48:15 kali dnsmasq[1960]: reading /etc/resolv.conf
Jun 07 13:48:15 kali dnsmasq[1960]: using nameserver 8.8.8.8#53
[...]
Jun 07 13:48:31 kali dnsmasq-dhcp[1960]: no address range available for DHCP request via eth0
lines 1-23/23 (END)

The line which sticks out here is:

no address range available for DHCP request via eth0

A possible reason for this is the IP range (192.168.101.100 -> 192.168.101.200) is outside of the range used by the interface (192.168.0.3):

kali@kali:~$ ip a
[...]
2: eth0: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 qdisc mq state UP group default qlen 1000
[...]
    inet 192.168.0.3/24 brd 192.168.1.255 scope global dynamic noprefixroute eth0
[...]
kali@kali:~$

We can have a go at dynamically, generating the configuration:

kali@kali:~$ interface=eth0
kali@kali:~$
kali@kali:~$ network=$( ip -4 addr show dev ${interface} | grep -oP '(?<=inet\s)\d+(\.\d+){2}' )
kali@kali:~$
kali@kali:~$ cat <<EOF | sudo tee /etc/dnsmasq.conf
interface=${interface}
dhcp-range=${network}.100,${network}.200,12h
dhcp-boot=pxelinux.0
enable-tftp
tftp-root=/tftpboot/
dhcp-option=3,$( ip -4 route show dev ${interface} | grep -oP '(?<=default\svia\s)(\d+(\.\d+){3})' )
dhcp-option=6,8.8.8.8,8.8.4.4
EOF
kali@kali:~$
kali@kali:~$ sudo systemctl restart dnsmasq
kali@kali:~$
kali@kali:~$ sudo systemctl status dnsmasq
[...]

Please note, you will need to disable your existing DHCP service, else there will be a race in which service is able to response quicker.

Post Installation

Now that you’ve completed installing Kali Linux, it’s time to customize your system. The General Use section has more information and you can also find tips on how to get the most out of Kali Linux in our User Forums.

Auto Updating

One last thing we need to do if we want to use this system in the future is set up a cron job to pull in the new Netboot images regularly in case of kernel updates. We will create a simple script and set its permissions:

kali@kali:~$ sudo mkdir -pv /opt/pxe/
mkdir: created directory '/opt/pxe/'
kali@kali:~$
kali@kali:~$ cat <<'EOF' | sudo tee /opt/pxe/tftpboot.sh
#!/usr/bin/env sh

## Our desired path for the PXE image to be saved to
tftp=/tftpboot

## amd64 (64-bit)
arch=amd64

## Complete remove and create the previous directory containing the PXE image
rm -rfv "${tftp:?}"/*

## Download the newest version
wget "https://http.kali.org/kali/dists/kali-rolling/main/installer-${arch}/current/images/netboot/netboot.tar.gz" -O "${tftp}/netboot.tar.gz"

## Extract
tar -zxpvf /tftpboot/netboot.tar.gz -C "${tftp}"

## Clean up
rm -v "${tftp}/netboot.tar.gz"
EOF
kali@kali:~$
kali@kali:~$ sudo chmod 0700 /opt/pxe/tftpboot.sh
kali@kali:~$
kali@kali:~$ sudo chown root: /opt/pxe/tftpboot.sh

As we are going to quickly make a new user, tftp and set both folders permissions:

kali@kali:~$ sudo adduser --system --home /opt/pxe/ tftp
adduser: Warning: The home dir /opt/pxe/ you specified already exists.
Adding system user `tftp' (UID 117) ...
Adding new user `tftp' (UID 117) with group `nogroup' ...
adduser: The home directory `/opt/pxe/' already exists.  Not touching this directory.
adduser: Warning: The home directory `/opt/pxe/' does not belong to the user you are currently creating.
kali@kali:~$
kali@kali:~$ sudo chown -R tftp: /opt/pxe/ /tftpboot/
kali@kali:~$

The last item left is to setup a schedule task. We will use cron:

kali@kali:~$ sudo crontab -u tftp -e
[...]
0 5 * * 2 /opt/pxe/tftpboot.sh >/dev/null
kali@kali:~$

Now, every Tuesday at 05:00, our Netboot image should self-update!

Pre-seeding PXE

Pre-seed file

We can use the following pre-seed file to automatically install our Kali instance. Be sure to change package selection, user information, region information, and hard drive to match what you are using. Alternatively, should you want to be prompted for any of those, just comment out the line:

kali@kali:~$ cat <<'EOF' | sudo tee /opt/pxe/preseed.cfg
# Package selection
d-i pkgsel/include string kali-linux-default kali-desktop-xfce

# User information
d-i passwd/user-fullname string kali
d-i passwd/username string kali
d-i passwd/user-password password kali
d-i passwd/user-password-again password kali

# Region Information
d-i time/zone string US/Eastern
d-i debian-installer/locale string en_US
d-i debian-installer/language string en
d-i debian-installer/country string US
d-i debian-installer/locale string en_US.UTF-8
d-i keyboard-configuration/xkb-keymap select us

# Hard drive
d-i grub-installer/bootdev string /dev/sda

d-i netcfg/get_hostname string kali
d-i netcfg/get_domain string unnasigned-domain
tasksel tasksel/first multiselect standard
d-i mirror/country string enter information manually
d-i mirror/suite string kali-rolling
d-i mirror/codename string kali-rolling
d-i mirror/http/hostname string http.kali.org
d-i mirror/http/directory string /kali
d-i mirror/http/proxy string
d-i partman-auto/method string regular
d-i partman-auto-lvm/guided_size string max
d-i partman-auto/choose_recipe select atomic
d-i partman-partitioning/confirm_write_new_label boolean true
d-i partman/choose_partition select finish
d-i partman/confirm boolean true
d-i partman/confirm_nooverwrite boolean true
d-i partman-md/confirm boolean true
d-i partman-partitioning/confirm_write_new_label boolean true
d-i partman/choose_partition select finish
d-i partman/confirm boolean true
d-i partman/confirm_nooverwrite boolean true
d-i grub-installer/only_debian boolean true
d-i grub-installer/with_other_os boolean true
d-i finish-install/reboot_in_progress note
d-i apt-setup/services-select multiselect
d-i apt-setup/non-free boolean true
d-i apt-setup/contrib boolean true
d-i apt-setup/disable-cdrom-entries boolean true
d-i apt-setup/enable-source-repositories boolean false
d-i pkgsel/upgrade select full-upgrade
d-i passwd/root-login boolean false
d-i preseed/early_command string anna-install eatmydata-udeb
d-i pkgsel/update-policy select none
popularity-contest popularity-contest/participate boolean false
encfs encfs/security-information boolean true
encfs encfs/security-information seen true
console-setup console-setup/charmap47 select UTF-8
samba-common samba-common/dhcp boolean false
macchanger macchanger/automatically_run boolean false
kismet-capture-common kismet-capture-common/install-users string
kismet-capture-common kismet-capture-common/install-setuid boolean true
wireshark-common wireshark-common/install-setuid boolean true
sslh sslh/inetd_or_standalone select standalone
atftpd atftpd/use_inetd boolean false
EOF
kali@kali:~$

Pre-seed integration to initrd

To incorporate this into our initrd to automatically run we must do the following:

Please note, we are using 64-bit/AMD64.

kali@kali:~$ cd /tftpboot/debian-installer/amd64/
kali@kali:/tftpboot/debian-installer/amd64$
kali@kali:/tftpboot/debian-installer/amd64$ sudo gunzip initrd.gz
kali@kali:/tftpboot/debian-installer/amd64$
kali@kali:/tftpboot/debian-installer/amd64$ sudo cp -v /opt/pxe/preseed.cfg preseed.cfg
'/opt/pxe/preseed.cfg' -> './preseed.cfg'
kali@kali:/tftpboot/debian-installer/amd64$
kali@kali:/tftpboot/debian-installer/amd64$ echo preseed.cfg | sudo cpio -H newc -o -A -F initrd
6 blocks
kali@kali:/tftpboot/debian-installer/amd64$ sudo gzip initrd
kali@kali:/tftpboot/debian-installer/amd64$

Now all that is left to-do, is boot from network, and select “Install” and watch the unattended setup progress!

Using netbootxyz to host our PXE files

To install and use netbootxyz we recommend to follow the official documentation. This will allow us to set up a server and use our existing DHCP server to point to it, rather than creating a new DHCP server, as well as having a web interface to manage items.

ZenLake OS (or ZenLake Linux) is a modern and lightweight Linux distribution

2026-05-08T11:36:00.000-07:00

ZenLake OS 26.04 was released on May 8, 2026, based on Ubuntu 26.04 LTS ("Resolute Raccoon"). This new version features the GNOME 50 desktop, Linux kernel 7.0, and aims to be a user-friendly, lightweight distribution with a Windows-like layout.

Key Updates and Features (As of May 2026)

Release: ZenLake OS 26.04 is now available.
Base: Built upon Ubuntu 26.04 LTS.
Desktop: Features GNOME 50 with a customized, user-friendly layout including a taskbar, for users familiar with Windows-like workflows.
Core: Powered by Linux Kernel 7.0.
Features: Includes Wayland display server, built-in system restoration capabilities, and supports both Snap and Flatpak.
Availability: Refreshed ISOs are typically aimed at new installations to minimize update requirements. [

BTRFS Install (Kali Unkaputtbar)

2026-05-08T09:28:00.000-07:00

Have you ever wished you could travel back in time after deleting that all important customer report or installing a broken driver just before heading into the board meeting?

Well, you better read on, because now you can!

All it takes is to install Kali Linux 2022.1or newer with btrfs as file system and to enable snapshotting after installation.

You can even boot into any of your saved snapshots via the boot menu and easily rollback to a previous system state:

Content

Overview

btrfsis a modern Copy on Write (CoW) filesystem for Linux aimed at implementing advanced features such as pooling, snapshots, checksums, and integrated multi-device spanning. In particular, the snapshotsupport is what makes btrfs attractive for Kali installations on bare metal. Virtualization solutions such as VMware and VirtualBox provide their own snapshotting functionality and using btrfs in those environments is not really required.

