This Ansible Playbook automates the setup of Kali machines used penetration tests. The containing Ansible roles automate the downloading & installation of additional tools for penetration testing, installing & customization further desktop environments and setting up Kali itself. The playbook consists of the following roles:
| Role | Description |
|---|---|
| tools | Installation and configuration of tools. |
| desktop | Installation of desktop environments (e.g. GNOME). |
| services | Installation and configuration of services (e.g. SSH server). |
| basic-customization | Setup timezone, keyboard layout and locales |
| desktop-customization | Customization of installed desktops (e.g. applying GNOME settings). |
| special-customization | Setup of the shell profile, aliases, host file, etc. |
| secrets | Rollout of secrets (e.g. SSH key, VPN configurations). |
sudo apt update && sudo apt install -y ansibleStep 01 - Install Homebrew:
/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"Step 02 - Update Homebrew:
brew updateStep 03 - Install Ansible:
brew install ansibleThis playbook is intented to deploy a default environment on the kali hosts. In order to use this playbook efficiently, it should be run against an inventory of kali hosts. This can be done by creating an inventory of hosts.
To configure the hosts inventory, open and edit the file kali-default-hosts for including the hosts in the following manner:
[kali-default] # <- Group
192.168.xx.xx vmware_vm=yes # CHANGE THIS
192.169.xx.xx vmware_vm=no # CHANGE THISInspired by https://github.com/hackedbyagirl/offensive-kali-ansible.
The directory group_vars contains the variables of the groups which are defined inventory. The "default" group is kali-default. All relevant variables should be defined in the file group_vars/kali-default.yml. Refer to Custom Variables for getting an overview of all available variables.
Variables will be defined in several location within the playbook:
| Priority | Variable Location | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Command line param (--extra-vars) |
Variables can be defined also on command line. These variables will overwrite all variables defined in other locations. Refer to Makefile for examples. |
| 2 | host_vars |
Variable definitions which will affect only one specific host. |
| 3 | group_vars |
Variable definitions which will a affects a group of hosts (e.g. kali group). |
| 4 | role/<role>/default/main.yml |
The purpose of the dafults directories in each role is to setup default values for variables and to ensure, that playbooks runs correctly if no variable is setup somewhere else. |
The defined variables in the directory group_vars "overwrites" the variables, which are defined in roles/<role>/default/main.yml, because variable in the directory group_vars has a higher priority. The For more information about variables and their precedence, refer to Variable precedence and Using Variables.
Important: Variables, which are defined in roles/<role>/default/main.yml should not be altered. Otherwise the playbook may will not work correctly.
The file group_vars/template.yml contains an example configuration and can be used as template:
cat group_vars/template.ymlConfiguration changes should be done in the file group_vars/kali-default.yml:
nano group_vars/kali-default.ymlIf no SSH key is available, generate a new SSH key. After that, Copy the key to the remote sever(s):
ssh-copy-id -i ~/.ssh/<private SSH key> kali@192.168.xx.xxssh-copy-id -i ~/.ssh/<private SSH key> kali@192.169.xx.xxStep 01 - Clone the repository:
git clone git@github.com:dennis6400/kali-setup.git && cd kali-setupThe command above clone the latest state (master branch) of the repository. Refer to Alternative Downloads for alternative downloads.
Step 02 - Edit the inventory file and add the corresponding hosts:
nano kali-default-hostsStep 03 - Edit the "global" configuration for the Kali machine(s):
nano group_vars/kali-default.ymlStep 04 - Setup SSH connection:
eval $(ssh-agent -s) && ssh-add ~/.ssh/<private SSH key>Step 05 - Load profile:
. profiles/kali-default-hosts.profileStep 06 - Start deployment:
make skip-secretsThe make command skip-secrets is used, because the secrets are not configured yet.
(Optional) Step 07 - Restart the Kali machine(s) after the deployment. This step is only needed, if a desktop environment was installed.
git clone git@github.com:dennis6400/kali-setup.githttps://github.com/dennis6400/kali-setup/archive/refs/heads/master.zip
git clone --depth 1 --branch v1.0.0 git@github.com:dennis6400/kali-setup.githttps://github.com/dennis6400/kali-setup/archive/refs/tags/v1.0.0.zip
Refer to the following articles:
The developmen of te playbook was inspired by the following autors and projects: