Things to do with a fresh Kali 2021.3 installation

Now that you have installed Kali, it’s time to tweak and customize the operating system to your liking. Kali can be daunting at first as you may not have much experience with it. Fear not, the list below is just a few of the things you can install and set up to start exploring the world of penetration testing. Before long you will feel a whole new world opening up to you, let’s get started with some things to do with a fresh Kali 2021.3 installation.

1. Check for Updates & Upgrades

The most important thing to do is to check for updates and upgrade the system if available. The easiest way to do so would be through the terminal with a single line of code.

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

2. Install Graphics Drivers (NVIDIA)

If you have an Nvidia Graphics card you will want to install the official drivers from Nvidia as the default drivers that come installed are not as good. To install the graphics drivers first we must make sure that the operating system is fully upgraded and only then we may proceed to install the drivers we need. Enter the code below in your terminal.

sudo apt update && sudo apt dist-upgrade -y && reboot

sudo apt install -y ocl-icd-libopencl1 nvidia-driver nvidia-cuda-toolkit

3. Install Media Codecs

Media codecs help you play videos and audios, most of them come install by its better to install all available codecs to avoid any potential headaches later on. Enter the code below in your terminal.

sudo apt install libdvdnav4 gstreamer1.0-plugins-bad gstreamer1.0-plugins-ugly libdvd-pkg -y

4. Install Kali Metapackages

The default Kali installation comes with a few pre-installed software packages to save space; however, that is not the complete list of what can be installed on your system. That’s where metapackages come in, it allows you to install a bundle of software that best suits what you will be doing with Kali Linux. The full list is available on their website.

You can do a search for the available metapackages by using the following “apt” command;

sudo apt-get update && apt-cache search kali-

Once you have decided which bundle you would like to install; I usually go with all of them, you may continue by using the following code below;

sudo apt install kali-linux-everything

Do note that it will take up a lot of space if you choose to install all the packages, so do be sure to have sufficient space on your hard drive.

5. Install Usefull Apps

If you are new to Kali Linux and need some recommendations as to which apps are amazing and you should install them. I have compiled a list of some of the apps you may want to install which I recommend are;

• TorGhost

This app is an awesome script that routes your connection through the ‘tor’ network, useful if you would like to hide your IP address;

git clone https://github.com/susmithHCK/torghost.git
cd torghost
sudo chmod +x build.sh

As per Kali 2021.3 you will need to install cython3 & python3-packaging;

sudo apt install cython3 python3-packaging

Then edit the build.sh file and change the two instances of python3.8 into python3.9. Then you can proceed with building.

sudo nano build.sh
sudo ./build.sh

You can use the app by entering the following commands;

sudo torghost -s #to start Torghost
sudo torghost -r #to request a new node
sudo torghost -x #to stop Torghost
sudo torghost -h #to pull up the manual

Note: TorGhost only works on IPv4 so if your network has IPv6 functionality you will have to disable it or there will be no point to TorGhost. To disable it you need to edit your /etc/sysctl.conf file.

sudo nano /etc/sysctl.conf

Then add the 3 lines at the bottom and save the file. 

net.ipv6.conf.all.disable_ipv6=1
net.ipv6.conf.default.disable_ipv6=1
net.ipv6.conf.lo.disable_ipv6=1

To make the settings take immediate effect, enter the following command.

sudo sysctl -p

• Hydra – Password Bruteforcing Utility

sudo apt install hydra

6. Gnome Shell Extensions

You absolutely have to look into and use GNOME EXTENSIONS. As they will enhance your overall experience using Kali or any other gnome based desktop. You can tweak and enhance the capabilities of your desktop environment easily and quickly.

Check out how to install Gnome Shell Extensions here and get a list of our recommended extensions to install.

Above are just some of the things to do with a fresh Kali 2021.3 installation you can try, naturally, there are plenty more you can do to customise your Kali distribution to make it more to your liking.