Ultimate Guide: Installing Kali Linux 2024 on an External Drive with VMware 17 – Your Gateway to Portable Cybersecurity

Step 1: Download and Install Necessary Software

1. Access the provided URL to download AOMEI Partition Assistant 10.5.0, VMware Workstation 17.6.1, and the Kali Linux 2024 64-bit ISO image or you can download up to date version on their official website or by contacting their customer care. [Click Here]

2. Install VMware Workstation 17.6.1 by following the installation prompts.

3. Install AOMEI Partition Assistant 10.5.0 similarly.

4. Wait for the Kali Linux ISO image download to complete for later use.

5. Turn off Secure Boot in your BIOS. Please follow the steps below: Boot and press [F2] to enter BIOS. Go to [Security] tab > [Default Secure boot on] and set as [Disabled]. Go to [Save & Exit] tab > [Save Changes] and select [Yes].

Step 2: Prepare the External Drive

1. Connect your external HDD or SSD to the computer. (Speed issues: HDD: Slower, with read/write speeds ranging from 80-160 MB/s. SSD: Much faster, with read/write speeds ranging from 200-500 MB/s for SATA SSDs, and even up to 7,000 MB/s for NVMe SSDs).
2. Open AOMEI Partition Assistant, select the connected drive from the list.
3. In the right-hand menu, select Wipe Hard Drive to clear the entire drive and then on the top menu click Apply. Note that this process can take 2 to 78 hours, depending on the drive size.

4. Once wiped, proceed to the next step.

Step 3: Convert Drive to GPT and Create Partitions

1. In AOMEI Partition Assistant, select the wiped drive and go to Convert > Convert MBR/GPT from the top menu to change the drive format to GPT. Then select the Disk and click Apply.

2. Create a new partition for Kali Linux or multiple partitions for different OS installations as desired by right clicking on the drive with your touch pad or mouse. Use the correct drive letter (e.g. D:) and format with NTFS for 64-bit compatibility. Finally click Apply and Proceed.

3. Optionally, you can defrag the partition by selecting the advanced options, but this is not strictly necessary.

4. Now Close AOMEI and go to File Explorer and select your local disk and click format before to continue with the next step.

Step 4: Configure VMware and Create a Virtual Machine

1. Start VMware Workstation.

2. Click on Create a New Virtual Machine and Select Custom (advanced)

3. Select Workstation 17.5 or later and click Next.

4. Select the Kali Linux ISO file downloaded in Step 1.

5. Choose Debian 12 x64 bits as the guest operating system.

6. Name your virtual machine and select the external drive (prepared in Step 3) as the storage location.

7. Choose whether to use the entire drive or a specific partition. Optimize the virtual machine settings based on your system’s and drive specifications (I recommend to maximize capabilities based on your local computer).

8. Confirm space disk capacity carefully, as changing it later could impact OS efficiency. However I recommend to allocate all disk space. Click Finish to proceed, and allow VMware to create the virtual disk (this may take a while).

Note: Possible reasons for failure:

a. Steps 1, 2, or 3 were not completed as outlined.

b. In the Specify System Capacity section, try allocating 25% less space than the full disk capacity staying within the 75% usage in Maximum Disk Size.

c. Check your USB/USB-C cable and port quality, you may using a cable or a port doing energy or data transmission inefficiency. Ensure the drive remains connected throughout the process unless Windows11 asking you to reboot or restart computer.

d. If your hardware is not manufactured in China, it may use different drivers for your Windows11 OS version in your country, or you may facing factory locked OEM restrictions might apply to the the basic serial ATA drivers. As an alternative, you can use AOMEI after you done the setup via terminal of the SATA protocol decoding serial ATA using SCADA security, re-assigning a custom protocol to the components. However this would be not possible on Windows11 OS due hardware security detection mechanism. I will release an easy guide achieving this using Linux Mint OS terminal in the upcoming weeks.

Step 5: Install Kali Linux

1. Start the Virtual Machine using the green play button.

2. Once the virtual machine BIOS mode starts, choose the Graphical Install option. DO NOT CLICK I FINISHED INSTALLING UNTIL YOU'LL BE ON THE DESKTOP!

3. Set your preferred language (e.g., English), country (e.g., United Kingdom), and keyboard layout.

4. Choose a hostname for the machine (e.g., "headquarter" or a department/organizational name).

5. Optionally, add your organization or website.

6. Enter your full name for account administration, followed by a username (e.g., "raccomandino").

8. Select the clock settings as needed if is not automatic.

9. For partition settings, choose: Guided – Use entire disk and setup encrypted LVM (recommended for added security to external drive). You may lose it and your account may be bypassed using the GRUB command line or connecting the drive to another Kali Linux computer. Next select the partition disk. Try to not go back after this point the installation could fail. Click Continue and select all files in the partition unless you haven't multiple partitions. Finally click YES.

10. Select a a strong password for your disk encryption (recommended: 12+ characters, including uppercase, lowercase, numbers, and symbols).

11. Allocate the amount of volume group to use for the system partition. Next select yes to confirm.

12. Select all environments provided by Offensive Security as required.

13. The screen in your image shows options for configuring the display manager during the installation of Kali Linux. Here’s a breakdown of each option:

1. gdm3 (GNOME Display Manager 3): This is the default display manager for GNOME environments. It offers a sleek and modern login screen with high compatibility for GNOME-based desktops. It is generally preferred for users who will be using GNOME or GNOME-like environments.
2. lightdm: A lightweight, versatile display manager known for its speed and flexibility. It supports various desktop environments, including XFCE, LXDE, and MATE, and is ideal for lower-resource systems or users wanting a faster, simpler login manager.
3. sddm (Simple Desktop Display Manager): Commonly used for KDE Plasma and other Qt-based desktop environments, SDDM offers a more customizable, visually appealing interface with themes designed for KDE. It’s a good choice if you plan to use KDE or similar environments.

Each display manager provides graphical login capabilities for the X Window System, but their compatibility with specific desktop environments, resource usage, and visual style differ. Choose based on the desktop environment you plan to use and the performance level you want. I prefer Default gdm3.

14. Install the GRUB bootloader (click YES if prompted), select the drive, and complete the installation.

15. Finally, enter your disk password followed by your account password to access the desktop, and then click on I Finished Installing.

Finished

After the installation is complete, you're all set to use Kali Linux on your external drive through VMware. Enjoy diving into cybersecurity with your setup! Remember to shut down your Kali Linux OS, close VMware Workstation, and safely eject your drive before disconnecting it.