National Cyber Warfare Foundation (NCWF)

Welcome back, my aspiring cyberwarriors! The Raspberry Pi is small and affordable single-board computer that has become extraordinarily popular. Built upon the powerful and efficient ARM processor, it can be used for hacking and pentesting! It might be the ideal, low-cost platform to start your journey in cybersecurity. Installing Kali Linux on a Raspberry Pi […]

The post Getting Started with the Raspberry Pi: How to Install Kali Linux ARM Edition first appeared on Hackers Arise.

Welcome back, my aspiring cyberwarriors!

The Raspberry Pi is small and affordable single-board computer that has become extraordinarily popular. Built upon the powerful and efficient ARM processor, it can be used for hacking and pentesting! It might be the ideal, low-cost platform to start your journey in cybersecurity.

Installing Kali Linux on a Raspberry Pi transforms this affordable single-board computer into a powerful portable hacking platform. In this article, we will walk through the entire installation process, from preparation to post-installation configuration.

Understanding the Requirements

Before beginning the installation process, you’ll need to ensure you have the proper hardware and software components. I’m going to use a Raspberry Pi 4, which requires a microSD card with at least 16GB of storage.

Your power supply should be able to deliver at least 3A at 5V. Insufficient power can cause system instability and boot failures. Additionally, you’ll need a computer with an SD card reader to write the Kali Linux image to your microSD card.

Downloading the Kali Linux ARM Image

Navigate to the official Kali Linux website and locate the ARM images section. The Raspberry Pi 4 uses the ARM64 architecture, so you’ll need to download the specific Kali Linux Raspberry Pi 2/3/4/400/5/500 image. This image is pre-configured for the Pi’s hardware and includes the necessary drivers and kernel modifications.

Preparing Your microSD Card

Insert your microSD card into your computer’s card reader. Before writing the Kali image, you should format the card to ensure a clean installation. On Windows, you can use the built-in Disk Management tool or a third-party utility. Linux users can utilize the fdisk or Disk Utility.

Format the card using the FAT32 file system initially, as this provides compatibility across different operating systems. However, keep in mind that this formatting will be overwritten when you write the Kali Linux image, so this step primarily serves to clear any existing partitions and data.

Writing the Image to the microSD Card

For writing the Kali Linux image to your microSD card, several reliable tools are available depending on your operating system. The Raspberry Pi Imager is an excellent choice as it’s officially supported and user-friendly. Download and install this tool from the Raspberry Pi Foundation’s website.

Launch the Raspberry Pi Imager and select your device version.

Next, “Use custom” in the OS window to browse for your downloaded Kali Linux .img.xz file.

Select your microSD card and click Next.

You’ll see a pop-up like above. Click “Edit Settings” so we can set up user credentials, configure Wi-Fi, etc.

Don’t forget to check the Services tab and enable SSH access.

After that, we can proceed to the writing.

The writing process typically takes 10-30 minutes, depending on your card’s speed and the image size. The imager will write the image and then verify the write operation to ensure data integrity. Once completed, you’ll see a success message indicating the process finished without errors.

Initial Boot Configuration

After successfully writing the image, remove the microSD card from your computer and insert it into your Raspberry Pi 4. Connect your Pi to a monitor using an HDMI cable, and attach a keyboard and mouse via USB ports. Or wait for connecting via SSH.

The first boot will take longer than subsequent boots as the system expands the filesystem to utilize the full capacity of your microSD card and performs initial configuration tasks.

To log in, use your username and password that were specified in the imager.

Post-Installation System Updates

Once you’ve successfully logged into your new Kali Linux system, the first critical step is updating all packages to their latest versions. Open a terminal and execute the package manager update commands.

kali> sudo apt update -y

After the initial updates are complete, consider upgrading the system to ensure all packages are at their newest versions.

kali> sudo apt upgrade -y

Summary

Successfully installing Kali Linux ARM on your Raspberry Pi 4 provides you with a capable, portable hacking platform. The combination of Kali’s huge tool suite and the Pi 4’s improved performance creates a great environment for security ops, learning, and professional penetration testing activities.