General Tutorial Series - GTS - VMWare Beginner Mar 25, 2026 ·updated Apr 2, 2026 ·101 views ·7 min read

Kali Linux - VMWare

This Project will cover content showcasing the Installation and Initial Login into Kali Linux on a VMWare Environment

Installations VMWare Kali Linux Configuration

School + Self-Taught

▶ General Tutorial Series - GTS - VMWare · Episode

☰ Tutorial Overview

In this tutorial we walk through the complete installation of Kali Linux inside a VMware virtual machine — from downloading and verifying the official ISO all the way to a fully updated, snapshotted system ready for security lab work. This is part of the General Tutorial Series - GTS - VMWare — a broad introduction series covering a range of platforms and operating systems, designed to give you hands-on familiarity with the tools that matter in IT.

By the end of this tutorial you will have a running Kali Linux installation inside VMware with VMware Tools configured, a full system update applied, and two clean snapshots in place as your lab baseline — all inside an isolated virtual environment.

? Disclaimer & Technical Warning

ℹ Legal Disclaimer — Educational Use Only

01 This tutorial is strictly for educational and personal learning purposes. It does not represent any real organisation, network, or production infrastructure.

02 All credentials and configurations shown are fictional placeholders. Nothing demonstrated is connected to a live or real-world environment.

03 Do not replicate these steps on any production server, corporate machine, or shared network. This tutorial uses an isolated VMware environment only.

04 The author accepts no liability for misconfiguration, data loss, or disruption caused by applying these steps outside a properly isolated lab environment.

⚠ Technical Warning — Before You Begin

01 Kali Linux ships with offensive security tools including vulnerability scanners and wireless attack frameworks. Antivirus may flag the ISO — this is expected in a lab environment.

02 Confirm your VMware network adapter is set to NAT — NOT Bridged Adapter. Bridged mode exposes the VM directly to your real network.

03 Take VM snapshots before each major step. Roll back in under a minute without reinstalling Kali from scratch.

04 These tools must only be used on systems you own or have explicit written authorisation to test. Unauthorised use is a criminal offence.

✓ What's Covered in This Tutorial

VMware VM SetupNetwork adapter, RAM, CPU and storage configuration for Kali Linux

⬇

ISO Download & VerificationOfficial kali.org download with SHA256 checksum verification

⌨

Kali Linux InstallationFull graphical install — hostname, user, disk partitioning, GRUB

VMware ToolsInstalling open-vm-tools for full display resolution and clipboard sharing

System UpdateRunning apt update & apt upgrade on a fresh Kali installation

Snapshot BaselineTwo VMware snapshots — Install Snapshot and Clean Install — Post Update

Post-Install TourBrief walkthrough of Kali's tool categories and desktop environment

▶ Video

☷ Step-by-Step Guide

01VMware VM Setup

Open VMware Workstation Pro or VMware Player and click Create a New Virtual Machine. Select Typical configuration, then choose I will install the operating system later. Set Guest OS to Linux, version to Debian 13.x 64-bit — Kali is Debian-based so this is the correct match.

Name the VM, click Customize Hardware before finishing, then go to Settings → CD/DVD → browse to your Kali ISO → tick Connect at power on.

ℹ Hardware used in this tutorial: 8 GB RAM · 150 GB Disk · 2 CPU cores · NAT networking. Adjust to your machine as needed — the steps are identical regardless of resource allocation.

⬇

02ISO Download & Verification

Navigate to kali.org/get-kali and select Installer Images → 64-bit. The file used in this tutorial is kali-linux-2026.1-installer-amd64.iso. Download directly or via torrent. Once downloaded, verify the SHA256 checksum:

# Windows (PowerShell)
Get-FileHash kali-linux-2026.1-installer-amd64.iso -Algorithm SHA256

# Linux / macOS
sha256sum kali-linux-2026.1-installer-amd64.iso

⚠ Compare the output character-for-character against the hash on kali.org. A mismatched hash means a corrupted or tampered file — delete it and re-download. Security starts before you open VMware.

