How to Build Your Own Virtual Lab to Practice Penetration Testing

Have you ever wanted your own virtual lab to test cybersecurity tools, experiment with projects before production, or practice penetration testing in a legal environment? A place where you can practice using tools like Nmap, Hydra, Wireshark, Metasploit, and more—all in a legal and safe setting? A space where you can apply the knowledge you've gained from school, books, or even online videos? If so, this video series is designed for you.

In the first video of this series, we'll guide you through setting up your own virtual lab for free, using hardware you likely already have. We'll start by downloading all the necessary software. Then, we'll walk you through the step-by-step process of installing VirtualBox along with virtual machines like Kali Linux, Metasploitable2, and Metasploitable3. We'll also discuss best practices for configuring your virtual network and share some quality-of-life enhancements. Finally, we'll run some Nmap scans to reveal a treasure chest of vulnerabilities you can explore while practicing your hacking skills, all within a safe and legal environment.

This is the first video in a multipart series that covers how to build your own virtual lab to test your skills against various target machines, all for little to no cost. Future videos will include tutorials on importing Windows desktops and servers, along with other Linux distributions, giving you a wide assortment of target test machines in your own lab.

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Chapters:

00:00 Introduction
02:30 Software Download
05:10 VirtualBox and 7 Zip Installation
6:13 VirtualBox Network Setup
9:35 Virtual Machine Installation
13:33 Starting up the VM's
18:11 Kali Login and Software Update/Configuration
22:20 Tilix Install and Configuration
25:11 VirtualBox Tips and Tricks
27:00 Shutting down the VM's.
31:35 Start Nmap Scans
35:00 Review Nmap scans

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Downloads:

VirtualBox:
https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Downl...

Metasploitable 3 download:
https://sourceforge.net/projects/meta...

Metasploitable 2 download:
https://sourceforge.net/projects/meta...

Kali Download:
www.kali.org

Commands:

Update OS
sudo apt update = updates the repository
sudo apt full-upgrade -y =
sudo apt autoremove

Install Tilix
sudo git clone https://github.com/centralinfosec/Til... /opt/Central-InfoSec/Tilix-Kali-Setup
sudo chmod +x /opt/Central-InfoSec/Tilix-Kali-Setup/tilix-kali-setup.sh
sudo -E bash /opt/Central-InfoSec/Tilix-Kali-Setup/tilix-kali-setup.sh kali

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Disclaimer: Hacking without permission is illegal. This channel is strictly for educational purposes only. We cover cybersecurity in the areas of ethical hacking and penetration testing to help make others aware and be better prepared to defend against cyber threats.
#virtuallab #penetrationtesting #kalilinux #ethicalhacking #nielsennetworking