In Part 1 of this post, we downloaded the most recent Kali Linux ISO and verified its checksum.  In Part 2, we installed Kali Linux in our virtual machine and logged ourselves in. We’ll now update and upgrade our Kali Linux installation and install Parallel Tools.

Step 1: Updating and Upgrading Kali Linux

Start up Parallels Desktop and select the Kali virtual machine.

Once Kali Linux starts, log in using the “root” credentials set in Part 2. We’ll use the Linux Terminal to perform the next two steps. Start the Terminal by clicking its icon in the upper left as shown here:

Once the Terminal starts, type the following at the command line:

apt-get update

and press Enter.

Kali will process all of the published updates since the ISO distribution used for the installation.

Next. at the Terminal command line, type:

apt-get dist-upgrade

and press Enter

Kali will determine what distribution packages need upgrades. This process will take a few minutes and upon completion, you will be asked to confirm the upgrade as shown below:

During the upgrade process, you may get options to upgrade some of the Kali tool packages. For example, below is a screenshot of an option to upgrade Wireshark:

These packages can be either upgraded or modified at a later date, so for now, the best strategy is to accept the default option presented.

Please note: There are two ways to upgrade Linux, via upgrade or dist-upgrade. Type the following command at the Terminal command line to understand the difference between the two upgrade types:

man apt-get

and press Enter

Once the upgrade completes, you are ready to install Parallel Tools. This is not a requirement in order to use Kali Linux in this virtual machine. However, if you choose to install the Tools, please follow the directions below:

First, on the Kali desktop, right-click the desktop and select “Create Folder”. Name this folder “PT”.

Next, notice there is a yellow triangle in the upper-right corner of the Parallels window. Double-click it:

Double-clicking the yellow triangle mounts the Parallel Tools installation disk. You can see the disk on the desktop along with the “PT” folder you created above:

Double-click the “Parallet Tools” disk to get the following screen:

Copy all six items shown above into the “PT” folder. You can do this by holding the Shift key while clicking each of the items to select them, then dragging your selection to the “PT” folder.

Start the Terminal app in the same manner as we did above. At the command prompt, type the following, being sure to note that Linux is case-sensitive:

cd Desktop/PT

and press Enter. The “cd” command will take you into the “PT” folder where you are now able to run the installer for Parallel Tools. Type the follow at the command prompt:

./install

and press Enter. The installation will start and you will get the following screen:

From here, simply follow the directions provided by the Parallel Tools installation process. Once the installation has completed, remember to clean up your desktop by removing the “PT” folder (right-click and select Delete from the fly-out menu) and un-mounting the Parallel Tools disk (right-click and select Eject from the fly-out menu).

You now have a working Kali Linux installation running on the Parallels Desktop. Enjoy!