▶

03Boot into the Installer

Power on the virtual machine. The Kali Linux boot menu appears immediately. Use the arrow keys to select Graphical Install and press Enter.

04Language, Location & Keyboard

Select your language, country, and keyboard layout. If you are not in the US, verify the keyboard layout carefully before continuing — an incorrect layout causes password entry problems at login.

05Hostname & Domain

Set the hostname to kali or your preferred machine name. Leave the domain name field blank unless connecting this VM to an existing domain environment.

06User Account & Password

Enter your full name and choose a username. Set a strong password — minimum 12 characters with mixed case, numbers, and a symbol. Good security habits start here, even in a lab environment.

07Disk Partitioning

Select Guided — use entire disk. Choose the only listed disk (the virtual disk created in VMware). Partitioning scheme: All files in one partition. Confirm and select Finish partitioning and write changes to disk — confirm Yes. Installation begins and takes 5–15 minutes depending on hardware.

08Software Selection & GRUB

When the installer reaches the Software Selection screen, leave the defaults — this installs the Kali XFCE desktop environment and a standard toolset. Additional metapackages can be added later with apt.

When prompted for GRUB, select Yes and choose /dev/sda. The installer finalises and prompts for reboot — click Continue.

09Snapshot 1 — Install Snapshot

After Kali boots for the first time and you reach the login screen, take your first VMware snapshot before doing anything else. Go to VM → Snapshot → Take Snapshot.

? Name: Install Snapshot — Kali freshly installed, no updates, no VMware Tools. Your rollback point to a completely clean install.

10Install VMware Tools

sudo apt install open-vm-tools-desktop -y

This provides full display resolution, clipboard sharing between host and VM, and performance optimisation. It is not optional.

11System Update

Run a full system update on the fresh installation:

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

Enter your password when prompted and allow the process to complete fully before proceeding.

12Snapshot 2 — Clean Install, Post Update

Once the update completes, take your second snapshot. Go to VM → Snapshot → Take Snapshot.

? Name: Clean Install — Post Update — VMware Tools installed, all packages updated. Your primary working baseline. Roll back here any time a lab experiment breaks something.

You now have two snapshots in place:

? Install Snapshot Fresh install — no updates, no VMware Tools. Rollback to a completely clean state.

? Clean Install — Post Update VMware Tools installed, fully updated. Your primary working baseline.

☍ Lab Environment

Component	Details
Hypervisor	VMware Workstation Pro / VMware Player (Free)
Guest OS	Kali Linux — Latest Stable Release (64-bit Installer)
ISO Filename	`kali-linux-2026.1-installer-amd64.iso`
ISO Source	kali.org/get-kali — Installer Images — 64-bit
Guest OS Type	Linux — Debian 13.x 64-bit (VMware setting)
Network Mode	NAT — lab isolation, internet access via host
VM RAM	8192 MB (8 GB)
VM CPU Cores	2 cores
VM Storage	150 GB — single virtual disk file
VM Hostname	`kali` (set during graphical install)
VMware Tools	`open-vm-tools-desktop` via apt post-install
System Update	`sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y`
Snapshot 1	Install Snapshot — first boot, before any configuration
Snapshot 2	Clean Install — Post Update — after VMware Tools & full apt update
Distribution	zain.solutions

⚙ Skills & Technologies

Kali Linux VMware Virtualisation Linux Administration apt Package Manager SHA256 Verification VMware Tools open-vm-tools Snapshot Management NAT Networking BIOS Virtualisation GRUB Bootloader XFCE Desktop Cybersecurity Lab Setup Debian Linux

ℹ

General Tutorial Series - GTS - VMWare — This is a broad introduction series covering a range of platforms, tools, and operating systems. Each platform covered here is a standalone introduction — deeper, dedicated series for individual topics will be published separately as the content grows. There are no new episodes currently scheduled for this series. All steps are demonstrated in an isolated VMware environment. Not intended for production use. Published at zain.solutions.