Kali Linux v2.0 ISO IS HERE
Our Next Generation Penetration Testing Platform
We’re still buzzing and recovering from the Black Hat and DEF CON
conferences where we finished presenting our new Kali Linux Dojo, which
was a blast. With the help of
a few good people, the Dojo rooms were set up ready for the masses – where many
generated their very own Kali 2.0 ISOs for the first time. But the excitement doesn’t end for us just yet. With the end of the cons, we now find ourselves smack in the middle of
the most significant release of Kali since 2013. Today is the day that Kali 2.0 is officially released.
So, what’s new in Kali 2.0? There’s a new 4.0
kernel, now based on Debian Jessie, improved hardware and wireless
driver coverage, support for a variety of Desktop Environments (gnome,
kde, xfce, mate, e17, lxde, i3wm), updated desktop environment and tools
– and the list goes on. But these bulletpoint items are essentially a
side effect of the real changes that have taken place in our development backend. Ready to hear the real news?
Take a deep breath, it’s a long list.
Kali Linux is Now a Rolling Distribution
One of the biggest moves we’ve taken to keep Kali 2.0
up-to-date in a global, continuous manner, is transforming Kali into a
rolling distribution.
What this means is that we are pulling our packages continuously
from Debian Testing (after making sure that all packages
are installable) – essentially upgrading the Kali core system, while
allowing us to take advantage of newer Debian packages as they roll out.
This move is where our choice in Debian as a base system really pays
off – we get to enjoy the stability of Debian, while still remaining
on the cutting edge.
Continuously Updated Tools, Enhanced Workflow
Another interesting development in our infrastructure has been the integration of an
upstream version checking system,
which alerts us when new upstream versions of tools are released
(usually via git tagging). This script runs daily on a select list of
common tools and keeps us alerted if a new tool requires updating. With
this new system in place,
core tool updates will happen more frequently.
With the introduction of this new monitoring system, we will slowly
start phasing out the “tool upgrades” option in our bug tracker.
New Flavours of Kali Linux 2.0
Through our Live Build process, Kali 2.0 now natively supports
KDE, GNOME3, Xfce, MATE, e17, lxde and i3wm.
We’ve moved on to GNOME 3 in this release, marking the end of a long
abstinence period. We’ve finally embraced GNOME 3 and with a few custom
changes, it’s grown to be our favourite desktop environment. We’ve added
custom support for multi-level menus, true terminal transparency, as
well as a handful of useful gnome shell extensions. This however has
come at a price –
the minimum RAM requirements for a full GNOME 3 session has increased to 768 MB.
This is a non-issue on modern hardware but can be detrimental on
lower-end machines. For this reason, we have also released an official,
minimal Kali 2.0 ISO.
This “light” flavour of Kali includes a handful of useful tools
together with the lightweight Xfce desktop environment – a perfect
solution for resource-constrained computers.
Kali Linux 2.0 ARM Images & NetHunter 2.0
The whole
ARM image section has been updated across
the board with Kali 2.0 – including Raspberry Pi, Chromebooks, Odroids…
The whole lot! In the process, we’ve added some new images – such as the
latest
Chromebook Flip – the little beauty here on the
right. Go ahead, click on the image, take a closer look. Another
helpful change we’ve implemented in our ARM images is including kernel
sources, for easier compilation of new drivers.
We haven’t forgotten about
NetHunter, our favourite
mobile penetration testing platform – which also got an update and
now includes Kali 2.0. With this, we’ve released a whole barrage of new
NetHunter images for Nexus 5, 6, 7, 9, and 10. The
OnePlus One NetHunter image has also been updated to Kali 2.0 and now has a much awaited
image for CM12 as well – check the Offensive Security NetHunter page for more information.
Updated VMware and VirtualBox Images
Offensive Security, the
information security training and
penetration testing
company behind Kali Linux, has put up new VMware and VirtualBox Kali
2.0 images for those who want to try Kali in a virtual environment.
These include 32 and 64 bit flavours of the GNOME 3 full Kali
environment.
If you want to build your own virtual environment, you can consult
our documentation site on how to install the various virtual guest tools
for a smoother experience.
TL;DR. Where’s My Kali 2.0 Download?
The tl;dr of this release is best explained by comparison: If Kali 1.0 was
focused on building a solid infrastructure then Kali 2.0 is
focused on overhauling the user experience and maintaining updated packages and tool repositories.
Along with the arrival of 2.0 comes a whole lot of interesting updates…
You can head down to our Kali Linux 2.0 Download page to get the
goodness for yourself.
Still TL; Still DR. How Do I Upgrade to Kali 2.0?
Yes, you
can upgrade Kali 1.x to Kali 2.0! To do this, you will need to edit your source.list entries, and run a
dist-upgrade
as shown below. If you have been using incorrect or extraneous Kali
repositories or otherwise manually installed or overwritten Kali
packages outside of
apt, your upgrade to Kali 2.0 may
fail. This includes scripts like lazykali.sh, PTF, manual git clones in
incorrect directories, etc. – All of these will clobber existing files
on the filesystem and result in a failed upgrade. If this is the case
for you, you’re better off reinstalling your OS from scratch.
Otherwise, feel free to:
cat << EOF > /etc/apt/sources.list
deb
http://http.kali.org/kali sana main non-free contrib
deb
http://security.kali.org/kali-security/ sana/updates main contrib non-free
EOFapt-get update
apt-get dist-upgrade # get a coffee, or 10.
reboot
Metasploit Community / Pro no longer ships in Kali
At the request of Rapid7, we have
removed the Metasploit Community / Pro package from Kali Linux and now host the open-source
metasploit-framework package only. For all of you who require Community or Pro, you will now need to
download it from Rapid7 and then register and submit your personal details in order to get a license. In addition,
the Rapid7 team no longer maintains the Metasploit package in Kali,
which has brought with it some substantial changes – we’ve moved to a
“native” setup, where rather than bundling all the required software
needed to run Metasploit in one big package, we use native dependencies
within Kali to support the
metasploit-framework package. This results in a
faster, smoother work experience and easier integration with Metasploit dependencies. For more information about this, check out our Metasploit Framework in Kali documentation page.
Starting up Metasploit Framework in Kali Linux 2.0
Due to the above-mentioned changes in the
metasploit-framework package, there are some minor changes in how Metasploit is started in Kali – specifically, there
is no longer a metasploit service. This is how you start up the Metasploit Framework with database support in Kali Linux 2.0:
- Start the Postgresql Database
/etc/init.d/postgresql start# Initialize the Metasploit Framework Database
msfdb init# Run msfconsole
msfconsole
Your Kali 2.0 FU Just Got an Upgrade
Kali Linux 2.0 is a serious step forward for us, as we
continuously improve the distribution.
We hope you enjoy the new look, features, tools, and workflow. As
usual, you are invited to join our community via forums, bug tracker,
Twitter, Facebook, and of course, IRC. Lastly, if you haven’t seen our
Kali 2.0 Teaser video, here it is!
DOWNLOAD TORRENT FILE FOR 32 BIT
DOWNLOAD TORRENT FILE FOR 64 BIT
