The second option is using the VMware image provided by Kali Linux.
With this option, you can install Kali Linux on a virtual machine with ease; it is located on the Kali Linux Downloads page at https://www.offensive-security.com/kali-linux-vm-vmware-virtualbox-image-download/:
After clicking Kali Virtual Images, we are brought to another page listing the packages and their associated sha256sum values on the Offensive Security page:
After downloading the Kali Linux VMware image (kali-linux-2018.2-vm-amd64.zip), you need to verify the SHA256 hash of the downloaded file with the hash value provided on the download page. If the hash value is the same, you can extract the image file to the appropriate folder.
As the VMware image is compressed in the ZIP format, you can use any software that can extract a .gz file such as gzip, or 7-Zip if you use a Windows operating system. If you have extracted it successfully, you will find 13 files in the directory:
- To create the new virtual machine using this VM image file, select New from the VirtualBox icon toolbar.
- We will use Kali Linux from VM as the VM name and choose Linux as the operating system and Debian as the version.
- We configure the Kali Linux virtual machine to use 2,048 MB as its memory size.
- Next, we define the virtual hard disk to Use an existing virtual hard drive file. Then, we select the kali-linux-2018.2-vm-amd64.vmdk file for the hard disk. After that, we choose Create to create the virtual machine, as shown in the following screenshot:
The following is the default configuration of the Kali Linux VMware image:
- Hard disk size: 30 GB
- Network type: NAT
- Username: root
- Password: toor
If successful, you will see the new virtual machine in the virtual manager list in Virtual Box.
To run the Kali Linux virtual machine, click on the start icon at the top of the VirtualBox menu bar. After the boot process, Kali Linux will display its login prompt.
If there are any error messages, install the VirtualBox Extension Pack. You can get it from http://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Downloads.
Clicking OK will bring you to the following dialog:
Go ahead and click on Install and then click on OK.