The snapshotting strategy of this walk-through centres around a tool called “snapper” from our friends over at SUSE. Snapper transparently hooks into the apt workflow and automatically creates snapshots before and after any apt operation. This neat little feature allows to easily rollback a system after a botched upgrade.

To top things off, we added grub-btrfsby Antyneato automatically add a list of snapshots to the grub boot menu.

Snapper-guiby Ricardo Vieirais another great tool we use to make our lives easier.

Installation Overview

Installing Kali Linux with snapshotting functionality is very similar to a standard installation except that we install it with btrfs as file system.

After the installation, we will install some tools and create a default configuration for snapper.

Partitioning Scheme

When selecting “btrfs” as file system, the installer will automatically create the following subvolume layout:

Mount Point         | Subvolume         | Description
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
/                   | @                 | The root filesystem incl. /boot
/.snapshots         | @.snapshots       | Snapper's snapshot directory
/home               | @home             | User home directories
/root               | @root             | The root user's home directory
/var/log            | @var@log          | Log files
/srv                | @srv              | Site-specific data served by this system
/tmp                | @tmp              | Temporary files
/usr/local          | @usr@local        | Tertiary hierarchy for local data

Kali Linux BTRFS Installation Steps

Kali Linux Installation Procedure

To start your installation, boot with your chosen installation medium. You should be greeted with the Kali Boot screen. Choose Graphical Install.
The installation steps are identical to a default Kali installation except changing “ext4” to “btrfs” as file system:

At the “Partition Disk” screen, choose “Guided - use entire disk”:

Click “Continue”:

Double-click on the / partition:

Choose “btrfs”:

Select “Done setting up the partition” and continue:

Select “Finish partitioning and write changes to disk” and continue with the installation.

# Set a secure root password or you'll struggle to log into a recovery shell
$ sudo passwd

# Install some essential tools
$ sudo apt update && sudo apt install btrfs-progs snapper snapper-gui grub-btrfs

# Create the snapper configuration for the root filesystem "/"
$ sudo cp /usr/share/snapper/config-templates/default /etc/snapper/configs/root
$ sudo sed -i 's/^SNAPPER_CONFIGS=\"\"/SNAPPER_CONFIGS=\"root\"/' /etc/default/snapper

# Prevent "updatedb" from indexing the snapshots, which would slow down the system
$ sudo sed -i '/# PRUNENAMES=/ a PRUNENAMES = ".snapshots"' /etc/updatedb.conf

We need to tweak the desktop managers to work in read only snapshots. Pick your DE from the following:

GNOME:

# Reconfigure gdm to allow booting into read-only snapshots
# GDM needs to have write access to "/var/lib/gdm3" and "/var/lib/AccountService" during login.
# We have to create additional subvolumes for them:

$ mount # Pick your main partition, </dev/sda1> in our example, replace </dev/sda1> it with yours
$ sudo mount </dev/sda1> /mnt
$ sudo btrfs subvolume create /mnt/@var@lib@gdm3
$ sudo btrfs subvolume create /mnt/@var@lib@AccountsService

$ sudo mv /var/lib/gdm3/* /var/lib/gdm3/.* /mnt/@var@lib@gdm3
$ sudo mv /var/lib/AccountsService/* /var/lib/AccountsService/.* /mnt/@var@lib@AccountsService/

$ sudo vi /etc/fstab # Add the following (substitute the <UUID> with yours)

# /var/lib/gdm3 was on /dev/sda1 during installation
UUID=<dc1ca012-9349-4fcf-b761-ca323379b019> /var/lib/gdm3   btrfs   defaults,subvol=@var@lib@gdm3 0       0

# /var/lib/AccountsService was on /dev/sda1 during installation
UUID=<dc1ca012-9349-4fcf-b761-ca323379b019> /var/lib/AccountsService   btrfs   defaults,subvol=@var@lib@AccountsService 0       0

# Reboot for the changes to take effect
$ sudo reboot

KDE:

# KDE works out of the box, just reboot and enjoy
$ sudo reboot

XFCE:

# Reconfigure lightdm to allow booting into read-only snapshots
$ sudo sed -i 's/^#user-authority-in-system-dir=false/user-authority-in-system-dir=true/' /etc/lightdm/lightdm.conf
$
$ sudo reboot

The first reboot will create the first automatic snapshot. Reboot again to find the new boot menu entry for this snapshot:

Congratulations, you have just installed a Kali system with automatic snapshotting functionality! Next, we will cover some basic usage examples.

Usage

Modify configurations

Out of the box Kali creates snapshots of the root directory to allow system rollbacks. Snapshots are automatically created during apt operations, at specified time intervals, and on every boot. The configuration can be changed via the “snapper-gui” tool. Just click on the little icon in the top left hand corner and select “Properties”:

Create additional configurations

To create snapshots of your home directory, you can create a new configuration using snapper-gui.

Click on “New” -> “Create Configuration”

Create a snapshot

To manually create a snapshot using snapper-gui, select the appropriate configuration tab (home in this case) and click “New” -> “Create Snapshot”

List snapshots

Snapshots are listed in the snapper-gui:

Alternatively, snapshots on all configurations can be viewed using the snapper command line tool:

$ sudo snapper list -a

Delete snapshots

The easiest way to delete a snapshot is by using the snapper command line tool:

sudo snapper delete <number-or-number-range>

Voilà, easy.

Now is probably the right time to flick through the snapper command line options via:

snapper --help

Rollback

To roll back to a previous snapshot we have to remember two things:

The root / of the file system has been installed in a subvolume /@" and not the root of the btrfs partition /
A snapshot is treated like just another subvolume except that they are read-only
You can easily boot into your read-only snapshots to find the one you want to roll-back to.

Thus all we have to do is mount the btrfs partition and replace the current root subvolume @ with the last snapshot. To be safe we’ll backup the current root (@) subvolume.

E.g.:

# get the device that contains your "/" subvolume and remember it for the next step:
mount | grep 'subvol=/@)'

# mount your root partition (replace "/dev/sda2" with yours from above):
sudo mount /dev/sda2 -o subvol=/ /mnt

# Move the old root away:
sudo mv /mnt/@ /mnt/@_badroot

# Roll back to a previous snapshot by creating a read-write copy of it as "@"":
sudo btrfs subvolume snapshot /mnt/@.snapshots/XXXXX/snapshot /mnt/@

# That's it, reboot:
sudo reboot -f

Diff

Snapper is chock-a-block with powerful features like diffs between snapshots:

Browse snapshots

You can even browse the content of snapshots:

Full recovery from an unbootable system

Boot into a last known good snapshot

Let’s assume that the last upgrade broke our machine. Every run of “apt install” creates to snapshots, one “pre” snapshot is created before the installation and one “post” snapshot is created after the installation.

To undo the last “apt upgrade”, we would boot into the last “pre” snapshot and check if everything is working again:

Now you can login to the snapshot.

Please note that the snapshot is read only and you might receive an error message from an applet or two after logging in. Just ignore that.

Have a look around ensure that this is what you would like to roll-back to.

Rollback

Remember that “/” itself is the subvolume “@”. To rollback to a snapshot, all we have to do is replace “@” with the snapshot we want.

First we have to mount the physical partition that holds all our subvolumes. Let’s find it first

mount | grep 'subvol='

and then mount it (/dev/sda2 in this example:

sudo mount /dev/sda2 -o subvol=/ /mnt

If we list the content of that partition we can see all the subvolumes, including the one containing our snapshots:

Before we replace the current root with our snapshot, let’s move “@” away just to be safe:

sudo mv /mnt/@ /mnt/@_old

Now we can create a read-write snapshot of the current read-only snapshot (in this example we booted into the read-only snapshot “6” according to the query above):

sudo btrfs subvolume snapshot /mnt/@.snapshots/6/snapshot /mnt/@

And that’s all there is to it, now we can reboot as if nothing ever happened to our beautiful machine:

References

Dual Booting Kali with Linux

2026-05-01T09:26:00.000-07:00

Installing Kali Linux alongside another Linux installation can be quite useful. However, you need to exercise caution during the setup process. First, make sure that you’ve backed up any important data on your Linux installation. Since you’ll be modifying your hard drive, you’ll want to store this backup on external media. Once you’ve completed the backup, we recommend you peruse our Kali Linux Hard Disk install guide, which explains the normal procedure for a basic Kali Linux install.

In our example, we will be installing Kali Linux alongside an installation of Ubuntu (Server 18.04), which is currently taking up 100% of the disk space in our computer. We will start by resizing our current Linux partition to occupy less space and then proceed to install Kali Linux in the newly-created empty partition.

Installation Prerequisites

This guide will make the following assumptions:

You have read our single boot Kali Linux install guide, as this has the same Installation Prerequisites (System requirements & setup assumptions).
When downloading Kali Linux, pick the live image, rather than the installer option.
A single disk to install to (rather than a dedicated disk per operating system).

We need to use a different image from the single boot Kali Linux install guide, as we need the live image. This is because we need to edit the disk structure without mounting any partitions (otherwise they would be in-use). After we have finished altering the disk layout, we can still install Kali Linux using the live image, but there will be a few differences such as:

Changing or removing the desktop environment.
Installing or removing any metapackages.

Both of these can be addressed post installation, as it saves swapping to the installer image (as you will need either multiple CD/DVD/USBs or to re-image half way though).

This installation has the potential to go wrong very easily as it involves editing existing partitions. Be aware of what partitions you are modifying and where you are installing Kali Linux to.
Having a backup of your Linux files available is a good idea in the event something goes wrong.

Resize Linux Procedure

Before we can install Kali Linux, there needs to be room on the hard disk. By booting into a live Kali Linux session with your chosen installation medium, we can resize the partition to our desired size, as the disk will not be in use because Kali Linux will all be in memory.

