Preparation

The purpose of this chapter is to make sure you have a fully functional Kali Linux. It estimately takes an hour or two to get set up, depending on skill level with virtualization and with Linux.

Goal

  • Kali Linux running as a virtual machine (VM) in either Virtualbox, Hyper-V or VMware Workstation/Player

  • VM must be able to enter fullscreen mode

  • Working coypaste of files and text between Kali and host operation system

  • Working VPN access to HTB

  • Acquite some basic Linux terminal skills

1 - Join the social channel

There is an official Hackthebox Discord. There is also a dedicated Hackthebox channel in the Netsecfocus MM. Both have a lot of hackers eager to assist if you ask nicely.

2 - Install virtualization software

You need to run Kali Linux as a virtual machine on your computer. There are a few software alternatives for working with virtual machines (VMs). You can use whatever host operating system you like as long as you feel comfortable installing the required software. The "host" operating system is the one installed on your laptop. The "guest" is the virtual machine operating system.

3 - Install Kali Linux

Kali Linux is a Linux distribution maintained by Offensive Security. They provide pre-installed VMs you can import straight into your virtualization software and run instantly without having to install anything. If you chose to install it manually you are free to do so.

  • Download a Kali VM appropriate for your virtualization software of choice, see step 2. You want a 64-bit version, not x86/32-bit

  • You do not need to create a new user in Kali Linux. The root user is sufficient for this guide and will make installation of software work without using the sudo command.

4 - Make copypaste and fullscreen work

Without copypaste between guest and host OS and fullscreen, hacking is gonna become a bit tiresome. So we highly recommend you get this working before you start. You need what's called guest additions to be able to do these things. We recommend using the packages available through the package manager in Kali. The package depends on whether you use Virtualbox or VMware.

Virtualbox

Run the following command, make sure it installs and reboot the guest OS (Kali) afterwards.

apt install -y virtualbox-guest-x11

VMware

Run the following command, make sure it installs and then reboot the guest OS afterwards.

apt install open-vm-tools open-vm-tools-desktop

Hyper-V

You are on your own here. Hyper-V generally doesn't have support for direct copypaste between host and guest OS.

Troubleshooting

  • Reboot guest OS

  • Reboot host OS

  • Reinstall the guest tools

  • Worst case: reinstall Kali in a new virtual machine

5 - Register to Hackthebox (HTB)

HTB has a challenge to get an invite code where you have to "hack" it. We won't spoil it, so you are on your own here. If you struggle, ask in the social channel for hints. They change this challenge from time to time to prevent people from spoiling the solution, so solutions from Google and Youtube may not help you here. Click the link below to start hacking your way in to HTB!

Join Hackthebox

Once you've gotten past the challenge, you can register and start navigating around the Hackthebox website. HTB will be explained in further detail later in this guide, so don't start worrying if you feel a bit lost.

6 - Connect to HTB using VPN

We are now going to use VPN to connect to the HTB lab. With VPN it will be just as if your Kali Linux box is connected to the same network as the lab. That way we can interact directly with the machines in the lab. We are going to need the software called openvpn and a personal VPN config file we download from HTB.

Do the following from Kali Linux

  • Install openvpn with apt install openvpn

  • Click the Access menu in the left side menu on HTB

  • Click Connection Pack. This downloads a VPN config file to your downloads folder, which should be named something like your_htb_username.ovpn

  • Connect to HTB with openvpn openvpn /root/Downloads/username.ovpn

  • Leave the terminal window open, as this is what keeps the VPN connection alive. If you close it, your VPN connection will be shut down and you will lose access to the lab until you reconnect.

  • To verify, open a new terminal and type ip addr. You should see a tun0 or tap0 interface with an IP address in the 10.10.X.X/23 range. See number 3 in the screenshot below. If you don't have such an interface, something is not right.

  • Verify in the Access panel that the IP address is the same as in the "inet" of the tun0 interface.

  • Try to scan a box using nmap <ip-address> of one of the IP addresses under "Active" machines.

  • Poke around the HTB web interface to learn how the platform works.

7 - Verify that things work

Check that the following works:

  • Kali Linux is running as a VM

  • The VM survives a reboot

  • Kali can be put in fullscreen

  • Copypaste between Kali and the host OS works

  • VPN to HTB is connected and working

Troubleshooting

  • Reboot

  • In the Access panel on HTB, press Regenerate to reset the VPN connection and download a new VPN pack.

  • Try reconnecting with openvpn as in step 6 of this article.

8 - Practice the Linux terminal

The site Linux Journey provides a fine introduction to Linux. We recommend doing the following modules, but if you decide to do more that is of course fantastic.

Unless you are already a Linux sysadmin and these things are absolutely clear to you, I recommend doing at least the Command Line module. It allows you to become familiar with basic navigation in the terminal. Test all the commands in the terminal in Kali Linux. Being able to use Linux and the terminal efficiently is the alpha and omega of hacking.

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