Revamp Your Cybersecurity Arsenal: A Step-by-Step Guide on Updating Kali Linux

A new version of Kali Linux has been released on 9th August 2022 with new attractive tools and bug fixes. The major release of Kali Linux version 2022 and the minor is Kali Linux 2022.3.

It is available for immediate download.

Added new features in Kali Linux 2022.3:

The highlights for Kali’s 2022.3’s the release:

• Discord Server – Kali’s new community real-time chat option has launched!
• Test Lab Environment – Quickly create a test bed to learn, practice, and benchmark tools and compare their results
• Opening Kali-Tools Repo – We have opened up the Kali tools repository & are accepting your submissions!
• Help Wanted – We are looking for a Go developer to help us on an open-source project
• Kali NetHunter Updates – New releases in our NetHunter store
• Virtual Machines Updates – New VirtualBox image format, weekly images, and build-scripts to build your own
• New Tools In Kali – Would not be a release without some new tools!

Watch the video on Youtube

Non-Root Kali Linux:

This is the first release of the year 2020 with non-root kali Linux so, if you are using kali Linux live then the username and password root/toor will not work.

If you are using kali Linux first time the user username and password kali/kali

Username: kali
Password: kali

If you have an old version then you can update kali Linux by using the following command. If you will face any errors then read the complete article.

root@kali:~# apt update && apt -y full-upgrade 

Latest Operating System always gives better performance, Security, and results. No matter it is Linux, Windows, or MAC.

Always Update Kali Linux before using it. If you want to good hacker or penetration tester then make a rule in your life. Update each and every tool before using it.

Lots of vulnerabilities and patches are released every day, so you need to update Kali Linux regularly.

I have created a video to cover update and upgrade of kali Linux in Hindi Language. If you are good to understand Hindi then this video sure will be helpful for you

Today I am going to discuss how to update Kali Linux in simple steps. Updated Kali Linux and its tools are working properly and give a better result. Update Kali Linux every time before using it. The updation of Kali Linux will give you modern, latest, and better working toolsets. You can update Kali Linux by following the simple steps given below:

Add repository in Kali Linux
Check Kali Linux version
How to Update Kali Linux
How to Upgrade Kali Linux
How to Dist-upgrade Kali Linux
Conclusion

Add Repository in Kali Linux

A repository is a place where all the updated tools and utilities are stored. There are multiple Kali Linux repositories available worldwide. the tools available on repositories are tested and maintained by the offensive security team.

It means, that downloading or installing tools from the repository is secure and pretested. I suggest you always install tools from the repositories.

You must make the repositories server entry inside the file /etc/apt/sources.list

First, open the file by using any text editor, I am using leafpad text editor. It is preinstalled in Kali Linux.

Step 1: Run the following command to open repository source list file

$gedit /etc/apt/sources.list

Step 2: Add the following line.

deb http://http.kali.org/kali kali-rolling main non-free contrib

Step 3: Save the file and exit.

For more details Visit How to Add Kali Linux repository

Check the Kali Linux version

If you are going to update the Kali Linux in the latest version. Your first step, check the installed Kali Linux version.

If you don’t know how to check the kali Linux version, don’t worry, and follow the given steps to check it

the following command is useful to check the Kali Linux version.

#lsb_release -a

vijay@kali:~$lsb_release -a
No LSB modules are available.
Distributor ID:	Kali
Description:	Kali GNU/Linux Rolling
Release:	2020.2
Codename:	n/a 
vijay@kali:~$

In some cases, if lsb_release -a command is not working,  So it is not a big issue, because there are other methods and commands to check the Kali Linux version

Here its

cat /etc/os-release 

root@kali:~#cat /etc/os-release 
PRETTY_NAME="Kali GNU/Linux Rolling"
NAME="Kali GNU/Linux"
ID=kali
VERSION="2020.2"
VERSION_ID="2020.2"
VERSION_CODENAME="kali-rolling"
ID_LIKE=debian
ANSI_COLOR="1;31"
HOME_URL="https://www.kali.org/"
SUPPORT_URL="https://forums.kali.org/"
BUG_REPORT_URL="https://bugs.kali.org/"
root@kali:~

