Dual boot vs VirtualBox

[fredjclaus]

As a cyber security instructor I have worked mainly with Windows, but I've begun to look into Linux. Since I'm still learning, I have a computer that I use running Linux Mint. This is the distro I've chosen to learn the OS on, but I'm also interested in learning ethical hacking. Not for professional use, but rather just for my own education and possibly to add content to the courses I teach.

I'm currently looking at three options. 1 is to have a dedicated laptop with Kali on it. Another is to have a dual boot machine with both Kali and Mint. My last option is to have Mint on a computer with a Virtualbox instance of Kali.

Is there an advantage to any of these over the others for my educational purposes?

 

[dos2unix]

If you have two hard drives, it doesn't matter much. If you only have one with two OS's on it,
I recommend the Virtual solution. That way you can blow up the virtual machines and it doesn't affect
anything on the host system. If it's a shared drive and you toast things so bad you have to re-format,
then you have to re-install two OS's.

 

[SingingBirdRoadster]

Isn't it better to do it in a VM to avoid being identified?

 

[kc1di]

I think I would choose the VM route. For the above mentioned reasons plus I simply hate to have to reboot every time I want to switch. Good luck with your project. You will learn a lot just getting Kali to boot. Bye the way most distros have the tools available to do hacking so don't limit yourself to Kali. This page may be of Help.

10 Best Linux Distributions for Hacking & Pen Testing [2023]

The best Linux distros that can help you learn hacking and pentesting.

itsfoss.com

 

[dos2unix]

Isn't it better to do it in a VM to avoid being identified?

Honestly, it makes very little difference. Try this... On your hosts system go to this site.

What Is My IP Address? IP Address Tools and More

IP address lookup, location, proxy detection, email tracing, IP hiding tips, blacklist check, speed test, and forums. Find, get, and show my IP address.

whatismyipaddress.com

(WARNING: This site is trying to sell you something, and gives false security warnings, you can ignore them)

Now open a browser in your Virtual Machine and do the same thing.

Either way you you will have the same IP address.

 

[KGIII]

You can also easily check your public IP address through the terminal.

 

[Mike13Foxtrot]

I just did an HP laptop that still has MX 19.4 and MX 21 as there is not an upgrade. So I can dual boot into either. Another older HP has Mint and Win 8.2 but I do not boot into Win on that. I have a rig I built last year with Win10 on the M.2 and Mint on an SSD.

I have Kali with Persistence on a USB, just use Rufus and make a Persistence Partition on the USB. Then you have Kali when you want it and saves your stuff.

 

[Deleted member 108694]

Personally I like Parrot OS over Kali, I would also use a VM since the other OS is not your primary OS and will not require to reboot into it everytime you decide to use it. But that is just my humble opinion.

 

[bob466]

For me Virtualbox is the only way to go, especially if you have windwoes.

A VM is a File, not a Drive and gives no information that would be useful as you control it...unlike Dual Boot.
On my Linux Mint Cinnamon 500GB SSD, I created a 50GB windwoes 7 VM which isn't connected to the Net. I run only a small amount of software...I also have my printer installed as the scanner and ink levels work better.

If I go on the Net through my VM, I always use a clone...if I get a virus or hacked...I just delete it with nothing lost. Should microsuck spy on my VM...what do they see...nothing...no hardware configurations...no passwords and no files of any use. Another advantage of VMs is you can use the export feature and save the VMs to an external HDD in case the Drive fails...you don't have to re-install from scratch.

You can have several Linux VMs together as I have in the past but these days I don't see the need.

 

[wizardfromoz]

On Kali, vis-a-vis pen testing, I wrote the following three and a half years ago

https://www.linux.org/threads/linux-for-cybersecurity.19269/#post-57380

It still applies.

G'day @fredjclaus and welcome to linux.org

I would advocate

possibly to add content to the courses I teach.

telling your students to get a good basic grounding in Linux for 2 to 3 years before even considering going near Kali, or Parrot, or BlackArch or anything else.

Really a waste of their time (and ours) otherwise, and I mean that in a sincere fashion.

Cheers

Chris Turner
wizardfromoz

 

[Brickwizard]

Why install Kali, you already have Mint, therefore all you need to do is install the pen-testing tools to your mint installation, alternatively move to Parrot which has a good desktop version for daily use or the pen-testing version [same desktop but with all the tools already installed]

 

[f33dm3bits]

The only advantage to Kali is that it is a collection of tools in once place if you are getting into pen-testing, other than that there is no advantage because all the tools on Kali can be installed on any other distribution. The problem about Kali is that new Linux users who want to be a hacker think it gives them hacker status, but then when they run into an issue or problem they can't even fix it themselves even basic stuff. So before getting into Kali someone should have at least an understanding how a Linux distribution works and how to troubleshoot and fix their own problems.

 

[Brickwizard]

as he (@fredjclaus ) is using it for educational purposes.

Parrot is just as good, has a full range of accredited tutorials, easier to install and maintain, and if anything goes wrong, the most important point is it has a friendlier and more helpful membership on its forums

 

[Sudo It]

If you run into performance issues while working on virtualbox, try KVM.

 

[Condobloke]

@Santosh Reddy ....the topic you are replying to is quite dated.

The OP has not been online since he posted the topic on.

Therefore there are no replies from him. The topic is dead.

• Feb 18, 2022