To start resizing, make sure you insert your Kali Linux installation medium and power on the device. If needed, press any keyboard shortcuts for a “boot order menu” (depends on each manufacture) or boot into BIOS/UEFI and change the boot order to point to the installation medium first.
When the boot menu/options appears, you should see at least one new option. Depending on the manufacture, hardware, how the system is configured and install medium, you may see more options (e.g. Can you boot into non-UEFI?).

You may need to try a few different options in order to find success.

You should be greeted with the Kali Linux boot screen. Select Live, and you should be booted into the Kali Linux default desktop.

Now launch GParted, which we’ll use to shrink the existing Linux partition to give us enough room to install Kali Linux in the free space.

Once GParted has opened, select your Linux partition (/dev/sda1) & resize it leaving enough space (we recommend at least 20 GB) for the Kali Linux installation.

Depending on your setup, the disk structure may be different to include:

A swap partition
Separate partitions for certain directories (e.g. /home, /var and /tmp)

You often just want to select the largest partition (commonly the data/home directory)

If you are moving past into any non-white in the partition then you are editing a section that is in use.
Only remove from the area of the partition that is not in use.

If you wish to organize the partition to group all the Linux partitions together, placing the free space at the end, you may do so.

Once you have resized your Linux partition, ensure you “Apply All Operations” on the hard disk. Exit gparted and reboot.

Kali Linux Installation Procedure

The installation procedure from this point onwards is similar to a Kali Linux Hard Disk install, until the point of the partitioning. At this point, you need to select “Guided - use the largest continuous free space” (rather than “Guided - the entire disk”) which got created earlier with gparted.

You can carry on following the single boot Kali Linux install guide, expect you will not have the option to select desktop environmentor metapackages as you are using the live image. Once the installation is done, reboot.

You should be greeted with a GRUB boot menu, which will allow you to boot either into Kali Linux or the other Linux operating system.

Post Installation

Now that you’ve completed installing Kali Linux, it’s time to customize your system.

Installing Kali Linux

2026-04-24T09:24:00.000-07:00

Installing Kali Linux (single boot) on your computer is an easy process. This guide will cover the basic install (which can be done on bare metal or guest VM), with the option of encrypting the partition. At times, you may have sensitive data you would prefer to encrypt using Full Disk Encryption (FDE). During the setup process you can initiate an LVM encrypted install on either Hard Disk or USB drives.

First, you’ll need compatible computer hardware. Kali Linux is supported on amd64 (x86_64/64-bit) platforms. The hardware requirements are minimal as listed in the section below, although better hardware will naturally provide better performance. You should be able to use Kali Linux on newer hardware with UEFI and older systems with BIOS.

In our example, we will be installing Kali Linux in a fresh guest VM, without any existing operating systems pre-installed. We will explain other possible scenarios throughout the guide.

System Requirements

The installation requirements for Kali Linux will vary depending on what you would like to install and your setup. For system requirements:

On the low end, you can set up Kali Linux as a basic Secure Shell (SSH) server with no desktop, using as little as 128 MB of RAM (512 MB recommended) and 2 GB of disk space.
On the higher end, if you opt to install the default Xfce4 desktop and the kali-linux-default metapackage, you should really aim for at least 2 GB of RAM and 20 GB of disk space.
- When using resource-intensive applications, such as Burp Suite, they recommend at least 8 GB of RAM (and even more if it is a large web application!) or using simultaneous programs at the same time.

Installation Prerequisites

This guide will make also the following assumptions when installing Kali Linux:

Using the amd64 installer image.
CD/DVD drive / USB boot support.
Single disk to install to.
Connected to a network (with DHCP & DNS enabled) which has outbound Internet access.

We will be wiping any existing data on the hard disk, so please backup any important information on the device to an external media.

Preparing for the Installation

Download Kali Linux(We recommendthe image marked Installer).
Burn The Kali Linux ISO to DVD or image Kali Linux Live to USB drive. (If you cannot, check out the Kali Linux Network Install).
Backup any important information on the device to an external media.
Ensure that your computer is set to boot from CD/DVD/USB in your BIOS/UEFI.
In the UEFI settings, ensure that Secure Boot is disabled. The Kali Linux kernel is not signed and will not be recognized by Secure Boot.

Kali Linux Installation Procedure

Boot

To start your installation, boot with your chosen installation medium. You should be greeted with the Kali Linux Boot screen. Choose either Graphical install or Install (Text-Mode). In this example, we chose the Graphical install.

If you’re using the live image instead, you will see another mode, Live, which is also the default boot option.

Language

Select your preferred language. This will be used for both the setup process and once you are using Kali Linux.

Specify your geographic location.

Select your keyboard layout.

Network

The setup will now probe your network interfaces, looks for a DHCP service, and then prompt you to enter a hostname for your system. In the example below, we’ve entered kali as our hostname.

If there is no network access with DHCP service detected, you may need to manually configure the network information or do not configure the network at this time.

If there isn’t a DHCP service running on the network, it will ask you to manually enter the network information after probing for network interfaces, or you can skip.
If Kali Linux doesn’t detect your NIC, you either need to include the drivers for it when prompted, or generate a custom Kali Linux ISOwith them pre-included.
If the setup detects multiple NICs, it may prompt you which one to use for the install.
If the chosen NIC is 802.11 based, you will be asked for your wireless network information before being prompted for a hostname.

You may optionally provide a default domain name for this system to use (values may be pulled in from DHCP or if there is an existing operating systems pre-existing).

User Accounts

Next, create the user account for the system (Full name, username and a strong password).

Clock

Next, set your time zone.

Disk

The installer will now probe your disks and offer you various choices, depending on the setup.

In our guide, we are using a clean disk, so we have four options to pick from. We will select Guided - the entire disk, as this is the single boot installation for Kali Linux, so we do not want any other operating systems installed, so we are happy to wipe the disk.

If there is an pre-existing data on the disk, you will have have an extra option (Guided - use the largest continuous free space) than the example below. This would instruct the setup not to alter any existing data, which is perfect for dual-booting into another operating system. As this is not the case in this example, it is not visible.

Experienced users can use the “Manual” partitioning method for more granular configuration options, which is covered more in our BTRFS guide.

If you want to encrypt Kali Linux, you can enable Full Disk Encryption (FDE), by selecting Guided - used entire disk and setup encrypted LVM. When selected, later on in the setup (not in this guide) prompt you to enter a password (twice). You will have to enter this password every time you start up Kali Linux.

Select the disk to be partitioned.

Depending on your needs, you can choose to keep all your files in a single partition - the default - or to have separate partitions for one or more of the top-level directories.

If you’re not sure which you want, you want “All files in one partition”.

Next, you’ll have one last chance to review your disk configuration before the installer makes irreversible changes. After you click Continue, the installer will go to work and you’ll have an almost finished installation.

Encrypted LVM

If enabled in the previous step, Kali Linux will now start to perform a secure wipe of the hard disk, before asking you for a LVM password.

Please be sure a strong password is used, or else you will be prompted with a weak passphrase warning.

This wipe may take “a while” (hours) depending on the size and speed of the drive.
If you wish to risk it, you can skip it.

Proxy Information

Kali Linux uses a central repository to distribute applications. You’ll need to enter any appropriate proxy information as needed.

Metapackages

If network access was not setup, you will want to continue with setup when prompt.

If you are using the Live image, you will not have the following stage.

Next you can select which metapackagesyou would like to install. The default selections will install a standard Kali Linux system and you don’t really have to change anything here.

Please refer to this guideif you prefer to change the default selections.

Boot Information

Next confirm to install the GRUB boot loader.

Select the hard drive to install the GRUB bootloader in (it does not by default select any drive).

Reboot

Finally, click Continue to reboot into your new Kali Linux installation.

Post Installation

Now that you’ve completed installing Kali Linux, it’s time to customize your system.

The General Use section has more information and you can also find tips on how to get the most out of Kali Linux in our User Forums.

Kali Linux Installation Sizes

2026-04-17T09:22:00.000-07:00

Kali has a lot of customization that can be done during the package selection part of installation. Specifically, there are a total of 20 ways to configure your system during package selection. To help give an idea of what storage size someone should look to have for their preferred packages, we have created this documentation reference page. In general, a disk size of about 60GB will allow for any installation and provide a bit of extra storage for use. If you want a more specific answer, then keep reading!

For this page we are going to break down the installations into five sections, each representing what tool metapackages are selected. In each section, we are also going to list out all four desktop environment choices.

The following table shows the total size of the installation based on which metapackage is chosen. The largest possible installation is 35G, while the smallest possible installation is only 1.8G.

Metapackage/DE
Xfce
GNOME
KDE
Headless

kali-linux-core
3.7G
4.1G
5.2G
1.5G

kali-tools-top10
6.7G
7.0G
8.2G
5.0G

kali-linux-default
13G
13G
15G
13G

kali-linux-large
20G
20G
21G
19G

kali-linux-everything
34G
35G
36G
34G

Zorin OS 18.1 is released.

2026-04-15T14:49:18.334-07:00

Zorinannounces the launch of Zorin OS 18.1, just six months after the launch of Zorin OS 18 and with more than 3.3 million discharges.

This version incorporates improvements, new functions and better compatibility with hardware in our version of Zorin OS, which includes twenty records. This means that you will enjoy an even better computing experience, whether you are a user of Zorin OS or are ready to migrate from Windows.

How to get Zorin OS 18.1

Upgrade

If you’re using Zorin OS 18. You can upgrade to Zorin OS 18.1 by installing the latest updates from the Software Updater today.
If you’re using Zorin OS 17. You can directly upgrade to Zorin OS 18.1 without erasing your files and data. To do so, view our upgrade guide ›

Download

All editions of Zorin OS 18.1 are now available from our website.

Download Zorin OS 18.1

If you’ve already purchased Zorin OS 18 Pro, you can download a new copy of Zorin OS 18.1 Pro from the download link in your original purchase email.

