How to Install Kali Linux 2025 in VirtualBox | Kali Linux 2025.1

In today's video, I'll be showing you

how to install Kali Linux on Virtual

Box. If you are into ethical hacking,

penetration testing, or cyber security,

Kali Linux is an essential operating

system. And the best part, you don't

need to replace your current OS. You can

simply install it inside Virtual Box and

run it alongside Windows or Mac OS.

Before we get started, make sure to like

this video, subscribe to this channel,

and hit the bell icon so you don't miss

any future tech tutorials. Now let's

jump right

in. Before installing Kali Linux on

Virtual Box, we need to enable

virtualization on your system. To check

if virtualization is enabled, right

click on the taskbar and select task

manager. Go to the performance tab.

Click on CPU. Look for virtualization.

If it says enabled, you are good to go.

If virtualization is disabled, you need

to enable it from the BIOS settings.

Restart your PC and enter the BIOS by

pressing F2, F10, Dell, or escape

depending on your

manufacturer. Look for Intel VTX or AMDV

and enable

it. Save and exit the BIOS

settings. Even if virtualization is

enabled, Windows HyperV can interfere

with Virtual Box. To disable it, open

command prompt as administrator and run

the following

command. After that, restart your PC for

the changes to take effect. Now that we

have confirmed virtualization is enabled

and HyperV is disabled, let's download

and install Virtual Box. Open your

browser and go to

virtualbox.org. Click on downloads.

Select the current version for your

operating system. Windows hosts if

you're using Windows, Mac OS hosts for

Mac users, and Linux distribution for

Linux users. I'll click on the Windows

hosts option, and download will

begin. Next, we need the Virtual Box

extension back. This is important for

features like USB 3.0 support, webcam

support, clipboard sharing, and better

performance overall. Click on accept and

download to start downloading the

extension pack. Now, let's install

Virtual

Box. Locate the Virtual Box setup file

in your downloads

folder. Double click to open

it. You can leave the default settings

as they are. Just click next.

Click finish to complete the

[Music]

installation. Now let's install the

extension pack to enable all the extra

features. Click on tools menu, then

extensions. Click the plus

icon. Select the extension pack file

from your downloads

folder. Click install.

Scroll down, click I agree and wait for

the installation to complete. And that's

it. Virtual Box is fully set up and we

are ready to move on to the next step

that is downloading Kali

Linux. Open your browser and go to

kali.org/getcali. On the Kali Linux

download page, you'll notice two

options. Installer images and pre-built

virtual machines. For this video, we are

going to choose installer image. I know

some of you might be thinking, why not

just use the pre-built virtual machine

since they are already configured for

virtual box. Well, with the installer

image, you get way more control over the

installation. You can customize

everything from the desktop environment

like XFC, Genome or KDE to the software

tools you actually need. So, unless you

just need quick access, go to the

installer image.

Now click on the latest 64-bit ISO file

to start

downloading. All right. Now that we have

the Kali Linux ISO downloaded, it's time

to set up our virtual machine on Virtual

Box. Let's do it step by step. First,

click on new to create a new virtual

machine. In the name field, type Kali

Linux.

Leave the machine folder as

default. Set the type to

Linux. Subtype will be

DBN and select DBN 64bit as the

version. Next, let's allocate memory.

The minimum requirement is 2GB, but for

better performance, it's recommended to

allocate 4GB or more depending on your

systems available RAM. Just make sure

not to allocate more than half of your

total RAM as it could slow down your

host system. Since I have 32GB of RAM,

I'll allocate 8 GB for Kali Linux. After

setting the RAM, let's adjust the CPU

allocation. It's best to assign at least

two cores or up to half of your

available cores for better performance.

Since my system has 12 CPU cores, I'll

allocate six cores to the virtual

machine. Now, let's create a virtual

hard disk for Kali Linux. The

recommended storage for Kali Lux is

25GB, but if you have enough space, go

for 50GB to ensure smooth experience.

Once you have set the disc size, click

finish to finalize the setup. At this

stage, your VM is set up, but let's

tweak a few settings for optimal

performance. Click on settings to access

your VM's

configuration. Under the general tab,

select advanced and change shared

clipboard and drag and drop to

birectional. This enables seamless text

and file copying between your host and

virtual machine. Moving to display,

maximize the video memory to 128

MB. In storage, under control IDE, click

on empty, then click on CD icon on the

right. Choose select a disk file. Then

locate and select the Kali Linux ISO

that you downloaded earlier. Finally, in

the network settings, you can leave it

as NAT for basic internet access or

choose bridged adapter if you want Kali

Linux to receive its own IP address from

your router. With bridged adapter, Kali

Linux becomes directly accessible from

other devices on the same network. Once

everything is set up, click okay to save

the changes. Now that our Kali Linux

virtual machine is set up and ready,

it's time for the actual installation.

