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Chapter one on Kali Linux

Kali Linux is an enterprise-level security audit Linux distribution based on Debian GNU/Linux. The users of Kali are security experts and IT managers who can conduct advanced tests, forensic analysis and security audits.

What is a Linux distribution?

Although the word Linux is widely used to refer to the entire operating system, in fact, Linux is just the name of the kernel. The kernel is software used to handle interactions between hardware and end-user applications.

The Linux distribution, on the other hand, refers to a complete operating system on top of the Linux kernel, which usually includes installers and many applications that can be pre-installed or packaged in an easy-to-install way.

Dibian GNU/Linux is a leading Linux distribution known for its quality and stability. Kali Linux is built on the Debian project and has added more than 300 purpose-specific software packages related to information security and the testing industry.

Debian is a free software project that provides multiple versions. We usually use the term "distribution" to refer to a particular version. For example, "Dibian stable" or "Debian beta". The term also applies to Kali Linux, for example, a rolling distribution of Kali.

1.1 Kali Linux History

The Kali Linux project began silently in 2012, when Offensive Secruity decided that they wanted to replace their old, manually maintained BackTrack Linux project with a derivative of Debian with complete infrastructure requirements and improved encapsulation technology. This decision prompted Kali Linux to be built based on Debian distributions, because Deiban is known for its quality and stability, and there are plenty of useful software to choose from. That's why I (Raphal) got involved in the project as a consultant.

The first release (Version 1.0) was released a year later in March 2013, based on a stable distribution of Debian 7 "Wheezy" released during the same period. In that first year of development, I packaged hundreds of applications related to * * testing and built a basic platform. Even if the number of applications is large, the applications in the list are carefully planned, and those that are no longer available or have repetitive functions and have been implemented in better software have been removed.

In the two years since the release of version 1.0, Kali has released a number of incremental updates, expanding the range of software available and improving hardware support, thanks to the updated kernel. With continuous and unified investment, we ensure that all important software packages remain installable and that customized active images (distribution flags) can be created at any time.

In 2015, when Debian 8 "Jessie" appeared, we began to rebuild Kali Linux based on it. Kali Linux 1.x does not use GNOME Shell, but in this version, we decided to use and enhance it: we added GNOME Shell extensions to get the missing features, with the application menu being the most prominent. The result of this work is Kali Linux 2.0, which was released in August 2015.

GNOME is the default desktop environment for Kali Linux: the desktop environment is a collection of shared graphics toolkits that can be used together on the user's desk. Desktop environments are generally not used in servers. Typically, the desktop environment provides an application launcher, a file manager, a WEB browser, a mail client, an office suite, and so on.

GNOME is one of the most popular desktop environments (as well as KDE, Xfce, LXDE, MATE), and GNOME is installed in Kali Linux's main ISO image. If you don't like GNOME, you can easily build a custom ISO image with the desktop environment of your choice. This part of the book will be covered in Chapter 9, "Advanced usage".

At the same time, we have made efforts to make sure that Kali Linux always keeps the test application up to date. Unfortunately, however, this goal is somewhat problematic because Kali is built on Debian stable, which requires us to backport many software packages (applying software patches to older versions than the software version that the patch was intended to target). This is because, in fact, the Debian stable Edition values the stability of the software the most, resulting in significant delays in the release of upstream updates when integrating the software into the distribution. Given our ongoing integration efforts, it's natural to move Kali Linux to the Debian Testing version so that we can benefit from the latest versions of all Debian packages, as long as they are updated. Of course, the Debian Testing version is newer and more radical, which is more compatible with Kali Linux's philosophy.

This is the essence of the Kali Rolling version. When the rolling distribution is available for a while, Kali 2016.1 is released, the first official distribution with scrolling features: when you install the latest Kali distribution, your system actually follows the Kali Rolling distribution, and you get a new update every day. In the past, the Kali distribution was just a snapshot of the then Debian distribution, with the addition of some Kali-specific packages.

Rolling distributions have many benefits, but they also bring many challenges, from those of us who build distributions to those of us who update forever and sometimes backwards. The goal of this book is to teach you everything you need to manage your Kali Linux installation.

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