Installing and configuring applications

Most of what you need comes preloaded on Kali. There are a few applications we have found useful that are not loaded with the base install. We will also set up and configure OpenVAS to use as our vulnerability scanner.

Gedit – the Gnome text editor

Kali comes with Leafpad as its default text editor. This is a very lightweight text editor. Kali's desktop is Gnome-based and the Gnome text editor Gedit is a much better editor. To install:

root@kalibook :~#  apt-get -y install gedit

Once installed you will find it under Accessories.

Terminator – the terminal emulator for multitasking

This is Bo's favorite terminal application. You can split the screen into several windows. This proves to be a great help when running several ssh sessions at the same time. It also has a broadcast function where you can run the same string in all windows at the same time.

To install:

root@kalibook :~#  apt-get -y install terminator

EtherApe – the graphical protocol analysis tool

This is a great visual passive/active network sniffing tool. It works really well for sniffing Wi-Fi networks. It shows you where the services are running, and can also show you where users are doing suspicious bit-torrent downloads and other behavior that is not approved on most corporate networks.