🧪 Setting Up a Penetration Testing Lab using VirtualBox + Kali Linux
🛡️ A penetration testing lab is a safe, isolated environment for ethical hackers to learn and test exploits without any risk to real networks or legal issues. 🖥️ Step 1: Choose a Virtualization Platform Tool of Choice: Oracle VirtualBox ✅ Free & open-source 💡 Works on Windows, Linux, macOS 🔁 Alternatives: VMware Workstation, Hyper-V, KVM 📦 Step 2: Download Required ISO / VM Files VM Role OS/Tool Download Link Attacker Kali Linux (Latest) kali.org Target (Vuln) Metasploitable 2 SourceForge 🧰 Step 3: Install Kali Linux (Attacker Machine) Open VirtualBox → New VM → Name: Kali Linux Type: Linux, Version: Debian (64-bit) Assign: RAM: 2 GB minimum Disk: 20 GB (Dynamically Allocated) Mount Kali ISO and boot. Follow GUI installation: Create user Choose mirror (optional) Partition and install After boot, update system: sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y Install basic tools: sudo apt install net-tools curl vim git proxychains nmap 🎯 Step 4: Import Metasploitable 2 (Target Machine) Download .ova → VirtualBox → File → Import Appliance ...