The Kali folks give the example of downloading Kali for a wireless pentesting engagement. Because many of those tools are specialized for specific hardware or edge use cases, Kali downloads with a bundle of the most commonly used tools and allows users to install meta-packages - Debian packages that include dozens, or even hundreds of packages in that category. So many security tools are available for Kali that they all can't fit into one download. Advanced users may surface with opinions on alternatives to Kali they prefer, but newcomers to penetration testing need to get Kali under their belt before looking at other options.

Once inside the bailiwick of penetration testing, Kali is the right choice for most offensive security tasks. The Kali maintainers don't mince words: '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.' If that does not describe you or your use case, then give the user-friendly Ubuntu or Mint Linux distributions a go instead. Kali is a specialized Linux distro that is meant for experienced Linux users who need an offensive security-focused penetration testing platform. If you're new to Kali, download a preconfigured VMWare or VirtualBox VM to get up and running quickly. As such, it is frequently installed as a virtual machine on a laptop, using VMWare or VirtualBox on a Windows, Mac, or even Linux host. Aim wisely.Īgain, Kali is not meant for use as a daily default operating system, but for security testing. Especially since pointing most of these tools at targets without their permission is illegal under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) in the US and under similar laws around the world, you might feel a little like a baby with a howitzer. That's approximately what it feels like to pick up Kali and start playing around with it. It's officially recognized as a compliant Debian variant by the Debian Project, and with a default GNOME desktop, looks and feels at first glance like you might expect.įast forward to that scene in a World War II movie where a grizzled, cigar-chomping sergeant removes the dusty tarp covering the Big Guns. If you're familiar with Linux, especially a Debian flavor like Ubuntu (or, well, Debian) then Kali will seem familiar to you, at least at first.

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