linuxserver/kali-linux¶
Kali-linux - is an Advanced Penetration Testing Linux distribution used for Penetration Testing, Ethical Hacking and network security assessments. KALI LINUX ™ is a trademark of OffSec.
Supported Architectures¶
We utilise the docker manifest for multi-platform awareness. More information is available from docker here and our announcement here.
Simply pulling lscr.io/linuxserver/kali-linux:latest
should retrieve the correct image for your arch, but you can also pull specific arch images via tags.
The architectures supported by this image are:
Architecture | Available | Tag |
---|---|---|
x86-64 | ✅ | amd64-<version tag> |
arm64 | ✅ | arm64v8-<version tag> |
armhf | ❌ |
Application Setup¶
The Kali Linux image can be accessed at:
- http://yourhost:3000/
- https://yourhost:3001/
Modern GUI desktop apps (including some flavors terminals) have issues with the latest Docker and syscall compatibility, you can use Docker with the --security-opt seccomp=unconfined
setting to allow these syscalls
Application management - PRoot Apps¶
If you run system native installations of software IE sudo apt-get install filezilla
and then upgrade or destroy/re-create the container that software will be removed and the container will be at a clean state. For some users that will be acceptable and they can update their system packages as well using system native commands like apt-get upgrade
. If you want Docker to handle upgrading the container and retain your applications and settings we have created proot-apps which allow portable applications to be installed to persistent storage in the user's $HOME
directory and they will work in a confined Docker environment out of the box. These applications and their settings will persist upgrades of the base container and can be mounted into different KasmVNC based containers on the fly facilitating virtual "Distro Hopping". In order to retain the same applications and settings install applications with proot-apps install
. This can be achieved from the command line with:
PRoot Apps is included in all KasmVNC based containers, a list of linuxserver.io supported applications is located HERE.
Options in all KasmVNC based GUI containers¶
This container is based on Docker Baseimage KasmVNC which means there are additional environment variables and run configurations to enable or disable specific functionality.
Optional environment variables¶
Variable | Description |
---|---|
CUSTOM_PORT | Internal port the container listens on for http if it needs to be swapped from the default 3000. |
CUSTOM_HTTPS_PORT | Internal port the container listens on for https if it needs to be swapped from the default 3001. |
CUSTOM_USER | HTTP Basic auth username, abc is default. |
PASSWORD | HTTP Basic auth password, abc is default. If unset there will be no auth |
SUBFOLDER | Subfolder for the application if running a subfolder reverse proxy, need both slashes IE /subfolder/ |
TITLE | The page title displayed on the web browser, default "KasmVNC Client". |
FM_HOME | This is the home directory (landing) for the file manager, default "/config". |
START_DOCKER | If set to false a container with privilege will not automatically start the DinD Docker setup. |
DRINODE | If mounting in /dev/dri for DRI3 GPU Acceleration allows you to specify the device to use IE /dev/dri/renderD128 |
DISABLE_IPV6 | If set to true or any value this will disable IPv6 |
LC_ALL | Set the Language for the container to run as IE fr_FR.UTF-8 ar_AE.UTF-8 |
NO_DECOR | If set the application will run without window borders in openbox for use as a PWA. |
NO_FULL | Do not autmatically fullscreen applications when using openbox. |
Optional run configurations¶
Variable | Description |
---|---|
--privileged | Will start a Docker in Docker (DinD) setup inside the container to use docker in an isolated environment. For increased performance mount the Docker directory inside the container to the host IE -v /home/user/docker-data:/var/lib/docker . |
-v /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock | Mount in the host level Docker socket to either interact with it via CLI or use Docker enabled applications. |
--device /dev/dri:/dev/dri | Mount a GPU into the container, this can be used in conjunction with the DRINODE environment variable to leverage a host video card for GPU accelerated applications. Only Open Source drivers are supported IE (Intel,AMDGPU,Radeon,ATI,Nouveau) |
Language Support - Internationalization¶
The environment variable LC_ALL
can be used to start this container in a different language than English simply pass for example to launch the Desktop session in French LC_ALL=fr_FR.UTF-8
. Some languages like Chinese, Japanese, or Korean will be missing fonts needed to render properly known as cjk fonts, but others may exist and not be installed inside the container depending on what underlying distribution you are running. We only ensure fonts for Latin characters are present. Fonts can be installed with a mod on startup.
