eJPT Day 1: Kali in a VM

Day one of eJPT prep. Before any tools, you need a place to use them.

I went with UTM on macOS (free, native, no kernel extensions). On a Linux host I'd reach for virt-manager + KVM. VirtualBox works but feels like 2014.

Lab setup:

• Kali Linux (rolling) — attacker box, 4 GB RAM, NAT network
• Snapshot taken right after install + tools update — when something breaks (and it will), I roll back
• A second VM later for vuln targets (Metasploitable 3, OWASP Juice Shop)

First thing I always run on a fresh Kali:

sudo apt update && sudo apt full-upgrade -y
sudo apt install -y seclists gobuster ffuf

seclists is the wordlist library you'll use for everything from directory busting to password spraying. Install it once, forget about it.

Next post: nmap cheatsheet I keep forgetting.