Kali Linux: Installing old i386 images

2026-04-10T09:21:00.000-07:00

Since October 2024, there is no longer a i386 kernel, nor i386 images for Kali Linux. As a reminder, i386 is the name used in Kali (and Debian) to refer to the 32-bit x86 CPU architecture.

In all practicality, it means that it’s no longer possible to run Kali on machines that have such a (rather old) CPU. However, it’s still possible to run programs that were compiled for i386 on a 64-bit machine. In fact, at the time of writing, most of the i386 packages are still available in the repository, and i386 Kali containers are also available.

This change was announced in a blog post, it contains much more details for those interested.

Using old i386 images

The last Kali Linux release that supported the i386 architecture was 2024.3. At the moment, those images are still available for download at https://kali.download/base-images/kali-2024.3/.

After they get removed from the mirrors, users can still use old.kali.org and download the last i386 images from there.

Installing Kali Linux on desktops & laptops using ".ISO" files (x64/x86) Bare-bones Kali

2026-04-03T09:13:00.000-07:00

Bare-bones Kali

Kali traditionally has been solely recommended as a penetration testing distribution, and for good reason. However, through the years Kali has become more stable and evolved into something that users can use no matter what their reasoning is. While still primarily a penetration testing distribution, we accept that many users may not even be in the cybersecurity field. For those users wanting to install Kali, but may not need the tools or just want the UI, this guide is for you.

Installing a bare-bones Kali

To get a Kali without any tools is quite easy. We will be following the hard disk installfor the most part. The important part is to select the following packages:

Of course, you can select whichever desktop environment you wish. It is worth mentioning now that KDE has great support for Wacom tablets! Be careful not to mix KDE with another desktop distribution however, as there are some bugs that can occur when this happens.

Now that we are installed and logged in, there are a few things we should do. Keep in mind, these should always be done, not just for a daily use case! Let’s first change the root user’s password:

kali@kali:~$ sudo su
[sudo] password for kali:
root@kali:/home/kali#
root@kali:/home/kali# passwd
New password:
Retype new password:
passwd: password updated successfully

root@kali:/home/kali#

After this we can make sure our system is up-to-date:

kali@kali:~$ sudo apt update && sudo apt full-upgrade -y
....
kali@kali:~$
kali@kali:~$ [ -f /var/run/reboot-required ] && sudo reboot -f

We can now finish off our setup by making sure kali-tweaks is configured properly:

kali@kali:~$ kali-tweaks

What we are looking for are changes required in ‘Hardening’, unchecking any options to make our system more secure.

Kali Press Release

2026-03-27T09:11:00.000-07:00

Introducing Kali Linux

Free All-in-One Solution for Professional Security Auditing

Popular BackTrack Linux Evolves Into Mature, Enterprise-Ready Penetration Testing Toolkit.

Black Hat Europe, Amsterdam – 13th March 2013 – OffSec (previously known as Offensive Security)today announced the availability of Kali Linux, the evolution of its popular BackTrack Linux, a free security auditing operating system and toolkit. Showcased at Black Hat Europe in Amsterdam, Kali Linux incorporates more than 300penetration testing and security auditing programs with a Linux operating system, delivering an all-in-one solution that enables IT administrators and security professionals to test the effectiveness of risk mitigation strategies.

“For IT professionals, an experiment is worth a thousand theories. Applied to security, it means that simulating attacks to assess the defenses protecting your organization is the only sure way to understand their effectiveness and the impact of an attack,” said Mati Aharoni, Lead Trainer and Developer, OffSec. “That’s why we created Kali Linux; we’ve developed the most advanced penetration testing and security auditing toolkit available to help IT administrators and security professionals put themselves in the shoes of potential attackers.”

The new Kali Linux offers a smoother, easier penetration testing experience, making it more accessible to IT generalists as well as security specialists. The new infrastructure incorporates Debian development standardsto provide a more familiar environment for IT administrators. The result is a more robust solution that can be updated more easily. Users can also customize the operating system to tailor it to their needs and preferences.

All the programs packaged with the operating system were evaluated for suitability and effectiveness before being included. They include Metasploit-Frameworkfor network penetration testing, Nmapfor port and vulnerability scanning, Wiresharkfor monitoring network traffic, and Aircrack-ngfor testing the security of wireless networks.

“When it comes to security, the best defense is offense; you need to test the effectiveness of your own security practices before a real intruder does it for you,” said HD Moore, Chief Architect for Metasploit at Rapid7. “We built Metasploit to level the playing field for defenders; arming them with the same tools the attackers have. OffSec takes this even further, bringing hundreds of such tools together in Kali Linux to streamline security auditing.” Additionally, Kali Linux can now run on a wide variety of hardware and is compatible with numerous wireless and USB devices. It also introduced support for ARM devices– typically miniature, battery-powered computers – which are becoming more prevalent and inexpensive. More information on which devices are supported, as well as other documentation, is available on the Kali Linux documentation site.

Pricing and Availability

Like its predecessors, Kali Linux is completely free and always will be. OffSec is committed to supporting the Open-sourcecommunity with the ongoing development of Kali Linux. The development tree and all sources are available for those who wish to tweak and rebuild packages. Kali Linux is available immediately for download from kali.org/get-kali/.

About Kali Linux

Kali Linux(formerly known as BackTrack Linux) is an open-source, Debian-based Linuxdistribution aimed at advanced Penetration Testing and Security Auditing. Kali Linux contains several hundred toolstargeted towards various information security tasks, such as Penetration Testing, Security Research, Computer Forensics and Reverse Engineering. Kali Linux is a multi platform solution, accessible and freely available to information security professionals and hobbyists.

About OffSec

Founded in 2007, Offensive Security was born out of the belief that the only way to achieve sound defensive security is through an offensive approach. The team is made up of security professionals with extensive experience of attacking systems to see how they respond. They share this information through trainings, free tools and publications. With the motto “Try Harder”, the Company’s trainings and certifications are well-respected and considered amongst the most rigorous available, creating a model adopted across the industry. In addition, the Exploit Database, VulnHub, Metasploit Unleashed and BackTrack Linuxcommunity projects are highly-regarded and used by security teams in governmental and commercial organizations across the world. In March 2023 Offensive Security was renamed to OffSec. For more information about OffSec, please visit offsec.com.

Kali Undercover

2026-03-20T09:10:00.000-07:00

Kali Undercover is a set of scripts that change the theme of your Kali Linux to a Windows 10 alike theme.

It was released with Kali Linux 2019.4with an important concept in mind, to hide in plain sight.

Going “undercover”

Switching to undercover mode is pretty simple, just run the following command:

kali@kali:~$ kali-undercover
kali@kali:~$

or, you could also look for “Kali Undercover Mode” from the menu of your desktop and launch it from there.

Swoosh! Now, you are (almost) invisible to most indiscreet eyes by having a theme that would make most people think you are using Windows 10.

Reverting Back

Now, to revert back into your previous Kali Linux theme just re-enter the previous command:

kali@kali:~$ kali-undercover
kali@kali:~$

Ta-da! Welcome back! Now, all your desktop settings should be restored.

Purpose of Undercover Mode in Kali Linux

The main purpose of introducing Kali Undercover mode is to prevent any unnecessary attention while using Kali Linux in public.

Let’s imagine a scenario: you are ethically pentesting your client and you are in their office or reception doing reconnaissance or something that involves the use of Kali Linux.

Someone from your client’s office or some random on-looker spots the desktop environment/wallpaper of Kali Linux, so they might think you are doing something mischievous even though you are doing it ethically and warn the authority. All the hard work that you did from the beginning to become stealthy will go in vain. And that’s because of what? A wallpaper! For a client who requested you to become stealthy, this is not what you would want.

Hence, to prevent any kind of unwanted attention from public it’s better to go “Undercover!”.

Kali's Default Credentials

2026-03-13T09:09:00.000-07:00

Kali changed to a non-root user policyby default since the release of 2020.1.

This means:

During the installation of amd64 images, it will prompt you for a standard user account to be created.
Any default operating system credentials used during Live Boot, or pre-created image (like Virtual Machines & ARM) will be:
- User: kali
- Password: kali
Vagrant image (based on their policy):
- Username: vagrant
- Password: vagrant
Amazon EC2:
- User: kali
- Password: <ssh key>

Default Tool Credentials

Some tools shipped with Kali, will use their own default hardcoded credentials (others will generate a new password the first time its used). The following tools have the default values:

BeEF-XSS
- Username: beef
- Password: beef
- Configuration File: /etc/beef-xss/config.yaml
MySQL
- User: root
- Password: (blank)
- Setup Program: mysql_secure_installation
OpenVAS
- Username: admin
- Password: <Generated during setup>
- Setup Program: openvas-setup
Metasploit-Framework
- Username: postgres
- Password: postgres
- Configuration File: /usr/share/metasploit-framework/config/database.yml
PowerShell-Empire/Starkiller
- Username: empireadmin
- Password: password123

For versions of Kali Linux older than 2020.1, here is our previous credential information and root policyinformation.

Download Kali Linux Images Securely

2026-03-06T08:07:00.000-08:00

When you download an image, be sure to download the SHA256SUMS and SHA256SUMS.gpg files that are next to the downloaded image (i.e. in the same directory on the Kali Linux Download Server). Before verifying the checksums of the image, you must ensure that the SHA256SUMS file is the one generated by Kali. That’s why the file is signed by Kali’s official key with a detached signature in SHA256SUMS.gpg. Kali’s official key can be downloaded like so:

$ wget -q -O - https://archive.kali.org/archive-key.asc | gpg --import
# or...
$ gpg --keyserver hkps://keyserver.ubuntu.com --recv-key 827C8569F2518CC677FECA1AED65462EC8D5E4C5
# ...and verify that the displayed fingerprint matches the one below
$ gpg --fingerprint 827C8569F2518CC677FECA1AED65462EC8D5E4C5
pub   rsa4096 2025-04-17 [SC] [expires: 2028-04-17]
      827C 8569 F251 8CC6 77FE  CA1A ED65 462E C8D5 E4C5
uid           [ unknown] Kali Linux Archive Automatic Signing Key (2025) 
</DEVEL@KALI.ORG>

Once you have downloaded both SHA256SUMS and SHA256SUMS.gpg, you can verify the signature as follows:

$ wget -q https://cdimage.kali.org/current/SHA256SUMS{.gpg,}
$ gpg --verify SHA256SUMS.gpg SHA256SUMS
gpg: Signature made Sun 20 Apr 2025 16:00:00 GMT
gpg:                using RSA key 827C8569F2518CC677FECA1AED65462EC8D5E4C5
gpg: Good signature from "Kali Linux Archive Automatic Signing Key (2025) <devel@kali.org>" [unknown]
gpg: WARNING: This key is not certified with a trusted signature!
gpg:          There is no indication that the signature belongs to the owner.

