01. Quick Start

🚀 Quick Start

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Abbreviated path for returning operators. If this is your first deploy, work through Prerequisites → Deploy → Verify instead.

At a glance
Time to ready	~30 min on a fresh AWS account, ~15 min if you've deployed before
What you deploy	7 EC2 instances (Mythic / Sliver / Havoc / Redirector / Guacamole / Windows op / Kali op) across 2 peered VPCs
Cost	~$0.21/hr compute, ~$5-9/mo at 5-10 hrs/wk with terraform destroy between sessions
Default mode	Open environment (public domain + Let's Encrypt). For HTB/VL/PG: see Deployment Modes

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• The 5-Minute Path

Assumes you've done this before, IAM is set up, aws configure is done, the SSH key pair exists in AWS, and you've accepted the Kali Marketplace EULA.

git clone -b v0.3-dev https://github.com/BaddKharma/redStack.git
cd redStack
cp terraform.tfvars.example terraform.tfvars
# edit terraform.tfvars: set localPub_ip, ssh_key_name, ssh_private_key_path, redirector_domain
terraform init
terraform apply -auto-approve
terraform output deployment_info > ../deployment_info.txt

Wait ~15 minutes for cloud-init to finish on all instances. Point your domain's A record at the redirector's Elastic IP (printed in deployment_info).

SSL cert (open mode):

ssh -J admin@<GUAC_PUBLIC_IP> admin@redirector
sudo certbot --apache -d yourdomain.tld

Open the portal: https://<GUAC_PUBLIC_IP>/guacamole. Login guacadmin / lab password from deployment_info. All connections are pre-registered.

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• Then Pick a C2

Each C2 has its own walkthrough for first beacon:

• Mythic, UI-driven, HTTPS profile pre-installed. Web UI at https://mythic:7443 from the Windows operator.
• Sliver, CLI-driven. SSH into the Sliver host and sliver-client.
• Havoc, Qt GUI client over Guacamole VNC. First deploy only: SSH to Havoc and run ~/build_havoc.sh (~20 min compile).

Or work from Kali for AD enumeration:

• Kali, Headless by default. sudo install-kali-tools after first SSH login pulls the curated 21-package AD/enum lineup.

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• Closed Environment (HTB / VL / PG)?

Skip the domain step and the Certbot step. In terraform.tfvars:

redirector_domain                    = ""
enable_external_vpn                  = true
enable_redirector_htaccess_filtering = false

Then follow External Targets for the OpenVPN + WireGuard routing setup.

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• Cleanup

terraform destroy -auto-approve

Releases EIPs, terminates instances, removes VPCs. ~5 min. State is gone, for stop-vs-destroy tradeoffs see Cost Management.

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• See Also

• Prerequisites, full first-time setup (IAM, CLI, SSH key, Marketplace)
• Deploy, annotated walkthrough of terraform apply
• Verify, confirm Guacamole, Windows, internal connectivity
• Troubleshooting, when something doesn't come up cleanly

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“Slow is smooth, smooth is fast.”

_{Naval Special Warfare adage}