BackTrack 5: Installation and Configuration

BackTrack Linux is an operating system based on the Ubuntu GNU/Linux distribution aimed at digital forensics and penetration testing use.[8] It is named after backtracking, a search algorithm.  For more information and download a copy of backtrack, visit http://www.backtrack-linux.org/

Boot BackTrack via USB Flash Drive

1. The USB flash drive should have enough space to fit the BackTrack Linux ISO file
2. Format USB flash drive to file system FAT32
3. Download an utility UNetbootin (http://unetbootin.sourceforge.net/) to create a bootable Live USB.
4. Launch UNetbootin and burn the iso file into USB flash drive.
5. The following screen shows UNetbootin usage:
   
    
   
6. Once done, configure machine to boot from USB storage, plug in USB flash drive and boot the machine
7. BackTrack Linux should be ready to use after booting

Boot BackTrack via PXE

PXE booting is another interesting configuration that may boot system from network.

1. Mount BackTrack ISO file to extract two files requires for PXE booting: initrd.gz and vmlinuz
   

   -bash-4.1$ ls /mnt/iso/bt5/casper/ -al
   total 2030472
   dr-xr-xr-x 2 root root       2048 Aug 18 13:37 .
   dr-xr-xr-x 6 root root       2048 Aug 18 13:48 ..
   -r--r--r-- 1 root root      46099 Aug 18 13:37 filesystem.manifest
   -r--r--r-- 1 root root      45951 Aug 18 13:37 filesystem.manifest-desktop
   -r--r--r-- 1 root root         10 Mar  6  2011 filesystem.size
   -r-xr-xr-x 1 root root 2023530496 Aug 18 13:48 filesystem.squashfs
   -r--r--r-- 1 root root   17036519 Aug 18 13:18 initrdf.gz
   -r--r--r-- 1 root root   17036173 Aug 18 13:18 initrd.gz
   -r--r--r-- 1 root root   17038433 Aug 18 13:18 initrds.gz
   -r--r--r-- 1 root root        200 Mar  6  2011 README.diskdefines
   -r--r--r-- 1 root root    4462512 Aug 18 13:18 vmlinuz
   

2. Copy initrd.gz and vmlinuz to TFTP boot folder.  The following shows BackTrack 4 and 5 TFTP boot folder:
   

   -bash-4.1$ ls -gGal bt*
   bt4:
   total 12948
   drwxr-xr-x  2    4096 Jul 22 13:35 .
   drwxr-xr-x 26    4096 Nov  3 17:15 ..
   -r--r--r--  1 8555925 Jan  1  2010 initrd.gz
   -r--r--r--  1 4690640 Dec 14  2009 vmlinuz
   
   bt5:
   total 21008
   drwxr-xr-x  2     4096 Jul 23 07:43 .
   drwxr-xr-x 26     4096 Nov  3 17:15 ..
   -r--r--r--  1 17036173 Oct 15 09:29 initrd.gz
   -r--r--r--  1  4462512 Oct 15 09:29 vmlinuz

3. Mount BackTrack ISO file and setup NFS access to the mount point. 
4. Configure PXE boot configuration file:
   

   label BackTrack 4
           menu label Backtrack Linux 4
           kernel bt4/vmlinuz
           append initrd=bt4/initrd.gz BOOT=casper boot=casper nopersistent rw quite vga=0x317 netboot=nfs nfsroot=192.168.1.1:/mnt/bt4
   
   label BackTrack 5
           menu label Backtrack Linux 5
           kernel bt5/vmlinuz
           append initrd=bt5/initrd.gz boot=casper text vga=791 netboot=nfs nfsroot=192.168.1.1:/mnt/bt5

5. Configure machine to Boot from PXE and select BackTrack item to boot BackTrack Linux

Install BackTrack to Local Storage

1. Boot BackTrack Linux and start GUI interface by typing “startx” in shell prompt:
   
   
   
2. Double click “Install BackTrack” icon on the screen to start install BackTrack to local storage

Configure: Start DHCP client

Start ethernet adapter eth0 with DHCP client:

# dhclient eth0

Configure eth0 to act as DHCP client permanently:

# cat /etc/network/interfaces
auto lo
iface lo inet loopback

auto eth0
iface eth0 inet dhcp

Configure: Enable SSH

Generate SSH RSA key pair for first use:

# sshd-generate

To start ssh manually:

# service ssh start

Start SSH service when startup:

# update-rc.d -f ssh defaults