To install cjk fonts on startup as an example pass the environment variables (Alpine base):
-e DOCKER_MODS=linuxserver/mods:universal-package-install
-e INSTALL_PACKAGES=fonts-noto-cjk
-e LC_ALL=zh_CN.UTF-8
The web interface has the option for "IME Input Mode" in Settings which will allow non english characters to be used from a non en_US keyboard on the client. Once enabled it will perform the same as a local Linux installation set to your locale.
DRI3 GPU Acceleration¶
For accelerated apps or games, render devices can be mounted into the container and leveraged by applications using:
--device /dev/dri:/dev/dri
This feature only supports Open Source GPU drivers:
Driver | Description |
---|---|
Intel | i965 and i915 drivers for Intel iGPU chipsets |
AMD | AMDGPU, Radeon, and ATI drivers for AMD dedicated or APU chipsets |
NVIDIA | nouveau2 drivers only, closed source NVIDIA drivers lack DRI3 support |
The DRINODE
environment variable can be used to point to a specific GPU. Up to date information can be found here
Display Compositing (desktop effects)¶
When using this image in tandem with a supported video card, compositing will function albeit with a performance hit when syncing the frames with pixmaps for the applications using it. This can greatly increase app compatibility if the application in question requires compositing, but requires a real GPU to be mounted into the container. By default we disable compositing at a DE level for performance reasons on our downstream images, but it can be enabled by the user and programs using compositing will still function even if the DE has it disabled in its settings. When building desktop images be sure you understand that with it enabled by default only users that have a compatible GPU mounted in will be able to use your image.
Nvidia GPU Support¶
Nvidia support is available by leveraging Zink for OpenGL support. This can be enabled with the following run flags:
Variable | Description |
---|---|
--gpus all | This can be filtered down but for most setups this will pass the one Nvidia GPU on the system |
--runtime nvidia | Specify the Nvidia runtime which mounts drivers and tools in from the host |
The compose syntax is slightly different for this as you will need to set nvidia as the default runtime:
And to assign the GPU in compose:
services:
kali:
image: linuxserver/kali-linux:latest
deploy:
resources:
reservations:
devices:
- driver: nvidia
count: 1
capabilities: [compute,video,graphics,utility]
Lossless mode¶
This container is capable of delivering a true lossless image at a high framerate to your web browser by changing the Stream Quality preset to "Lossless", more information here. In order to use this mode from a non localhost endpoint the HTTPS port on 3001 needs to be used. If using a reverse proxy to port 3000 specific headers will need to be set as outlined here.
Usage¶
To help you get started creating a container from this image you can either use docker-compose or the docker cli.
docker-compose (recommended, click here for more info)¶
---
services:
kali-linux:
image: lscr.io/linuxserver/kali-linux:latest
container_name: kali-linux
security_opt:
- seccomp:unconfined #optional
environment:
- PUID=1000
- PGID=1000
- TZ=Etc/UTC
- SUBFOLDER=/ #optional
- "TITLE=Kali Linux" #optional
volumes:
- /path/to/data:/config
- /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock #optional
ports:
- 3000:3000
- 3001:3001
devices:
- /dev/dri:/dev/dri #optional
shm_size: "1gb" #optional
restart: unless-stopped
docker cli (click here for more info)¶
docker run -d \
--name=kali-linux \
--security-opt seccomp=unconfined `#optional` \
-e PUID=1000 \
-e PGID=1000 \
-e TZ=Etc/UTC \
-e SUBFOLDER=/ `#optional` \
-e TITLE="Kali Linux" `#optional` \
-p 3000:3000 \
-p 3001:3001 \
-v /path/to/data:/config \
-v /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock `#optional` \
--device /dev/dri:/dev/dri `#optional` \
--shm-size="1gb" `#optional` \
--restart unless-stopped \
lscr.io/linuxserver/kali-linux:latest
Parameters¶
Containers are configured using parameters passed at runtime (such as those above). These parameters are separated by a colon and indicate <external>:<internal>
respectively. For example, -p 8080:80
would expose port 80
from inside the container to be accessible from the host's IP on port 8080
outside the container.
