Convert Debian CT to Kali
This guide explains the process of creating and converting a standard Debian container to a Kali CT.
Create the container
For creating a basic container you can run:
root@pve:~# pveam update && pveam download local debian-11-standard_11.3-1_amd64.tar.zst root@pve:~# pct create 31337 local:vztmpl/debian-11-standard_11.3-1_amd64.tar.zst --net0 name=eth0,bridge=vmbr0,firewall=1,ip=dhcp,type=veth --storage guests
You can also use the GUI to create it.
Debian to Kali
Enter the container and update Debian packages to latest versions:
root@pve:~# pct start 31337 root@pve:~# pct enter 31337 root@CT31337:~# apt update root@CT31337:~# apt dist-upgrade -y
continue with the package upgrades and answer the prompts as necessary.
Fetch the Kali repository keys and add it to your apt:
root@CT31337:~# apt install gnupg dirmngr root@CT31337:~# wget -q -O - https://archive.kali.org/archive-key.asc | gpg --import root@CT31337:~# echo "deb http://http.kali.org/kali kali-rolling main non-free contrib" > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/kali.list root@CT31337:~# gpg --export ED444FF07D8D0BF6 > /etc/apt/trusted.gpg.d/kali-rolling.gpg
Then run update and upgrade again:
root@CT31337:~# apt update Hit:1 http://security.debian.org bullseye-security InRelease Hit:2 http://ftp.debian.org/debian bullseye InRelease· Hit:3 http://ftp.debian.org/debian bullseye-updates InRelease Get:4 http://kali.download/kali kali-rolling InRelease [30.6 kB] Get:5 http://kali.download/kali kali-rolling/main amd64 Packages [18.3 MB] Get:6 http://kali.download/kali kali-rolling/non-free amd64 Packages [213 kB] Get:7 http://kali.download/kali kali-rolling/contrib amd64 Packages [116 kB] Fetched 18.7 MB in 2s (10.6 MB/s) Reading package lists... Done Building dependency tree... Done Reading state information... Done 233 packages can be upgraded. Run 'apt list --upgradable' to see them. root@CT31337:~# apt dist-upgrade -y
again answer the prompts as necessary and continue with the upgrades.
After updates are finished, exit and reboot the container:
root@CT31337:~# exit root@pve:~# pct reboot 31337
Now the repositories should be set up:
root@pve:~# pct enter 31337 root@CT31337:~# cat /etc/os-release PRETTY_NAME="Kali GNU/Linux Rolling" NAME="Kali GNU/Linux" ID=kali VERSION="2021.1" VERSION_ID="2021.1" VERSION_CODENAME="kali-rolling" ID_LIKE=debian ANSI_COLOR="1;31" HOME_URL="https://www.kali.org/" SUPPORT_URL="https://forums.kali.org/" BUG_REPORT_URL="https://bugs.kali.org/"
And the container is ready to use.
Tips
Get all packages
If you'd like to install all the Kali packages you can increase the size of the container rootfs and install kali-linux-everything package (about 20G of extra space is needed at the time of writing)
root@pve:~# pct resize 31337 rootfs +20G root@pve:~# pct enter 31337 root@CT31337:~# apt install kali-linux-everything
This might take a while. Let the installation finish and you should have all the Kali packages available on your container.
ZSH
Kali has a nice ZSH theme. You can set this up instead of the classic Debian shell.
root@CT31337:~# apt install kali-defaults zsh zsh-syntax-highlighting zsh-autosuggestions root@CT31337:~# exit root@pve:~# pct enter 31337 ┌──(root@CT31337)-[~] └─#
Troubleshooting
Slow SSH Login
If you experience delays when logging in with SSH after enabling the kali repositories, you can enable the "nesting" option for your container.
root@pve:~# pct set 31337 -features nesting=1 root@pve:~# pct reboot 31337