If you don’t get that “Good signature” message or if the key ID doesn’t match, then you should stop the process and review whether you downloaded the images from a legitimate Kali mirror.

Downloading Kali Linux

2026-02-27T08:04:00.000-08:00

IMPORTANT! Never download Kali Linux images from anywhere other than the official sources. Always be sure to verify the SHA256 checksums of the file you’ve downloaded against our official values. It would be easy for a malicious entity to modify a Kali installation to contain exploits or malware and host it unofficially.

Where to Get Official Kali Linux Images

ISO Files for Intel-based PCs

In order to run Kali “Live” from a USB driveon standard Windows and Apple PCs, you’ll need a Kali Linux bootable ISO image.

The Kali Linux images are available as directly downloadable “.iso/.img” files or via “.torrent” files.

Official Kali ISOs for Intel-based PCs

Building your own Kali Linux ISO, standard or customized, is a very simple process.

Virtual Machines Images

If you want to run Kali Linux as a “guest” under VMware or VirtualBox, Kali Linux is available as a pre-built virtual machines with any guest tools already installed.

Official Kali Linux VMware and VirtualBox Images

ARM Images

The hardware architectures of ARM-based devicesvary considerably, so it is not possible to have a single image that will work across all of them. Pre-built Kali Linux images for the ARM architecture are available for a wide range of devices.

Scripts for building your own ARM images locally are also available on GitLab. For more details, see the articles on setting up an ARM cross-compilation environment and building a custom Kali Linux ARM chroot.

Verifying Your Downloaded Kali Image

Why do I need to do this?

Before you run Kali Linux Live, or install it to your hard disk, you want to be very sure that what you’ve got actually is Kali Linux, and not an imposter. Kali Linux is a professional penetration testing and forensics toolkit. As a professional penetration tester, having absolute confidence in the integrity of your tools is critical: if your tools are not trustworthy, your investigations will not be trustworthy, either.

Moreover, as the leading penetration testing distribution, Kali’s strengths mean that a bogus version of Kali Linux could do a tremendous amount of damage if it were deployed unwittingly. There are plenty of people with plenty of reason to want to stick very sketchy stuff into something that looks like Kali, and you absolutely do not want to find yourself running something like that.

Avoiding this is simple:

Only download Kali Linux via the official download page at kali.org/get-kali/ - you will not be able to browse to these pages without SSL; encrypting the connection makes it much harder for an attacker to use a “man-in-the-middle” attack to modify your download. There are a few potential weaknesses to even these sources - see the sections on verifying the download with the SHA256SUMS file and its signature against the official Kali Development team private key for something much closer to absolute assurance.
Once you’ve downloaded an image, and before you run it, always validate that it really is what it’s supposed to be by verifying its checksum using one of the procedures detailed below.

There are several methods for verifying your download. Each provides a certain level of assurance, and involves a corresponding level of effort on your part. We list 3 of these methods below:

You can download an ISO image from an official Kali Linux “Downloads” mirror, calculate the ISO’s SHA256 hash and compare it by inspection with the value listed on the Kali Linux site. This is quick and easy, but potentially susceptible to subversion via a DNS poisoning: it assumes that the site to which, for example, the domain “kali.org” resolves is in fact the actual Kali Linux site. If it somehow were not, an attacker could present a “loaded” image and a matching SHA256 signature on the fake web page. See the section “Manually Verify the Signature on the ISO (Direct Download)”, below.
You can download an ISO image through the torrents, and it will also pull down a file - unsigned - containing the calculated SHA256 signature. You can then use the shasum command (on Linux and macOS) or a utility (on Windows) to automatically verify that the file’s computed signature matches the signature in the secondary file. This is even easier than the “manual” method, but suffers from the same weakness: if the torrent you pulled down is not really Kali Linux, it could still have a good signature. See the section “Verify the Signature on the ISO Using the Included Signature File (Torrent Download)”, below.
To be as close to absolutely certain as possible that the Kali Linux download you’ve obtained is the real thing, you can download both a cleartext signature file and and version of the same file that has been signed with the official Kali Linux private key and use GNU Privacy Guard (GPG) to first, verify that the computed SHA256 signature and the signature in the cleartext file match and second, verify that the signed version of the file containing the SHA256 hash has been correctly signed with the official key.

If you use this more complicated process and successfully validate your downloaded ISO, you can proceed with pretty complete assurance that what you’ve got is the official image and that it has not been tampered with in any way. This method, while the most complex, has the advantage of providing independent assurance of the integrity of the image. The only way this method can fail is if the official Kali Linux private key is not only subverted by an attacker, but also not subsequently revoked by the Kali Linux development team. For this method, see the section on verification using the SHA256SUMS file.

What do I need to do this?

If you’re running on Linux, you probably already have GPG (GNU Privacy Guard) installed. If you’re on Windows or macOS, you’ll need to install the appropriate version for your platform.

If you’re on a PC running Windows, download and install GPG4Win from here.
If you’re on a Macintosh running macOS, download and install GPGTools from here. Alternatively, if you have Homebrewinstalled, just run brew install gnupg

Once you’ve installed GPG, you’ll need to download and import a copy of the Kali Linux official key. Do this with the following command:

$ wget -q -O - https://archive.kali.org/archive-key.asc | gpg --import

or the command

$ gpg --keyserver hkps://keys.openpgp.org --recv-key 827C8569F2518CC677FECA1AED65462EC8D5E4C5

Your output should look like this:

gpg: key ED65462EC8D5E4C5: public key "Kali Linux Archive Automatic Signing Key (2025) <devel@kali.org>" imported
gpg: Total number processed: 1
gpg:               imported: 1  (RSA: 1)

Verify that the key is properly installed with the command:

$ gpg --fingerprint 827C8569F2518CC677FECA1AED65462EC8D5E4C5

The output will look like this:

pub   rsa4096 2025-04-17 [SC] [expires: 2028-04-17]
      827C 8569 F251 8CC6 77FE  CA1A ED65 462E C8D5 E4C5
uid           [ unknown] Kali Linux Archive Automatic Signing Key (2025) <devel@kali.org>

You’re now set up to validate your Kali Linux download.

How Do I Verify My Downloaded Image?

Manually Verify the Signature on the ISO (Direct Download)

If you downloaded the ISO directly from the downloads page, verify it using the following procedure.

On Linux, or macOS, you can generate the SHA256 checksum from the ISO image you’ve downloaded with the following command (assuming that the ISO image is named “kali-linux-2025.2-live-amd64.iso”, and is in your current directory):

$ shasum -a 256 kali-linux-2025.2-live-amd64.iso

The output should look like this:

68f1117052bb0a6aa0fc0dee3b6525de1f5bccbd74c275fb050fe357a3f318a7  kali-linux-2025.2-live-amd64.iso

On Windows, you can open the command prompt and run

certutil -?

If certutil is available, you can run:

certutil -hashfile kali-linux-2025.2-live-amd64.iso sha256

To verify your download. Certain versions of Windows do not have the native ability to calculate SHA256 checksums. If you do not have certutil installed, you can use a utility such as Microsoft File Checksum Integrity Verifieror Hashtabto verify your download.

The resulting SHA256 signature:

68f1117052bb0a6aa0fc0dee3b6525de1f5bccbd74c275fb050fe357a3f318a7

Can be seen to match the signature displayed in the “sha256sum” section on the official download page for the 64-bit Intel architecture Kali Linux 2025.2 ISO image:

Verify the Signature on the ISO Using the Included Signature File (Torrent Download)

If you downloaded your copy of the Kali Linux ISO image via the torrents, in addition to the ISO file (e.g. kali-linux-2025.2-live-amd64.iso), there will be a second file containing the computed SHA256 signature for the ISO, with the extension “.txt.sha256sum” (e.g. kali-linux-2025.2-live-amd64.txt.sha256sum).

You can use this file to verify the authenticity of your download on Linux or macOS with the following command:

$ grep kali-linux-2025.2-live-amd64.iso kali-linux-2025.2-live-amd64.txt.sha256sum | shasum -a 256 -c

If the image is successfully authenticated, the response will look like this:

kali-linux-2025.2-live-amd64.iso: OK

For Windows, provided you have certutil you can use the command above and then manually check the contents of the txt file to see if the two SHA256 sums match. If certutil is not available, any of the tools stated above would be able to provide you the SHA256 sum of your download.

IMPORTANT! If you are unable to verify the authenticity of the Kali Linux image you have downloaded as described in the preceding section, do NOT use it! Using it could endanger not only your own system, but any network you connect to as well as the other systems on that network. Stop, and ensure that you have downloaded the images from a legitimate Kali Linux mirror.

Verify the ISO Using the SHA256SUMS File

If using Powershell on Windows you may receive a fully uppercase result. This can cause an error when comparing the two sums. Send this result through a converterto get a proper result.

