Kali Linux

When installing Kali Linux, a debootstrap error often occurs because the installer cannot find the correct source media. Here is how to fix it by manually mounting the Kali USB.

Step 1 — Identify the USB Drive

blkid
# Find your Kali Linux USB, e.g. /dev/sdd1

Step 2 — Mount the USB as CDROM

mount /dev/sdd1 /cdrom

Step 3 — Retry the Installation

Go back in the installer and select Retry on the debootstrap step. The installer should now find the packages on the mounted drive.

Alternative — Use a Fresh ISO

• Verify the ISO checksum: sha256sum kali-linux-*.iso
• Re-flash the USB with Balena Etcher or dd if=kali.iso of=/dev/sdX bs=4M status=progress

Essential Kali Linux commands for wireless testing, web scanning, and security auditing.

Wireless Testing

# Check if wireless injection is working
aireplay-ng -9 wlan0

# Put interface in monitor mode
airmon-ng start wlan0

# Capture handshakes
airodump-ng wlan0mon

# Deauth attack to capture handshake
aireplay-ng -0 1 -a <BSSID> -c <CLIENT> wlan0mon

# Crack WPA handshake
aircrack-ng -w /usr/share/wordlists/rockyou.txt capture.cap

WordPress Scanning

# Scan a WordPress site and enumerate users
wpscan --url https://www.example.com --enumerate u

# Scan with API token (more vulnerability data)
wpscan --url https://www.example.com --api-token YOUR_TOKEN --enumerate vp,u

Network Scanning

# Discover hosts on a network
nmap -sn 192.168.1.0/24

# Full port scan with service detection
nmap -sV -p- 192.168.1.100

# Aggressive scan
nmap -A 192.168.1.100

Password Tools

# Crack password hashes
hashcat -m 0 hashes.txt /usr/share/wordlists/rockyou.txt

# Wordlist location
ls /usr/share/wordlists/
gunzip /usr/share/wordlists/rockyou.txt.gz