Installing Full Version of Kali Linux on Raspberry Pi 3

Kali Linux is a great tool to use for inspiring ethical hackers, security consultants, penetration testers, and other people with an interest in computer security. If you are installing full version of Kali Linux on Raspberry Pi 3 for the first time it will unlock many other tools and programs that were previously unavailable on the standard version. When I say “standard version” I mean the Kali Linux arm image that you downloaded and installed on your SD card.

Keep in mind that this guide was written only for individuals that downloaded and installed the Kali Linux arm image to their SD card. The Kali Linux arm image was built using the “kali-rolling” repositories and doesn’t include everything that the full version does.

FIRST STEPS FOR INSTALLING FULL VERSION OF KALI LINUX ON RASPBERRY PI 3

Go ahead and boot up your Raspberry Pi and login using your credentials. If you haven’t changed your password yet then your username is “root” and your password is “toor”. This is the default username and password for Kali Linux. When the desktop environment loads open a terminal session.

For security reasons it is always best to have a strong password. If you would like to change your current password the type the following into the terminal window:

passwd

After you type that in it will as you to enter a new password. After you type your new password in it will ask to confirm your password. Now your password is changed for the root user.

If you will be using Kali as root then it is always encouraged to use a strong password. If you aren’t worried about security and are interested in disabling the login feature see Raspberry Pi 3 Kali Linux auto login. The option is available to enable auto login which will force Kali to instantly boot to the desktop without having to enter a username and password.

Now we want to make sure that our current Kali installation is updated. If the current version of Kali isn’t updated you can run into problems upgrading to the full version. So let’s update Kali by typing this into the terminal window:

apt-get update

INSTALLING FULL VERSION OF KALI LINUX ON RASPBERRY PI 3 – RESIZE THE PARTITION

You will need to resize Kali Linux partition for Raspberry Pi first. This has to be done because a fresh Kali installation only uses up 6-7 gigabytes of space on your SD card leaving only 3-4 gigabytes remaining. If you have a 16 or 32 gigabyte SD card then resizing the partition will give you more available space.

After you have your partition resized you will need to upgrade your current Kali installation. You can upgrade the Kali Linux installation by using the command:

apt-get upgrade

INSTALLING FULL VERSION OF KALI LINUX ON RASPBERRY PI 3 – FINAL STEP

Since you have your current Kali installation updated, upgraded, and the partition is resized you can now install the full version. Installing the full version will take a few hours so be patient.

To install the full version of Kali Linux you need to type this into the terminal:

apt-get install kali-linux-full

CONFIGURING KALI LINUX

During the install you will be prompted a few times with configuration options. You will first be prompted to set a password for MySQL. Type in your new password and confirm it.

Next you will be asked if you would like to change your MAC automatically. This configuration gives a new MAC address whenever you attach an Ethernet cable or re-enable WiFi.

Now you will need to configure Kismet. Kismet is a wireless network detector, sniffer, and intrusion detection system. Kismet needs root access because it talks directly to hardware.

Now you need to let Kismet know if you have any users that you would like to add to the group. If you have other users (other than root) that will be using this device to sniff the network then you will need to add them to the group.

You need to configure sslh next. For the purposes of this article we will choose “from inetd” as our choice. Depending on how you will be using this Kali installation your choice may be different.

Last but not least you have to configure wireshark. You need to decide whether or not you want non-superusers to be able to capture packets. In this tutorial we only have one user (root) so we are going to select “no“.

FULL VERSION OF KALI IS INSTALLED

Now that everything is configured and the full version of Kali Linux is installed you have access to a variety of different tools and programs. Feel free to browse all the other applications by clicking on the “applications” button at the top left of the screen.