This is a more complex procedure, but offers a much higher level of validation: it does not rely on the integrity of the web site you downloaded the image from, only the official Kali Linux development team key that you install independently. To verify your image this way for an Intel architecture version of Kali, you will need to download three files from the Kali “Live CD Image” site for the current release (v2025.2, as of this writing):

The ISO image itself (e.g. kali-linux-2025.2-live-amd64.iso)
The file containing the calculated SHA256 hash for the ISO, SHA256SUMS
The signed version of that file, SHA256SUMS.gpg

Before verifying the checksums of the image, you must ensure that the SHA256SUMS file is the one generated by Kali Linux. That’s why the file is signed by Kali’s official key with a detached signature in SHA256SUMS.gpg. If you have not already done so, Kali’s official key can be downloaded and imported into your keychain with this command:

$ wget -q -O - https://archive.kali.org/archive-key.asc | gpg --import

or this command

$ gpg --keyserver hkps://keys.openpgp.org --recv-key 827C8569F2518CC677FECA1AED65462EC8D5E4C5

Your output should look like this:

gpg: key ED65462EC8D5E4C5: public key "Kali Linux Archive Automatic Signing Key (2025) <devel@kali.org>" imported
gpg: Total number processed: 1
gpg:               imported: 1  (RSA: 1)

You should verify that the key is properly installed with the command:

$ gpg --fingerprint 827C8569F2518CC677FECA1AED65462EC8D5E4C5

The output will look like this:

pub   rsa4096 2025-04-17 [SC] [expires: 2028-04-17]
      827C 8569 F251 8CC6 77FE  CA1A ED65 462E C8D5 E4C5
uid           [ unknown] Kali Linux Archive Automatic Signing Key (2025) <devel@kali.org>

Once you have downloaded both SHA256SUMS and SHA256SUMS.gpg, you can verify the signature as follows:

$ gpg --verify SHA256SUMS.gpg SHA256SUMS
gpg: Signature made Sun Apr 20 16:00:00 2025 EDT
gpg:                using RSA key 827C8569F2518CC677FECA1AED65462EC8D5E4C5
gpg: Good signature from "Kali Linux Archive Automatic Signing Key (2025) <devel@kali.org>" [unknown]

If you do not get that “Good signature” message or if the key ID does not match, then you should stop and review whether you downloaded the images from a legitimate Kali Linux mirror. The failed verification strongly suggests that the image you have may have been tampered with.

If you did get the “Good signature” response, you can now be assured that the checksum in the SHA256SUMS file was actually provided by the Kali Linux development team. All that remains to be done to complete the verification is to validate that the signature you compute from the ISO you’ve downloaded matches the one in the SHA256SUMS file. You can do that on Linux or macOS with the following command (assuming that the ISO is named “kali-linux-2025.2-live-amd64.iso” and is in your working directory):

$ grep kali-linux-2025.2-live-amd64.iso SHA256SUMS | shasum -a 256 -c

If the image is successfully authenticated, the response will look like this:

kali-linux-2025.2-live-amd64.iso: OK

If you do not get “OK” in response, then stop and review what’s happened: the Kali image you have has apparently been tampered with. Do NOT use it.

Once you’ve downloaded and verified your image, you can proceed to create a bootable “Kali Linux Live” USB drive.

Kali Linux: Which Image Should I Download?

2026-02-20T08:02:00.000-08:00

In this section, we will describe the process of installing Kali Linux on 64-bit hardware using the images published on the Kali Linux download page.

Content

Which Image to Choose

The Kali Linux download pageoffers different image types (Installer, NetInstaller and Live) for download, each available for the x86-64 (ie. 64-bit) architecture. Additionally, there is an Everything flavor of the Installer and Live images.

If in doubt, use the “Installer” image.

Installer

This is the recommended image to install Kali Linux. It contains a local copy of the (meta)packageslisted (top10, default & large) so it can be used for complete offline installations without the need of a network connection.

This image cannot be used to boot a live system (such as directly running Kali from a USB). It is only an installer image.

NetInstaller

This image can be used if you want the latest package every time you install Kali Linux or the standard installer image is too big to download. This image is very small because it does not contain a local copy of (meta)packagesto install. They will all be downloaded during installation, so as a result this requires a network connection which will slow down the installation time.

Only use this image if you have reasons not to use the standard installer image above.

This image cannot be used to boot a live system (such as directly running Kali from a USB). It is only an installer image.

Live

This image is for running Kali Linux without installing it first so it is perfect for running off a USB drive(or a CD/DVD).

You are able to install Kali Linux in its default configuration from this image but you will not be able to choose between desktop environments or to specify additional (meta)packagesto install.

Everything

This image is meant for offline scenarios, when you want to use Kali Linux in a place that has no network connectivity. The image is huge (more than 9GB), as it contains nearly all of Kali’s tools already. It can be downloaded via BitTorrent only.

Kali “everything” is not exactly an image, it’s a flavor. You can download either the Installer Everything image or the Live Everything image. In both case, all the tools are already there, no need for an Internet connection.

Which Desktop Environment and (Meta)Packages to Choose During Installation:

Each Kali Linux installer image (not live) allows the user to select the preferred “Desktop Environment (DE)” and software collection (metapackages) to be installed with operating system (Kali Linux).

We recommend sticking with the default selections and add further packages after the installation as required. Xfce is the default desktop environment, and kali-linux-top10 and kali-linux-default are the tools which get installed at the same time.

At this screen, you may wish to not install a desktop environment, then Kali Linux becomes “headless” (no graphic interface) which uses less system resources up and commonly found on servers, dropboxes, low powered ARM devices, and the cloud. This is meant for people who are completely comfortable with the command line. You are able to install multiple Desktop Environments, allowing you to switch, we wouldn’t recommend it. You may change your mind and switch desktop environments at a later date.

May wish to not to install any of the pre-defined software packages/bundles/collections (metapackages), giving you a finer degree of control of manually installing exactly what software you want. Alternatively you may want to be more prepared and install more than the default toolset. Please be aware, that there are more tools available in Kali which has be manually installed after the setup (as they all cannot be stored in the setup image).

Overall, these extra choices are for a more efficient installation experience, meant for advanced users. Please be aware of their pitfalls.

The following sections in the “Kali Documentation Installation” of this documentation, will be using the “Installer” image for the guides unless stated otherwise.

Should I Use Kali Linux?

2026-02-13T08:01:00.000-08:00

What’s Different About Kali Linux?

Kali Linux is specifically geared to meet the requirements of professional penetration testing and security auditing. To achieve this, several core changes have been implemented in Kali Linux which reflect these needs:

Network services disabled by default: Kali Linux contains systemd hooks that disable network servicesby default. These hooks allow us to install various services on Kali Linux, while ensuring that our distribution remains secure by default, no matter what packages are installed. Additional services such as Bluetooth are also blocklisted by default.
Custom Linux kernel: Kali Linux uses an upstream kernel, patched for wireless injection.
A minimal and trusted set of repositories: given the aims and goals of Kali Linux, maintaining the integrity of the system as a whole is absolutely key. With that goal in mind, the set of upstream software sources which Kali uses is kept to an absolute minimum. Many new Kali users are tempted to add additional repositories to their sources.list, but doing so runs a very serious risk of breaking your Kali Linux installation.

Is Kali Linux Right For You?

As the distribution’s developers, you might expect us to recommend that everyone should be using Kali Linux. The fact of the matter is, however, that Kali is a Linux distribution specifically geared towards professional penetration testers and security specialists, and given its unique nature, it is NOT a recommended distribution if you’re unfamiliar with Linux or are looking for a general-purpose Linux desktop distribution for development, web design, gaming, etc.

Even for experienced Linux users, Kali can pose some challenges. Although Kali is an open source project, it’s not a wide-open source project, for reasons of security. The development teamis small and trusted, packages in the repositories are signed both by the individual committer and the team, and - importantly - the set of upstream repositories from which updates and new packages are drawn is very small. Adding repositories to your software sources which have not been tested by the Kali Linux development team is a good way to cause problems on your system.

While Kali Linux is architected to be highly customizable, do not expect to be able to add random unrelated packages and repositories that are “out of band” of the regular Kali software sources and have it Just Work. In particular, there is absolutely no support whatsoever for the apt-add-repository command, LaunchPad, or PPAs. Trying to install Steam on your Kali Linux desktop is an experiment that will not end well. Even getting a package as mainstream as NodeJS onto a Kali Linux installation can take a little extra effort and tinkering.

If you are unfamiliar with Linux generally, if you do not have at least a basic level of competence in administering a system, if you are looking for a Linux distribution to use as a learning tool to get to know your way around Linux, or if you want a distro that you can use as a general purpose desktop installation, Kali Linux is probably not what you are looking for.

In addition, misuse of security and penetration testing tools within a network, particularly without specific authorization, may cause irreparable damage and result in significant consequences, personal and/or legal. “Not understanding what you were doing” is not going to work as an excuse.

However, if you’re a professional penetration tester or are studying penetration testing with a goal of becoming a certified professional, there’s no better toolkit - at any price - than Kali Linux.

Kali Linux is able to be used even if you are new to Linux. However, if you’re interested in getting hands-on with the internals of Linux, take a look at the Linux From Scratchproject. Linux From Scratch is a great resource to start your Linux journey with.

Summary

So, after having read this you should have figured out if Kali Linux is the distribution you were looking for or at least got an idea about your choice.

If still you have not figured it out, here is a summary that will hopefully remove your remaining doubts:

Kali Linux is made with pentesters and pentesting in mind so, expecting it to fit with your necessity might not be as simple even though it’s completely possible.
If you are new to Linux or have less experience with command line you might find Kali Linux to be not so user-friendly, even though our developers try to make it as user-friendly as possible some things might be intimidating to you if you are new.
The developers always try to make Kali Linux as much hardware compatible as possible but, still some hardware/s might not work as expected or not work at all. So, its better to research hardware compatibility beforehand rather than breaking your computer later.
If you are installing Kali Linux for the first time, it is recommended to install first in Virtual Machine then, after getting familiar with it, you can install it in your own hardware.

Hopefully, now you know if you need to install Kali Linux or not. If you have decided to install Kali Linux then, we welcome you to our community.

If not, then see you later, and remember always “Try Harder”.

What is Kali Linux?

2026-02-06T07:56:00.000-08:00

How to install Wireguard VPN in Debian?

