Kali Linux Guide for Beginners

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So Kali Linux is a Debian-based Linux distribution or an Operating System mainly used for penetration testing, ethical hacking, and digital forensics. It comes with hundreds of preloaded apps, which are helpful for ethical hacking, security research, etc.

There are some key features of Kali Linux, as follows:

1. Pre-installed Tools: Kali Linux has at least 600 advanced penetration testing tools, categorized for various tasks like information gathering, vulnerability analysis, wireless attacks, and exploitation.

2. Open Source and Free: Kali is a free distribution of Linux, and it’s freely available and open-source, allowing for community contributions, forums, and customizations as per the user.

3. Debian-Based: It is built on the stable Debian Linux.

4. Multiple Platform Support: Kali can be installed on virtual machines like VirtualBox, USB drives (for live booting), and as a standalone operating system. It also supports ARM devices like Raspberry Pi and integration with Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL), which can be installed on a Windows Machine.

5. Customizable: Users can take control over customization as per their needs and requirements.

Basic Important Commands of Kali Linux:

Here are some basic commands of Kali Linux which are essential for new users:

pwd: (Print Working Directory) Displays the full path of your current location in the file system.

shaunak@kali:~$ pwd
/home/shaunak

ls: (List) Shows the files and directories in your current location. Use ls -l for a detailed listing (permissions, size, date) and ls -a to show hidden files.

shaunak@kali:~$ ls
Desktop Documents Downloads Music Pictures Public Templates Videos

cd: (Change Directory) Allows you to navigate between directories. Use cd .. to go up one level and cd to return to your home directory.

shaunak@kali:~$ cd Documents
shaunak@kali:~/Documents$

mkdir: (Make Directory) Creates a new directory.

shaunak@kali:~$ mkdir Shaunak
shaunak@kali:~$ ls
Desktop Documents Downloads Music Pictures Public Shaunak

touch: Creating a file

shaunak@kali:~$ touch shaunak.txt
shaunak@kali:~$ ls
Desktop Documents Downloads Music Pictures Public shaunak.txt

rm: (Remove) Deletes files and directories. Use rm filename to delete a file and rm -r directoryname to delete a directory and its contents (use with caution!).

kali@kali:~$ rm shaunak.txt
kali@kali:~$ rm -r shaunak_directory

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Getting started with Kali Linux

As already mentioned above, Kali can be installed on virtual machines like VMware or VirtualBox, live bootable from USB for testing first, or can be completely installed in a machine by using the ISO file. The default username: kali, and the password: kali. It is highly recommended to all users to change the password immediately after their first login for security reasons using the passwd command in the terminal.

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rmdir: Delete a directory

shaunak@kali:~$ rmdir Shaunak

shaunak@kali:~$ ls

Desktop Documents Downloads Music Pictures Public

cp: (Copy) Copies files and directories. Use cp source destination to copy a file, and cp -r source directory destination directory to copy a directory.

kali@kali:~$ cp shaunak_file.txt shaunak_backup.txt

kali@kali:~$ cp -r directory1 directory1_backup

mv: (Move) Moves or renames files and directories. Use mv oldname newname to rename, and mv source destination to move.

kali@kali:~$ mv shaunak_old_file.txt shaunak_new_file.txt

kali@kali:~$ mv file2.txt Documents/

cat: (Concatenate) Displays the content of a file.

shaunak@kali:~$ cat example.txt

This is the content of the example file.

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sudo: (Super User Do) Executes a command with administrative (root) privileges. You will often need this to install software or make system-level changes.

kali@kali:~$ sudo apt update

[sudo] password for kali:

apt update: Updates the package lists for available software.

apt full-upgrade -y: Upgrades the installed packages to their latest versions.

apt install <package_name>: Installs a new software package.

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So whenever you are doing something that requires root, or you can say admin permission, then you need to write sudo before the command. For example, to upgrade installed packages, the full command will be: sudo apt full-upgrade -y

“apt” stands for Advanced Package Tool, a package management system that installs, updates, and removes software packages.

So this is my short article for beginners. If I missed something that should be added or if anything needs to be edited, please feel free to share your thoughts.

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If anyone has any queries, kindly share via reply.

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Thank you @Shaunak for this well explained guide, it is indeed helpful. I have a question, can you please tell me about the WSL concept in simple words?

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So basically WSL stands for Windows Subsystem for Linux. It’s a feature of Windows that lets you run Linux applications, utilities, and command-line tools on Windows.

So it will be installed just like a regular software in your Windows machine. When you open this software you’ll able to access terminal and various other Linux features.

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Thank you for this easy explanation. So how can I install and run it?

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Here are the steps and explanation, how you can properly install and run it in your Windows machine:

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Thank you for inviting me to this forum. Your guide is helpful. If I get stuck somewhere I will ask you or post in the forum. :+1:

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Welcome to the community @Rashi thank you for accepting my invitation. Ya please feel free to ask, if you have any queries.

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linuxjourney.com you can learn linux basics here

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Okay thank for your kind words

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Thank you for this website

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Hi @Shaunak I have installed Kali in VMware using an external SSD as the main hard drive. First time it boots absolutely fine but after reboot it is getting stuck while booting? :confused:

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Hi @AlexPro I will recommend if you want to add an external SSD as the storage then make it as the secondary storage not the primary one in VMware. It may solve the issue.

Do you ever try to make the SSD bootable and try to boot any OS before? If yes what was the result.

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Yes, earlier I tried to boot different OS from that SSD, done all the boot settings, UEFI settings but then also every OS gets stuck while booting some at initial booting stage, some at mid and some at last stage but none of the OS ever booted completely. I am using Consistent SSD.

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Due to some issues I reinstall Kali in VMware, and make the primary hard disk as one of my local drives of my PC and now it’s working fine, even after reboot. Thank you so much for your suggestion.

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I am glad that it worked for you.

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