Let's go through it step by step. Select

your Kali Linux VM and click

start. After a few seconds, you will see

the Kali Linux boot menu. Here, select

graphical install and press

enter. Now, let's go through the initial

setup. First, choose your preferred

language for the

installation. Next, select your country

or region.

Choose your keyboard

layout. Kali Linux will now detect your

network

settings. When prompted, enter a host

name. This is just the name of your

machine. For the domain here, you can

leave it as blank unless you are setting

up Kali in a business

network. Now, let's create a user

account. Enter the full name of the

user. Next, enter a username.

Set a strong password for your account.

Make sure to remember this password as

you will need it to login and run

commands. Now we need to set up disk

partitioning. If you are a beginner, the

easiest option is to select guided use

entire

disk. Then select the virtual hard disk

we created

earlier. On the next screen, choose all

files in one partition. This is the

simplest

setup. Finally, select finish

partitioning and write changes to

disk. Then choose yes to confirm the

changes. Kali Linux will now start

installing the base system. The process

takes around 10 to 15 minutes depending

on your system

speed. Once the base system is

installed, you will see a screen asking

you to select additional software

components. This includes choosing your

desktop environment. By default, Kali

uses XFCE which is lightweight and fast

making it ideal for older computers or

virtual machines with limited RAM and

CPU power. Genome offers more modern and

polished interface but it requires more

RAM. At least 4GB is recommended for

smooth performance. Another option is

KDE which provides an even more

customizable and Windows-like experience

with a variety of features and

animations. However, it requires more

resources than both XFC and Genome. I'll

go with the default

XFC. Next, you will see a prompt asking

if you want to install the JRUB

bootloadader. This is required to boot

into Kali Linux properly. So, select yes

and click

continue. Now, select your virtual hard

disk. Then, click continue again. Kali

will now install the bootloadader.

When you see the installation complete

message, click continue and your system

will

reboot. After restarting, you'll see the

Kali Linux login screen. Enter the

username and password you created

earlier and hit

enter. You should now see the Kali Linux

desktop ready to use. Before proceeding,

let's switch to full screen mode for

better experience. To do this, press

right control + f. This will expand Kali

Linux to fit your entire screen. If you

ever want to exit the full screen mode,

simply press right control + F

again. Now let's update Kali Linux to

ensure we have the latest tools,

security patches, and bug fixes. Open

the

terminal. Run the following command to

update all system

packages. After entering the command,

Kali will check for available updates

and start downloading them. Depending on

your internet speed, this may take some

time. Now, let's verify that Kali Linux

is installed correctly. To check system

details, run

CAD/ETAT/OS release. This will display

the Kali Linux version you installed. As

you can see, my Kali Linux version is

2025.1.

If you want to see CPU and memory usage,

run pseudo app install

edgetop. Then run

edgetop. This opens a live system

monitor where you can check CPU, RAM,

and running

processes. All right, now that Kali

Linux is installed, let's make it even

better by installing Virtual Box guest

editions. This will enable additional

functionalities like clipboard sharing,

drag and drop support, etc. The good

news is that Kali Linux already includes

guest additions in its repository.

Simply run this command to install

it. Once the installation is complete,

reboot Kali Linux to apply the changes.

All right, let's test if everything is

working. First, I'll check the display

scaling by opening the display settings.

From here, I'll adjust the scale to

1.25. As you can see, it applies

perfectly.

Next, let's test keyboard sharing. I'll

copy some text from my host system and

paste it inside Kali's text

editor. As you can see, it works. Now,

I'll copy text from Kali and paste it

back into my host system.

And that works

too. Finally, let's drag and drop. I'll

grab a folder from my Windows host and

drop it into Kali's

desktop. The files are transferred

instantly. This makes moving files

between your systems super easy.

You can also set up shared folders

between your Windows host and Kali

Linux. To do that, create a new folder

on your Windows host that you want to

share. For example, create a folder

named Kali share in your documents

folder. You can place any files you want

to share within this folder.

Now in virtual box, select your Kali

Linux virtual machine and click

settings. Go to the shared folders tab.

Click the plus sign on the right side.

Click the folder path drop-down and

select other. Then navigate to the Kali

share folder you created on your Windows

host and select it.

Leave the mount point blank. Check

automount to ensure it loads

automatically and make permanent to keep

the shared folder available after

reboots. Click okay to save the shared

folder

settings. Now reboot your Kali

VM. After reboot, the shared folder

should be accessible directly in the

file manager sidebar and you should see

the files inside.

And that's it. Kali Linux is now fully

installed, optimized, and running

smoothly inside Virtual Box.