Ports (-p
)¶
Parameter | Function |
---|---|
3000 | Web Desktop GUI |
3001 | Web Desktop GUI HTTPS |
Environment Variables (-e
)¶
Env | Function |
---|---|
PUID=1000 | for UserID - see below for explanation |
PGID=1000 | for GroupID - see below for explanation |
TZ=Etc/UTC | specify a timezone to use, see this list. |
SUBFOLDER=/ | Specify a subfolder to use with reverse proxies, IE /subfolder/ |
TITLE=Kali Linux | String which will be used as page/tab title in the web browser. |
Volume Mappings (-v
)¶
Volume | Function |
---|---|
/config | abc users home directory |
/var/run/docker.sock | Docker Socket on the system, if you want to use Docker in the container |
Device Mappings (--device
)¶
Parameter | Function |
---|---|
/dev/dri | Add this for GL support (Linux hosts only) |
Miscellaneous Options¶
Parameter | Function |
---|---|
--shm-size= | We set this to 1 gig to prevent modern web browsers from crashing |
--security-opt seccomp=unconfined | For Docker Engine only, many modern gui apps need this to function on older hosts as syscalls are unknown to Docker. |
Environment variables from files (Docker secrets)¶
You can set any environment variable from a file by using a special prepend FILE__
.
As an example:
Will set the environment variable MYVAR
based on the contents of the /run/secrets/mysecretvariable
file.
Umask for running applications¶
For all of our images we provide the ability to override the default umask settings for services started within the containers using the optional -e UMASK=022
setting. Keep in mind umask is not chmod it subtracts from permissions based on it's value it does not add. Please read up here before asking for support.
User / Group Identifiers¶
When using volumes (-v
flags), permissions issues can arise between the host OS and the container, we avoid this issue by allowing you to specify the user PUID
and group PGID
.
Ensure any volume directories on the host are owned by the same user you specify and any permissions issues will vanish like magic.
In this instance PUID=1000
and PGID=1000
, to find yours use id your_user
as below:
Example output:
Docker Mods¶
We publish various Docker Mods to enable additional functionality within the containers. The list of Mods available for this image (if any) as well as universal mods that can be applied to any one of our images can be accessed via the dynamic badges above.
Support Info¶
-
Shell access whilst the container is running:
-
To monitor the logs of the container in realtime:
-
Container version number:
-
Image version number:
Updating Info¶
Most of our images are static, versioned, and require an image update and container recreation to update the app inside. With some exceptions (noted in the relevant readme.md), we do not recommend or support updating apps inside the container. Please consult the Application Setup section above to see if it is recommended for the image.
Below are the instructions for updating containers:
Via Docker Compose¶
-
Update images:
-
All images:
-
Single image:
-
-
Update containers:
-
All containers:
-
Single container:
-
-
You can also remove the old dangling images:
Via Docker Run¶
-
Update the image:
-
Stop the running container:
-
Delete the container:
-
Recreate a new container with the same docker run parameters as instructed above (if mapped correctly to a host folder, your
/config
folder and settings will be preserved) -
You can also remove the old dangling images:
Image Update Notifications - Diun (Docker Image Update Notifier)¶
Tip
We recommend Diun for update notifications. Other tools that automatically update containers unattended are not recommended or supported.
Building locally¶
If you want to make local modifications to these images for development purposes or just to customize the logic:
git clone https://github.com/linuxserver/docker-kali-linux.git
cd docker-kali-linux
docker build \
--no-cache \
--pull \
-t lscr.io/linuxserver/kali-linux:latest .
The ARM variants can be built on x86_64 hardware using multiarch/qemu-user-static
Once registered you can define the dockerfile to use with -f Dockerfile.aarch64
.
Versions¶
- 18.07.24: - Initial release.