Deploy Kali Linux through the Linode Marketplace

Kali Linux is a specialized Debian-based Linux distribution that has become an industry-standard tool for penetration testing. Kali Linux includes hundreds of free tools for reverse engineering, penetration testing, computer forensics, security audits, and more. It is open source and prioritizes simplicity.

Deploying a Marketplace App

The Linode Marketplace lets you easily deploy software on a Compute Instance using Cloud Manager. See Get Started with Marketplace Apps for complete steps.

1. Log in to Cloud Manager and select the Marketplace link from the left navigation menu. This displays the Linode Create page with the Marketplace tab pre-selected.

2. Under the Select App section, select the app you would like to deploy.

3. Complete the form by following the steps and advice within the Creating a Compute Instance guide. Depending on the Marketplace App you selected, there may be additional configuration options available. See the Configuration Options section below for compatible distributions, recommended plans, and any additional configuration options available for this Marketplace App.

4. Click the Create Linode button. Once the Compute Instance has been provisioned and has fully powered on, wait for the software installation to complete. If the instance is powered off or restarted before this time, the software installation will likely fail.

To verify that the app has been fully installed, see Get Started with Marketplace Apps > Verify Installation. Once installed, follow the instructions within the Getting Started After Deployment section to access the application and start using it.

Configuration Options

• Supported distributions: Kali Linux
• Recommended plan: We recommend a 4GB Dedicated CPU or Shared Compute Instance.

Kali Options

• Kali Linux Package (required): Select the Kali Linux metapackage to install:

  • Core. Installs the kali-linux-core metapackage, which includes essential penetration testing tools.
  • Default. Installs the kali-linux-default metapackage, which includes commonly used tools and utilities.
  • Everything. Installs the kali-linux-everything metapackage, which includes all available Kali packages.

• Setup VNC Remote Desktop? (required). Choose whether to install and configure TigerVNC with XFCE Desktop for remote desktop access. This is recommended for the Everything package and adds desktop functionality to the Default and Core packages.

Limited Sudo User

You need to fill out the following fields to automatically create a limited sudo user, with a strong generated password for your new Compute Instance. This account will be assigned to the sudo group, which provides elevated permissions when running commands with the sudo prefix.

• Limited sudo user: Enter your preferred username for the limited user. No Capital Letters, Spaces, or Special Characters.

  Locating The Generated Sudo Password

  A password is generated for the limited user and stored in a .credentials file in their home directory, along with application specific passwords. This can be viewed by running: cat /home/$USERNAME/.credentials

  For best results, add an account SSH key for the Cloud Manager user that is deploying the instance, and select that user as an authorized_user in the API or by selecting that option in Cloud Manager. Their SSH pubkey will be assigned to both root and the limited user.

• Disable root access over SSH: To block the root user from logging in over SSH, select Yes. You can still switch to the root user once logged in, and you can also log in as root through Lish.

  Accessing The Instance Without SSH

  If you disable root access for your deployment and do not provide a valid Account SSH Key assigned to the authorized_user, you will need to login as the root user via the Lish console and run cat /home/$USERNAME/.credentials to view the generated password for the limited user.

• VNC Username: (Required only if VNC is enabled). It’s the VNC username for this Compute Instance. This username has elevated privileges (sudo) and can access the VNC session.

Custom Domain (Optional)

If you wish to automatically configure a custom domain, you first need to configure your domain to use Linode’s name servers. This is typically accomplished directly through your registrar. See Use Linode’s Name Servers with Your Domain. Once that is finished, you can fill out the following fields for the Marketplace App:

• Linode API Token: If you wish to use the Linode’s DNS Manager to manage DNS records for your custom domain, create a Linode API Personal Access Token on your account with Read/Write access to Domains. If this is provided along with the subdomain and domain fields (outlined below), the installation attempts to create DNS records via the Linode API. See Get an API Access Token. If you do not provide this field, you need to manually configure your DNS records through your DNS provider and point them to the IP address of the new instance.
• Subdomain: The subdomain you wish to use, such as www for www.example.com.
• Domain: The domain name you wish to use, such as example.com.

Getting Started after Deployment

After Kali Linux is deployed, you can log in through an SSH session as the root user and perform your workloads as needed. Your deployment credentials are stored in /home/USERNAME/.credentials for reference. To learn more, See the Kali Linux documentation to learn how to further use your instance.

Remote Desktop Connection with VNC

If you enabled VNC during deployment, TigerVNC and the XFCE desktop environment are installed. This allows you to connect remotely to the desktop environment and access Kali’s GUI tools.

To access your Kali Linux desktop through a VNC client:

1. From your desktop, create an SSH tunnel to your Compute Instance with the command below replacing USERNAME with the VNC username you created and [ip] with the IPv4 address of your Compute Instance. To learn more on viewing IP addresses, see Managing IP Addresses.

   ssh -L 61000:localhost:5901 -N -l USERNAME [ip]

2. Open your preferred VNC viewer application and connect to your Compute Instance through the SSH tunnel you created. The format is localhost:61000.

   

   A warning may appear notifying you that the connection is unencrypted. Since you’re using an SSH tunnel, your connection is encrypted over the internet. You can safely ignore this warning and continue.

3. Enter the password you created for the VNC user.

After connecting, the Kali Linux desktop appears.

More Information

You may wish to consult the following resources for additional information on this topic. While these are provided in the hope that they will be useful, please note that we cannot vouch for the accuracy or timeliness of externally hosted materials.

• What is Kali Linux?
• Should I Use Kali Linux?
• Kali Linux official documentation