2026-01-30T10:41:00.000-08:00

KDE Plasma 6.3 – Pixel Perfect!

2026-01-23T10:39:00.000-08:00

Plasma 6 aims to be the best desktop ever, and after a year of work, overcoming initial problems, fixing and perfecting, here's everything new and exciting this version brings.

KDE Plasma aims to be the best platform for creativity and digital art, and Plasma 6.3 takes the next step in that direction by providing features that help artists optimize and customize their drawing tablets to their liking. The settings page has been revamped, split into multiple tabs for better organization, and new configuration options have been added to each section:

Digital art

You can assign a specific area of the tablet screen to the entire screen area.
The tablet calibration feature has been refined to produce more accurate calibrations
The pen test function displays information about tilt and pressure
Customize the pressure curve and range of a pencil to cut high and/or low parts
You can also reassign or swap the functions of the pen buttons.

Once you've finished setting up your tablet, you can see the changes you've made using the 'Highlight Changed Settings' feature in System Settings, which is compatible with most sections of the drawing tablet.

Graphic appearance

The biggest news regarding graphics is a major overhaul of how fractional scaling works. In Plasma 6.3, KWin is better able to fit elements to the screen's pixel grid, greatly reducing blurring and producing sharper, more defined images.

Display colors are now more accurate when using the Night Light feature with or without ICC profiles. KWin offers the option to choose the display color accuracy, although this may sometimes affect system performance.

Widgets on the desktop are slightly translucent, as are pop-up windows for widgets on the dashboard.

Monitoring

The resource monitoring system provides more accurate information on CPU usage while consuming fewer resources. FreeBSD now also supports GPU usage monitoring.

It's also much easier to monitor printers, as each printer's print queue is displayed directly in the widget. The widget also shows a small indicator on any printer currently printing, so you can see at a glance which ones are in use.

Plasma already includes a variety of background services that let you know when something has gone wrong and what to do about it. New in Plasma 6.3 is a service that detects when the kernel has terminated an application because the system ran out of memory. The service displays a notification explaining what happened and suggesting ways to avoid this problem in the future.

Tools

Regarding specific tools:

KRunner allows you to jump between categories using the Page Up/Page Down keys and the Ctrl+Up/Ctrl+Down key combinations.
Discover (Plasma App Store/Software Management). A security enhancement coming to Discover highlights sandboxed apps whose permissions have been changed after an update. This allows you to verify these changes in case you suspect any suspicious behavior. Similarly, you can now see whether apps are packaged directly by their developer or verified by a third party.
Weather widget now supports Deutscher Wetterdienst as a source for weather data

Usability

If you use a mouse on your laptop, you can set the touchpad to automatically turn off. Additionally, if you set your computer as a network access point, Plasma generates a random password so you don't have to think of one.

Finding help is easier in Plasma 6.3. A “Help” category has been added to the launcher (the menu typically on the left side of the panel), and we’ve completely removed the Settings category. Its contents have been merged into the System category, reducing the number of categories that don’t offer meaningful grouping.

The default start menu changes categories only when you click on them, unlike the old behavior of changing them on mouse over, although the old behavior can also be enabled.

The “Show Target” option has been added to the context menu for symbolic links.

The Digital Clock widget displays all your planned events for the next 5 days (giving you a complete overview of your upcoming commitments).

The notification system has been improved. When you exit Do Not Disturb mode, Plasma 6.3 will no longer overwhelm you with a torrent of notifications. Instead, it will show you the number of unreviewed notifications.

To avoid overwhelming you with too much information, when notifications arrive while Plasma's Do Not Disturb mode is on, exiting Do Not Disturb mode displays the number of missed notifications instead of sending them all in one giant stream.

Another subtle but important change is when you drag a file out of a window that's partially underneath other windows, it no longer jumps to the top, which could obscure the location you intended to drag it to. This means the destination window always has focus.

Personalization

It's now possible to clone panels, change their transparency, and change the screen they appear on via scripts, which adds a certain level of automation to your setup.

It is now possible to change the icons for categories displayed in the menu using the menu editor, thus making the change introduced in Plasma 6.2 more flexible.

The “Edit Application…” action you run from the start menu opens the menu editor, instead of showing you the file properties.

If you've ever lost a widget while customizing your system, you'll love this new feature: in Plasma 6.3, the Widget Browser gives you the ability to delete every instance of a widget, including those that have gone missing or are only present on disconnected screens.

The Widget Explorer now gives you the ability to remove every instance of a widget, including those that have gone missing or are only present on disconnected screens, allowing for a cleaner setup.

HeliumOS innovative atomic operating system releases version 10

2026-01-16T10:29:00.000-08:00

HeliumOS, an innovative atomic operating system that combines container technologies with immutable distros, is based on AlmaLinux and GNOME.

Key points

HeliumOS introduces a different paradigm in atomic operating systems.
Based on Alma Linux, it guarantees 10 years of enterprise support.
It uses innovative container technology called BootC.
It implements an immutable system that restricts modifications to critical directories.
It is available for installation from its website, with a process similar to Alma Linux.
It allows updates via containerized images.
️ It brings a GNOME desktop environment with familiar tools and applications.

Essential ideas

Installation Innovation: HeliumOS uses containerized images to simplify installation, eliminating the need for a base operating system. This makes it easier to deploy in virtualized and bare metal environments. ️
️ Combination of Technologies: By integrating container technologies with an atomic approach, HeliumOS introduces a new paradigm that can improve system management and updating. This combination holds promise for the future of desktop distributions.
Alpha Status: Although HeliumOS is functional, it is in an alpha state, meaning users should be aware of potential bugs and limitations. This suggests that it is still in development and may evolve. ⚠️
️ Installation Limitations: Due to its immutable nature, users can only install applications via Flatpak, which can be restrictive for those who prefer other installation methods.
Limited Documentation Access: Currently, documentation for HeliumOS is sparse, making it difficult to fully understand its features and operation. This can be a barrier for new users.
Immutability Philosophy: The immutability philosophy used in Helium OS ensures that the operating system does not degrade over time, but it may also deviate from traditional Unix principles. ⚖️
Embedded Systems Outlook: HeliumOS technology could be especially beneficial in managing embedded system updates, simplifying software deployment and maintenance on devices.

HeliumOSis an atomic and immutable distribution which is built upon AlmaLinux OS. The project has published HeliumOS 10 which uses Btrfs as the default filesystem, zsh for the shell, and offers version 6.12 of the Linux kernel. "HeliumOS 10 has released with some notable changes from earlier alpha releases: Version 6.12 of the Linux kernel from AlmaLinux, signed for secure boot. zsh as default shell, with a polished and minimal configuration. BTRFS as default filesystem, with an option for LUKS full-disk encryption in the installer. Docker is installed by default, see our documentation for more details. HeliumOS build sources were migrated from a collection of Bash scripts to Ansible yaml. These are built using Podman into Bootable Container images... Two critical bugs were found and fixed during the HeliumOS 10 alpha + beta: fixed a bug through the use of HeliumOS 'Edge' edition, some devices using NVIDIA GPUs previously experienced stuttering; automatically recovers from kernel panics resulting from a bug where systemd-remount-fs.service does not function properly on bootc systems."

source

Gnoppix AI Linux 25_8 released

2026-01-09T10:24:00.000-08:00

Gnoppix AI is a Debian-based Linux distribution that can be run from a DVD, USB drive, or local hard drive. It is designed to offer a privacy-focused, secure, powerful, intelligent, and easy-to-use experience, with pre-installed Artificial Intelligence (AI) frameworks, libraries, and development tools. It uses several popular desktop environments, including GNOME, KDE Plasma, and Xfce. The project is an attempt to revive a Knoppix-based live distribution running the GNOME desktop that was first released in 2005. Additionally, it offers services like Gnoppix DoH (DNS over HTTPS) to enhance online privacy and security.

Andreas Mueller has announced the release of Gnoppix AI Linux 25_8, a major new update of the project's Debian-based distribution with focus on privacy and security, and with integrated artificial intelligence frameworks, libraries and development tools: "Gnoppix 25.8 is built on the foundation of Debian 13 'Trixie' and incorporates new features and improvements from the latest Gnoppix beta release. This new version brings significant updates in security, privacy and performance. Core system enhancements: Gnoppix 25.8 inherits the stability and updated packages from Debian 13, this includes over 11,294 new packages and updated versions for key software; new security hardening features against ROP and COP/JOP attacks are included; this release adds HTTP boot support for compatible UEFI and U-Boot firmware; the system now includes next-generation AI integration and has replaced the Bottles application with Lutris to address security concerns; Gnoppix now prioritizes privacy by default; Firefox-ESR as the main web browser; search-us.gnoppix.org is now the default anonymous search engine...."

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Basic Images with tweaks from the PRO Version
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Source

Ubuntu 24.04.3 LTS arrives with Linux 6.14 from Ubuntu 25.04 and the latest patches

2026-01-02T10:18:00.000-08:00

Ubuntu 24.04.3 LTS includes Linux kernel 6.14 and Mesa 25.0.7 for modernized hardware support.
All security updates and bug fixes released to date are incorporated.
The update includes notable fixes and improvements to graphics compatibility for AMD and Intel.
Available for direct download and BitTorrent on the official website, also for other Ubuntu variants.

Ubuntu 24.04.3 LTS is now officially available for download as the latest maintenance update for Canonical's popular distribution , specifically designed for those looking to install Ubuntu on new computers or create ready-to-use operating systems, comes with a full set of cumulative improvements and recent patches, eliminating the need to manually download and apply a large number of updates after the initial installation.

Among the key features, the update integrates renewed hardware support thanks to its Linux 6.14 kernel and the Mesa 25.0.7 graphics stack , both from Ubuntu 25.04. This is key for those with recent systems, as it adds improved drivers for both AMD Radeon graphics (via AMDGPU and RADV) and Intel devices through support for Vulkan 1.4 and AV1 playback in ANV.

