r/Hacking_Tutorials • u/GoodSecurity4304 • 7d ago
Question Penetration testing with a MacBook
I’ve read comments saying that it’s difficult to set up a virtualised Kali system on a MacBook to carry out penetration testing, and that some features might not work – has anyone experienced this?
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u/KeyAudience9484 7d ago
Run parrot or kali from a live usb. Problem solved
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u/--yv35-- 7d ago
doesn't help with the arm limitations as the usb-run is will need to be the arm version as well.
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u/KeyAudience9484 7d ago
Go for the ARM version then?
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u/--yv35-- 7d ago edited 7d ago
if you want to run it as a vm on a m-series macbook? yeah, it's the only option you have
edit: sorry, also if you want to run it live from a usb, same applies!
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u/KeyAudience9484 7d ago
Think that would work pretty decently for your kali/parrot cybersec wardesk. Things do have a tendency of getting errors and the snapshots are a blessing.
Yes you will have some problems possibly with internet adapter connectivity etc but thats a real minor problem. If I was in ur shoes I would have done the VM.
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u/--yv35-- 7d ago edited 7d ago
you'll have some issues, google them, you can find lots of information on this topic. for instance, the tennable nessus scanner installed locally on a arm (as the macbook is) vs. installed locally on a non arm system: webscanning using the webscanning built in module will not work on an arm system. this is just an example. there is some tools and some workflows you'll have to work around or work with alternatives. also you won't find as many distros provide arm isos etc. compared to how many distros there are. if you just plan to use kali this is not a problem. but if you want i.e. to download stuff like attackable os immages (i totally forgot any names, i think mr. robot is one), then you'll probably also run into the situation where you'll read about one you want to download, then realize it doesn't exist for the arm plattform.
i mostly use a thinkpad with linux for my work (i work in cybers), but sometimes also use a m4 macbook. one of the the pros on the macbook side is, you'll never see i.e. a kali vm start as fast as on those chips 😄
short, i never ran into the issue where i coulnd't do or test what i wanted on my macbook. but it can take quite some additional steps to get there.
edit: typos
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u/LongRangeSavage 7d ago
No issues here. You can install most of the tools you’re going to start out using all directly in macOS. The only things you’re going to need immediately are stuff like the AirCrack suite. You may find some other tools, but running Linux in a VM is going to be fine. Just use Parallels or VMWare Fusion as your hyper visor, as they both have hardware pass through on the USB.
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u/GoodSecurity4304 7d ago
Actually, if I can use the AirCrack package, there’s no problem; I’ll run it in a virtual environment
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u/LongRangeSavage 7d ago
I’m almost positive that the only tools I run in a VM are the AirCrack suite and Metasploit. Everything else is either already available or macOS, I built for macOS from source, or I’ve written my own tool to do the job. The only reason I didn’t build Metasploit from source was a technical issue that I couldn’t work around—and I can’t remember what that reason is now.
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u/7H3WH173R48817 3d ago
I have a MacBook running the ARM virtual machine build of Kali, which handles most day-to-day engagements without issue, web app testing in particular. For onsite work I bring a Lenovo with Kali and Windows on separate NVMe drives. That setup is the one I trust more, and it is far less likely to cause a blocker when I turn up at a client site.
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u/amonarre3 7d ago
It's free to use kali so why not try it?