To start, let’s download the ISO file from the Kali website. This is basically just a fancy word for “downloadable image” it’s like a virtual CD or DVD that you can use inside your virtual machine instead of an actual physical one. Once you have the ISO file, open up VirtualBox and create a new virtual machine by clicking on “New” in the toolbar at the top.
Next, give your virtual machine a name (like “Kali Linux”) and choose how much RAM you want to allocate to it I recommend starting with around 2GB if you’re not sure. Then click “Create” and wait for VirtualBox to do its thing. Once that’s done, select the new virtual machine from your list of machines and click on “Settings”. This is where we’ll configure some important settings like storage and networking.
First, let’s add a new hard drive by clicking on “Storage” in the left-hand menu. Then click on the little plus sign to create a new virtual hard disk (VHD). Choose your preferred location for the file (I recommend keeping it somewhere easy to find) and give it a name like “Kali Linux”. Make sure you choose VDI as the type, since that’s what Kali uses.
Now let’s move on to networking. Click on “Network Adapter” in the left-hand menu and select “NAT” from the dropdown menu. This will allow your virtual machine to connect to the internet through your host computer (which is probably connected via Ethernet or WiFi).
Finally, let’s mount our ISO file as a CD/DVD drive inside the virtual machine. Click on “Storage” in the left-hand menu and select the hard drive we just created. Then click on the little plus sign to add a new optical drive (CD/DVD or DVD). Choose your preferred location for the ISO file (I recommend keeping it somewhere easy to find) and give it a name like “Kali Linux”. Make sure you choose VDI as the type, since that’s what Kali uses.
Now let’s boot up our virtual machine by clicking on “Start” in the toolbar at the top. You should see some text scrolling across the screen while your virtual machine loads up this is normal! Once it finishes loading, you’ll be prompted to select a language and then asked if you want to install Kali Linux or run it from live media (which means using it without actually installing anything). Choose “Install” and follow the prompts.
And that’s it congratulations! You have successfully installed Kali Linux on your virtual machine using VirtualBox. Now go forth and hack, my friend!