Relevant updates and improvements in Ubuntu 24.04.3 LTS

This release, as is typical with Ubuntu LTS point releases, brings together all the security updates and bug fixes released since the previous version, enabling rapid and secure deployment in desktop, server, and cloud environments. If you're already using Ubuntu 24.04 LTS and staying up to date with updates, there's no need to reinstall anything: your system already benefits from these improvements.

Mesa-amber , a dedicated package , has been introduced to expand support for older graphics cards no longer supported in the main Mesa branch. Common bugs such as issues with the install button in the software updater, thumbnail previews, issues with touchscreens, and workarounds for Bluetooth audio connections have also been fixed.

Extended support and lifecycle

Ubuntu 24.04.3 LTS remains officially supported for five years (until June 2029), with the option to extend this to ten years or even longer through services like Ubuntu Pro. This long-term maintenance guarantee makes it a highly recommended option for both home users and professionals who require long-term stability and consistency.

The update also includes updated packages such as LibreOffice 24.8.7 (from backports), Snapd 2.68.5, and Mozilla Firefox 141, along with other critical patches and security improvements for key system components. Elements such as PipeWire, dracut, u-boot, Mutter, GTK4, Xorg, Bluez, OpenSSH, and NVIDIA drivers receive direct improvements in this point release.

Nvidia GPU driver configuration in Parrot Security distribution.

2025-12-29T14:21:00.000-08:00

Initially, Parrot uses the Nvidia nouveau open source drivers, since they support most Nvidia cards. These guarantee good stability and allow you to use your gpu without problems for everyday use.

However, it may be necessary to use other drivers that give greater compatibility with different software and make the most of your GPU. For this reason, you can install Nvidia's official (closed source) drivers.

You have two ways to install, either via the Parrot repository for from the official Nvidia website.

Note

Please note the driver installation and configuration may be different for laptop or desktop computers. For example, the user could have a CPU with an iGPU (integrated GPU) and a dGPU (dedicated GPU). The user must choose which to use based on the context.

Every step described here has been tested, so it is highly recommended that you read everything in this document very carefully.

Install the driver via the Parrot repositories.

If you don't know your GPU model, open the terminal and type this command:

lspci | grep VGA

It will show your GPU model and its architecture. For further information use:

inxi -F

This will show your computer information, including the GPU model and also the type of driver used.

Once you have ascertained that you are using the nouveau driver and you want to use the proprietary driver instead, for reasons of driver conflict, you must first disable the nouveau driver.

sudo nano /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-nouveau.conf

Add the following lines and save the file.

blacklist nouveau
options nouveau modeset=0
alias nouveau off

Once the file has been saved, proceed with the installation of the Nvidia driver using the following command:

sudo apt update && sudo apt install nvidia-driver

Note

From kernel 5.16, for compatibility problems, it may be necessary to install the drivers with the following command:

sudo apt install nvidia-driver -t lory-backports

This completes the installation, but we recommend that you check that everything went well. To do this, you can use the official utility from Nvidia called nvidia-smi.

Install it by running:

sudo apt install nvidia-smi

Start it with the following command:

nvidia-smi

In addition, the settings manager will be automatically installed together with the drivers. From here you can change parameters such as the resolution and refresh rate of your monitor.

Nvidia Driver on a computer with iGPU and dGPU

Most modern computers come with an integrated video card in the CPU (iGPU, like an Intel Graphic Card or AMD in most cases) and a dedicated video card (dGPU, Nvidia).

In this guide we'll deal with the drivers for both video cards and show how to switch between them.

Step 1 - Install NVIDIA Drivers and CUDA Toolkit

Open a terminal window and type:

sudo apt update

sudo apt install bumblebee-nvidia primus-nvidia primus-vk-nvidia nvidia-smi nvidia-cuda-dev nvidia-cuda-toolkit

Wait for the installation to proceed. When a warning notifying nouveau driver conflicting with nvidia driver appears, click ok:

Step 2 - Blacklist Nouveau

Note

if you have already followed the nvidia installation via the Parrot repoyou can go to step 3.

After the installation has finished, it's time to blacklist the nouveau driver in order to make the nvidia driver work.

In the terminal, type:

sudo nano /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-nouveau.conf

And add:

blacklist nouveau
options nouveau modeset=0
alias nouveau off

Save the file and reboot.

Step 3 - Configure Bumblebee

Now it's time to tell bumblebee which driver should be used.

In the terminal open bumblebee.conf:

sudo nano /etc/bumblebee/bumblebee.conf

Look for the string Driver= and add nvidia, then look for the string KernelDriver= and add nvidia-current.

Save the file and reboot.

Step 4 - Testing the Drivers

Open a terminal and type:

watch nvidia-smi

In a new terminal enter the following command:

optirun hashcat -b -d 1

The result should be similar to this:

In nvidia-smi interface, hashcat should appear running using your Nvidia video card.

Note

Launching application with primusrun will use PRIMUS Technology, while using optirun will use VirtualGL.

Install the driver from the official Nvidia website

As mentioned at the beginning of this document, drivers can also be installed from Nvidia website.

You can download the latest driver directly from here, where there are also older drivers for old GPUs.

OR

Select the model of your GPU, the operating system (Linux 64 bit) and the branch here.

From the Nvidia website.

"Production Branch: Production Branch drivers provide ISV certification and optimal stability and performance for Unix customers. This driver is most commonly deployed at enterprises, providing support for the sustained bug fix and security updates commonly required.

New Feature Branch: New Feature Branch drivers provide early adopters and bleeding edge developers access to the latest driver features before they are integrated into the Production Branches."

Click on download, and a file with this name will be downloaded:

NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-<driver version>.run (about 260 mb)

To avoid conflicts with the X graphics server, we will have to use Parrot without a graphical interface (we will have to drop to Runlevel 3).

We can do this simply via systemd, with the systemctl command:

sudo systemctl set-default multi-user.target

Note

If by any chance you want to go back and reuse Parrot with MATE, use the following commands:

sudo systemctl set-default graphical.target

reboot

To avoid conflicts with the installation of the new driver, remember to blacklist the nouveau driver:

sudo nano /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-nouveau.conf

Add these lines then save the file:

blacklist nouveau
options nouveau modeset=0
alias nouveau off

Run the following command to regenerate the initramfs image.

sudo update-initramfs -u

The last step is to disable nouveau drivers by rebooting the machine:

reboot

Now navigate to the folder where you downloaded the .run file and give it execute permissions:

sudo chmod +x NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-<driver version>.run

Note

If you don't remember what chmod does, it is recommended that you read the File and Directory permissionsdocument.

After that you can start the .run file:

sudo ./NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-<driver version>.run

The installation wizard,

The installation wizard process will start and the drivers will be installed along with all utilities (including Nvidia Driver X Settings).

Return to MATE via the command:

sudo systemctl set-default graphical.target

You will go from Runlevel 3 to Runlevel 5, and finally you will be able to use the nvidia driver.

To verify that everything went well, start nvidia-smi (already installed through .run file):

nvidia-smi

Notice that in this case the latest Nvidia (470.57.02) driver was installed.

The Essential Guide to Optimizing Parrot OS: Software Management.

2025-12-22T14:18:00.000-08:00

In this chapter, we will introduce the apt package manager for Parrot. A program is a series of instructions written in programming languages such as C, Go, Nim or Rust (to name a few). These instructions are stored in text files called sources.

To work in our systems, they must be converted to machine language. This step is called compilation. The compilation generates one or several files, understandable by the system, called binaries.

Parrot Software Management.

The user does not need to compile the sources of each program as the developers are responsible for compiling and generating the respective binaries. A program can carry not only the executable but a series of files.

The developers combine such software into a file called a package. Two of the most well-known are .rpm packages and .deb packages. .rpm was developed by Red Hat and .deb by Debian. Parrot uses the .deb format.

To compile programs, often 3rd party libraries and other programs are necessary. If we tried to compile a program that had dependencies with other libraries and other programs, we would install these "dependencies" before its compilation. Likewise, if we want to install a binary we will need to have installed the necessary dependencies for its correct operation.

To manage these dependencies and the package installation, package managers have been created.

There are numerous package managers, some graphical and others via the command line. In this chapter, we will see one of the most famous, created by the Debian developers, and the one used by Parrot: apt.

The main functions of a package manager must be:

Software searching
Software installation
Software update
System update
Dependency management
Software removal

The package manager must check in a given location (it can be a local directory or a network address) for the availability of such software. The locations are called repositories. The system maintains configuration files to check repository locations.

List of Repositories.

Although in Parrot it is not necessary (nor recommended) to add new repositories or modify existing ones, we will see where we can configure them. In the file system, under the path /etc/apt/sources.list.d, we find the file parrot.list. The content of this file should be:

Stable repository.

deb http://deb.parrot.sh/parrotlory main contrib non-free non-free-firmware #deb-src http://deb.parrot.sh/parrotlory contrib non-free non-free-firmware

With this, we make sure we have the correct repository list. In this location the Parrot developers keep the packages updated.

Package Manager.

The Parrot package manager is apt. Amongst other things,this manager is responsible for installing packages, checking dependencies, and updating the system. Let's see what we can do with it. We will see the most common options below. For more in-depth instructions, view the man pages for each of the following commands: apt, apt-cache, dpkg, etc...

Search for a package or text string:

apt search <package/text_string>

Show package information:

apt show <package>

Show package dependencies:

apt depends <package>

Show the names of all the packages installed in the system:

apt list --installed

Install a package:

apt install <package>

Uninstall a package:

apt remove <package>

Delete a package including its configuration files:

apt purge <package>

Delete automatically those packages that are not being used (be careful with this command, due to apt's hell dependency it may delete unwanted packages):

apt autoremove

Update the repositories information:

apt update

Update a package to the last available version in the repository:

apt upgrade <package>

Update the full distribution. It will update our system to the next available version:

sudo parrot-upgrade

Clean caches, downloaded packages, etc:

apt clean && apt autoclean

These are just some examples. If more information is required, you should check the manual page (man apt).

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