The Ethical Hacker Network - Backtrack 4 in VMware workstation

Dutchie

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Backtrack 4 in VMware workstation

« on: May 23, 2010, 06:55:23 AM »

Who has experience with 4 Backtrack in VMware? I want to set up a lab for preparing for the examen.

So I have recently downloaded an appliance with Backtrack 4. I'm using Workstation 6.5 and the virtual machines on an external hard drive. Backtrack 4 was very slow this way! I thought it was that the concerned the appliance vm file was split into 10 files.

So I personally Backtrack installed in a virtual machine and placed on the hard drive of my PC. VM tools I have not installed and 1GB of RAM allocated to backtrack.
Despite Backtrack very slow to respond, eg opening the Web browser takes more than 1 minute!

This is not normal. If I install Backtrack on a USB stick then everything works normally. What am I doing wrong in VMware?
My other virtual machines, server 2000, XP, Win 7, etc work without problems and with less RAM assigned. So I assume that VMware Workstation is not the only way of installing BackTrack 4 in VM-ware!

Does anyone have any experience with? Can anyone tell me how I can solve!

Thanks for thinking along!


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Equix3n-

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Re: Backtrack 4 in VMware workstation

« Reply #1 on: May 23, 2010, 07:12:15 AM »

I've Backtrack 4 installed on a Windows host with Vmware Workstation 7. It occupies 512 mb RAM and 4 GB HD and works without any issues. Perhaps you've some configuration issues. Try installing BT from its iso image and not from the appliance.


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hayabusa

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Re: Backtrack 4 in VMware workstation

« Reply #2 on: May 23, 2010, 07:47:22 AM »

This was recently poster as an issue in another thread on the forums. Try disabling / removing the soundcard from the VM settings, as well as any devices you won't use (like USB ports, etc) Ths soundcard removal, alone, sped up the BT4 final (the one I'm using for OSCP) immensely for me.


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~ hayabusa ~

"All men can see these tactics whereby I conquer, but what none can see is the strategy out of which victory is evolved." - Sun Tzu, 'The Art of War'

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Dutchie

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Re: Backtrack 4 in VMware workstation

« Reply #3 on: May 23, 2010, 07:50:13 AM »

on first instance I've downloaded the appliance but It did not gave me a normal reponse time, So I've installed it from an ISO with the install method provided within Backtrack (install.sh-file). The installation results in no issues.

But after a boot from the new created virtual machine the response time was exactly the same as the appliance. I've archived the virtual machine on my harddisk of the PC. I asigned to the Backtrack VM 8 gb of harddisk and 1 Gb of RAM (that should be more than sufficient to run properly).

I do not understand why I have so long reponse times! To open firefox it takes more than a minute!!

Anyone suggestions......


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Dutchie

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Re: Backtrack 4 in VMware workstation

« Reply #4 on: May 23, 2010, 07:59:56 AM »

Quote from: hayabusa on May 23, 2010, 07:47:22 AM

Thanks Hayabusa!!

It think the cause was the soundcard. I disabled the soundcard and the floppy disk in my VM settings and it works without issues and the response time is acceptable!! Many thanks for sharing your knowledge!!

Another question: does anyone know a good tutorial for installing VM tools within Backtrack? The tutorial from the backtrack-forum is to general for me!!


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hayabusa

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Re: Backtrack 4 in VMware workstation

« Reply #5 on: May 23, 2010, 01:57:36 PM »

It's a guest linux distro, so I'd just follow the directions from the help in VMWare (that's how I've always done it, anyway, when I've forgotten the steps.....) But to save you some time:

**********
From VMWare Workstation 6.5 Manual:

Install VMware Tools from the Command Line with the tar or
RPM Installer
Before you begin, make sure the virtual machine is powered on and the guest operating
system is running.
To install VMware Tools from the command line with the tar or RPM installer
1 On the host, choose VM > Install VMware Tools.
If an earlier version of VMware Tools is installed, the menu item is Update
VMware Tools.
2 On the guest, log in as root (su).
3 If necessary, mount the VMware Tools virtual CD‐ROM image by entering a
command similar to the following:
mount /dev/cdrom /mnt/cdrom
Some Linux distributions automatically mount CD‐ROMs. If your distribution
uses automounting, you can skip this step.
Some Linux distributions use different device names or organize the /dev
directory differently. If your CD‐ROM drive is not /dev/cdrom or if the mount
point for a CD‐ROM is not /mnt/cdrom, modify the command to reflect the
conventions used by your distribution.
4 Change to a working directory by entering a command such as the following:
cd /tmp
5 If a previous installation exists, delete the previous vmware-tools-distrib
directory before installing.
The location of this directory depends on where you placed it during the previous
installation. Often it is placed in /tmp/vmware-tools-distrib.
6 Run the installer and unmount the CD‐ROM image.
Depending on whether you are using the tar installer or the RPM installer, do one
of the following:
For the tar installer, at the command prompt, enter:
tar zxpf /mnt/cdrom/VMwareTools-<xxxx>.tar.gz
umount /dev/cdrom
For the RPM installer, at the command prompt, enter:
rpm -Uhv /mnt/cdrom/VMwareTools-<xxxx>.i386.rpm
umount /dev/cdrom
The value <xxxx> is the build number of the product release.
If your Linux distribution automatically mounted the CD‐ROMs, you do not need
to use the unmount portion of the command.
If you attempt to install an RPM installation over a tar installation or the reverse,
the installer detects the previous installation and must convert the installer
database format before continuing.
7 Configure VMware Tools.
Depending on whether you are using the tar installer or the RPM installer, do one
of the following:
For the tar installer, enter the following commands to run the installer:
cd vmware-tools-distrib
./vmware-install.pl
Respond to the questions the command‐line wizard displays on the screen.
Press Enter to accept the default value. The configuration file,
vmware-config-tools.pl, runs after the installer file finishes running.
For the RPM installer, enter the following command to run the configuration
file:
vmware-config-tools.pl
Respond to the questions the command‐line wizard displays on the screen.
Press Enter to accept the default value.
8 Log out of the root account.
exit
9 (Optional) Start your graphical environment.
10 In an X terminal, to start the VMware User process, enter the following command:
vmware-user
11 (Optional) To start the VMware Tools control panel, enter the following command:
vmware-toolbox &
To change the default VMware Tools configuration options, see “Open the VMware
Tools Control Panel” on page 117.
**********

HTH.


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~ hayabusa ~

"All men can see these tactics whereby I conquer, but what none can see is the strategy out of which victory is evolved." - Sun Tzu, 'The Art of War'

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j0rDy

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Re: Backtrack 4 in VMware workstation

« Reply #6 on: May 24, 2010, 03:17:21 AM »

and again, hayabusa saves the day! is the audio bug reported at the backtrack forums yet??

personally i dont install the VMware tools. these mainly give you better graphical performance, which are not needed in backtrack. just play with it as it comes out of the box! good luck with building your lab!


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Dutchie

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Re: Backtrack 4 in VMware workstation

« Reply #7 on: May 24, 2010, 04:59:10 AM »

Thx Hayabusa for the extended step by step tutorial.

It worked well at myside!!!


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