Kali

[Fred Claus]

I'm thinking about using Kali Linux and NMap for vulnerability assessments on client networks. Would you guys recommend a laptop running Kali, or Kali inside a virtualBox on a Windows 11 laptop?

deciding if I'm going to set up one of my old laptops or just use a VM.

 

[Computer Bloke]

Definitely run it native. If you're capturing packets you'll want it as close to the hardware as possible.

Source: Personal experience.

 

[Sky-Knight]

Yeah a dedicated laptop with KALI on it is an EXTREMELY powerful tool if you know how to use it.

You can VM it, but you inject a layer of complexity that can cause issues.

My Kali is on an absolutely ancient Acer laptop that shipped with WinXP on it. Why? Because that monster still has native RS232 and Parallel ports on it! USB to these interfaces don't often work correctly... she's my means of accessing old PBXs and what not...

Haven't needed her in half a decade or so now... but still have it.

 

[Fred Claus]

I have a couple Lenovo laptops from Windows 7 days. I think I'm going to use one of them. I figured Kali linux because NMap comes with it, and then I might be able to learn the other tools it has. Thanks for the advice.

 

[Markverhyden]

I agree. On native hardware only. And a reminder, depending on the situation, you can run Kali on a Pi Box - https://www.kali.org/docs/arm/raspberry-pi-4/

 

[Computer Bloke]

Another advantage to running it on old bare metal is that it gives you the option of leaving a Kali box attached to a client's network for a couple of weeks without tying up a more useful machine. I've only needed to do this a few times but I was very glad that I could.

(This works best if you can access it remotely, of course.)

 

[Fred Claus]

Good points, thanks everyone. I'm glad I asked, I was thinking about just doing a VirtualBox. Never thought of all these reasons for a dedicated machine.

 

[xrobwx71]

I used Kali at work for the same and had stability issues from time to time. I switched to Backbox over a year ago and have had zero issues.

It's based on Ubuntu. It has all the tools Kali offers.

 

[Sky-Knight]

Kali is based on Debian.
Ubuntu is based on Debian.
BackBox is based on Ubuntu.

It's all Debian. But Ubuntu does have wider hardware support that Debian does, as it's OK with a wider use of code. Going to have to tinker with that.

P.S. I love how "open source" works... nice pretty website, click the documentation link BOOOM it's 1996 again!

 

[britechguy]

click the documentation link BOOOM it's 1996 again!

Because, as we all know, documentation is always an afterthought, if it's thought about at all. Not to mention that many technicians genuinely love old-school.

 

[phaZed]

"The documentation is in the man!" -lol

I dual boot Kali on my Razer laptop and run a dedicated Kali desktop. The kali desktop is my dedicated data recovery/cloning/reverse engineering/Firmware Flashing machine.

 

[Sky-Knight]

Because, as we all know, documentation is always an afterthought, if it's thought about at all. Not to mention that many technicians genuinely love old-school.

While this is true, it's super mega insanely true for anything open source. It's comically bad at this point. I invite everyone here to go to the link posted above and experience the wonder... it's hilarious.

@phaZed Ever tried to learn anything from the man pages? That mess is so bad that when combined with the command itself... it's enough to push any rational mind into hating the associated gender. It's that irrationally bad!

 

[phaZed]

Ever tried to learn anything from the man pages? That mess is so bad that when combined with the command itself... it's enough to push any rational mind into hating the associated gender. It's that irrationally bad!

Yeah! It's a mess! I like the man.. but when it's 48 'pages' long and you need something on man page 12... ugh. Mess, indeed. I usually just go to the website or github for whatever it is, lol.

 

[britechguy]

I invite everyone here to go to the link posted above and experience the wonder... it's hilarious.

Eh. Looks quite typical to me. And far from limited to open source, too, though even I'll admit that commercial documentation is more polished. How much "more" varies, widely.

I learned long, long, long ago that documentation is worse than "the stepchild" in virtually all projects. There seems to be an attitude that technical writers are superfluous and that end users will divine things. It's sad, really.

 

[Sky-Knight]

@britechguy Unless the documentation is done by Microsoft.

Then it's at the same time the best ever created, and the worst!

@phaZed So many man pages seem to have forgotten the tool is intended to be consumed on a command line, and reading 30 pages of fluff isn't realistic!

I know we've got websites with the same content, but the formatting is still terrible... nothing about man pages is good!

 

[Porthos]

Reading the title I thought of this.

 

[Fred Claus]

I'm guessing besides the stability issues Kali had a couple years ago, it's a personal preference thing? I see Kali is the most popular but then their is BackBox, and Parrot OS. They all look basically the same to me. I picked Kali just because there are more courses to learn based on Kali.

 

[alexsmith2709]

I'm thinking about using Kali Linux and NMap for vulnerability assessments on client networks.

Please, please, please make sure you get a signed authorisation of the scope of work. While what you plan to do is passive work, things may come back to bite you. I am assuming you'll stop probing after the scan even if you find an open port? Nmap is not always conclusive so a proper vulnerability scan involves much more.