The content of the hard disk of the virtual machine is stored on the host machine as a file. Although a hard disk is not required to run Kali Linux as a live system, add one for when we demonstrate the installation procedure later, in chapter 4, вЂњInstalling Kali Linux вЂќ.

In the third step (shown in Figure 2.9, вЂњHard diskвЂќ ), you are prompted to choose a physi- cal or virtual hard disk for your new virtual machine. We recommend increasing the value to 1500 MB (Figure 2.8, вЂњMemory Size вЂќ ) and highly recommend that you allocate no less than 2048 MB of RAM. While the recommended size of 768 MB is acceptable for a Debian virtual machine acting as a server, it is definitely not enough to run a Kali desktop system, especially not for a Kali Linux live system since the live system uses memory to store changes made to the file system. In the second step, you must decide how much memory to allocate to the virtual machine. Although any other Linux version will most likely work, this will help distinguish between the various virtual machines that you might have installed. Since Kali Linux is based on Debian GNU/Linux, select Linux for the type and Debian (32-bit) or Debian (64-bit) for the version. Use вЂњKali Linux.вЂќ You must also indicate what kind of operat- ing system will be used. In the first step, shown in Figure 2.7, вЂњName and Operating System вЂќ, you must assign a name to your new virtual machine.

Д¬lick on New (Figure 2.7, вЂњName and Operating System вЂќ ) to start a wizard that will guide you through the multiple steps required to input all the parameters of the new virtual machine.

After the initial installation, VirtualBoxвЂ™s main screen looks something like Figure 2.6, вЂњVirtual- BoxвЂ™s Start Screen вЂќ.

Virtual optical disk file for vm