Installing Linux In My Cybersecurity Lab

I've attended the Introduction to CCNA Cyber Ops free webinar a month ago hosted by Kevin Wallace and Charles Judd. It's a 2-hour length webinar which covered a lot of Cybersecurity topics and terminologies. There were also Cyber attack demos towards the end of the webinar.

Linux is a very popular Operating System used by both Cybersecurity professionals and hackers. It's important to learn and understand this OS as well as its CLI commands.

Ubuntu is an Open Source Linux used for end user PC, server and IoT device. I chose the 16.0.4 LTS (Long Term Support) Desktop since it supports GUI and it's a more stable version. To install Ubuntu in VirtualBox, click New > type a Name > choose type: Linux > Version: Ubuntu (64-bit) > Next.

Choose the default 1024 MB RAM > click Next.

Choose Create a virtual hard disk now > click Create

 

Choose VDI (VirtualBox Disk Image) > click Next.

 

Choose Dynamically Allocated > click Next.

 

Type a name for the new virtual hard disk file > leave the default of 10 GB > click Create.

 

Choose the Ubuntu VM > click Start > search for the Ubuntu ISO file > click Start.

 

Click Install Ubuntu.

 

Don’t select any checkbox > click Continue.

 

Choose the default Erase disk and install Ubuntu > click Install Now.

 

Click Continue.

 

Choose your location (for time zone purpose) > click Continue

 

Choose Keyboard layout or leave the default of English (US) > click Continue.

 

Type a name and it will auto fill-up the computer’s name and username > type and confirm the password > click Continue.

 

You’ll need to restart after the installation. Restart Now.

 

Kali Linux is one of the most widely used penetration testing tool. To install Kali Linux in VirtualBox, click New > Type a Name > choose Type: Linux > choose Version: Debian (64-bit) > click Next.

Choose 2048 MB Memory size > click Next.

Choose Create a virtual hard disk now > click Create.

Choose VDI (VirtualBox Disk Image) > click Next.

Choose Dynamically allocated > click Next.

Slide or type 60 GB for Hard Disk space > click Create. You'll need a large amount of RAM and HD space in order to properly run applications in Kali Linux.

 

Click on the virtual machine > Settings > Storage > Optical Drive > click on the disc icon > choose the Kali Linux ISO file.

To integrate Kali Linux in VirtualBox to GNS3, go to Network > choose Attached to: Not attached > click OK > click Start (power the VM).

Choose Graphical install > press Enter

Choose a language (default is English) > click Continue.

Select your location (Country) > click Continue.

Choose default keyboard (default is American English) > click Continue.

Click Continue.

Choose the default Configure network manually > click Continue.

Type the IPv4 address (in CIDR notation) > click Continue.

Type the Gateway (auto filled) > click Continue.

Type a name (DNS) server > click Continue.

Type a hostname (default is kali) > click Continue.

Type a domain name > click Continue.

Type the root password twice > click Continue.

Choose Guided – use entire disk (default) > click Continue.

Choose SCSI1 (default) > click Continue.

Choose All files in one partition (recommended for new users) > click Continue.

Choose Finish partitioning and write change to disk (default) > click Continue.

Choose Yes > click Continue.

Choose No for network mirror if you don’t want to get Kali Linux software updates > click Continue.

Choose Yes to install GRUB boot loader > click Continue.

Choose dev/sda > click Continue.

Click Continue to finish the installation.

Login as root > click Next.

Type toor (default password) click Sign In or just press Enter.

Type below in order to configure the network interface and default route/gateway:

ifconfig eth0 192.168.1.120/24

ip route add default via 192.168.1.1 dev eth0


Metasploitable Linux is an intentionally vulnerable version of Linux used for penetration testing. To install Metasploit Linux, click New > type a Name for the virtual machine > choose Type: Linux > choose Version: Debian (32-bit) > click Next.

Choose the default RAM size of 1024 MB > click Next.

Choose the default Create a virtual hard disk now > click Create.

Choose the default VDI (VirtualBox Disk Image) > click Next.

Choose the default Dynamically allocated > click Next.

Type a name and size (in GB) for the new virtual hard disk file > click Create.

Click on METASPLOIT VM > click Settings > Network > choose Attached to: Host-only Adapter.

Go to Storage > Controller: SATA > Hard Disk: Choose Virtual Hard Disk File > choose the .vmdk file.

Go to System > Processor > tick Extended Features: Enable PAE/NX > click OK > click Start.

Type below in order to configure the network interface and default route/gateway:

sudo ifconfig eth0 192.168.1.110 netmask 255.255.255.0

sudo ip route add default via 192.168.1.1 dev eth0