I have an older version of Kali Linux 2022.1, running on my system and the newer version has been released. And I am always eager to learn new things and get new experiences. So I am going to update and upgrade Kali Linux to 2022.2

How to Update Kali Linux

Hey, my dear friend, Do you want to know how to update Kali Linux in the new version 2022.2 Newer version of Kali Linux has been released It is Kali Linux 2022.2.  The newer version fixes bugs and the latest kernel, and latest tools, and sometimes adds new tools. In the update, the advanced package tool (APT)  fetched headers data of available tools on the repository and saved it into a local drive.

You can use the following command to update the Kali Linux.

# apt-get update

or

$ sudo apt-get update (This command is only for sudo user)

vijay@kali:~$sudo apt-get update
[sudo] password for vijay: 
Get:1 http://ftp.harukasan.org/kali kali-rolling InRelease [30.5 kB]
Get:2 http://ftp.harukasan.org/kali kali-rolling/main amd64 Packages [16.5 MB]
Get:3 http://ftp.harukasan.org/kali kali-rolling/non-free amd64 Packages [199 kB]
Get:4 http://ftp.harukasan.org/kali kali-rolling/contrib amd64 Packages [99.8 kB]
Fetched 16.9 MB in 1min 36s (176 kB/s)                                    
Reading package lists... Done
vijay@kali:~$

What does update mean in Kali Linux?

When you run the update command it will fetch the information of available tools and their version from the repository and store it in the local computer.

Have a close look at the above result after running the update Kali Linux command. This command fetched only 17.4 MB of data from the repository.

#apt-get update command does not update a single tool.

If you want to install a newer version to tools / OS/ Other utility then you will have to run the upgrade and dist-upgrade command.

How to Upgrade Kali Linux

The upgrade is a process of removing the older version of tools from Kali Linux and installing a newer version.

If the installed tool has a similar version to the available tool on the repository, then it will not be upgraded.

run the following command to upgrade Kali Linux

#apt-get upgrade

When I run the above command then I found the result. I am going the share some lines with you.

These are the last 4 lines before starting up-gradation. 1015 tools will be upgraded and 179 will not be upgraded. 179 tools will remain the same.

1780 MB size of files will be downloaded, and 419 MB of additional disk space will be used.

If everything looks good press y and hit enter the up-gradation process will be completed.

1015 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 179 not upgraded.
Need to get 1,780 MB of archives.
After this operation, 419 MB of additional disk space will be used.
Do you want to continue? [Y/n]

How to Dist-upgrade Kali Linux

apt-get command followed by upgrade will only upgrade installed tools. This command will not touch the core system and its utility.

If you want to upgrade the core operating system as well as tools at the same time then you will have to run the following command.

#apt-get dist-upgrade

1194 upgraded, 73 newly installed, 1 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
Need to get 2,238 MB of archives.
After this operation, 1,042 MB of additional disk space will be used.
Do you want to continue? [Y/n] 

You can see the big difference in the result of running upgrade and dist-upgrade command

Conclusion

You have seen all the points of running Kali Linux update, upgrade and dist-upgrade. If you install the Kali Linux first time then I suggest you run apt-get command followed by dist-upgrade.

After that, you can run the apt-get command with an update and upgrade switch.

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Do you like this post? if you have any query relate to Update and upgrade Kali Linux please comment below. if you have any questions, let me know in the comment box.

Cheers!

MODULE 3:- Basics of Kali Linux

1. Install Kali Linux on Hard drive with Full disk Encryption
2. How to create Kali Linux bootable USB live in windows 10
3. 20 basics about how to use Kali Linux
4. 6 steps to change Kali Linux IP address (Easy)
5. How to Add Kali Linux repository – With pictures
6. How to update and upgrade Kali Linux to 2017.1
7. apt-get package handling utility in Kali Linux
8. How to use Linux debian package manager “dpkg”
9. How to use Kali Linux SSH Server and client
10. Start Restart Apache2 Web Server In Kali Linux