Author | Lightnews

Reposted

usrbinkat.io @usrbinkat.io · 35m

It works! `kubectl apply -f kali-kubevirt-vm.yaml` works!

I took the upstream official kali linux qcow2 image, updated & added cloud-init packages to image and redistribute via dockerhub, then the kubevirt yaml automates the rest!

I estimated 2 hours originally but this journey was so much more.

An xfce desktop for Kali Linux is open inside a KubeVirt VM accessed via Microsoft Remote Desktop, displaying a full-featured penetration testing environment. The Kali application launcher is open, showing the full tree of categorized offensive security tools from reconnaissance to exfiltration. Visible windows include a terminal running `fastfetch` that confirms the system is Kali Linux Rolling 2025.3 with XFCE and the Kali-dark theme, plus Firefox with tabs open to Exploit-DB and Kali-related resources, and a system monitor revealing active services and CPU load. The host machine runs macOS with Microsoft’s RDP app, while the VM is running remotely on a Kubernetes cluster labeled `usrbinkat-optiplexprime`.

This image confirms the success of a multi-step iterative process: after debugging boot issues and refining the image pipeline, the Kali Linux VM is now fully provisioned with a graphical desktop, xrdp access, and post-boot cloud-init configuration via a simple `kubectl apply`. The `kubevirt` panel on the left shows three additional VMs also running: Fedora, Ubuntu, and this instance of Kali. The upper terminal window (`ghostty`) displays the virtual machine list in the Kubernetes cluster, showing the Kali VM as `Running` on node `op3` with a provisioned IP address and correct phase status.

This milestone marks the completion of a working Kali Linux 2025.3 VDI image deployed entirely from a declarative KubeVirt manifest and cloud-init userdata file. The provisioning script installs XRDP, Docker, Wireshark, configures user accounts and SSH keys, and applies polkit rules for GUI tools—all automated via cloud-init and reproducible through the KMI project. The result is a turn-key, Kali workstation accessible over RDP in Kubernetes, blending offensive security workflows with cloud-native operations.

1 3

usrbinkat.io @usrbinkat.io · 35m

It works! `kubectl apply -f kali-kubevirt-vm.yaml` works!

I took the upstream official kali linux qcow2 image, updated & added cloud-init packages to image and redistribute via dockerhub, then the kubevirt yaml automates the rest!

I estimated 2 hours originally but this journey was so much more.

1 3

usrbinkat.io @usrbinkat.io · 5h

I haven't in a long time. Need to feel good about doing it again when some stress dies down 😅

1 1

Reposted

usrbinkat.io @usrbinkat.io · 9h

The first boot of the kali vm in kubevirt did not work and i had limited troubleshooting options available without working cloud-init or ssh-server being enabled.

So i deployed a kubevirt fedora 42 vm with rdp and virt-manager to test the qcow2 disk in docker.io/containercraft/kali:latest-dev

A Fedora 42 Workstation desktop is open through the Windows Remote Desktop app on macOS, showing a GNOME overview with multiple running windows. The main view highlights a terminal window where the user `kc2user` is verifying Fedora’s OS release information, confirming it’s Fedora 42 (Cloud Edition). Below it, a Virtual Machine Manager window displays an active VM titled “kali,” running inside the Fedora guest. The Kali desktop is visible within the VM console window, showing a 3D blue grid wallpaper with cables and connectors, indicating a nested virtualization environment where Kali is running under Fedora, which itself is running on bare metal through KubeVirt and accessed remotely via RDP.

This setup represents a live debugging and recovery workflow. After the initial Kubernetes deployment of the Kali VM failed to boot properly, the developer pivoted to manual validation by pulling the built `containercraft/kali` image as a `.qcow2` disk, copying it into `/var/lib/libvirt/images/` on the Fedora guest, and spinning up a traditional libvirt VM using Virt-Manager to inspect the image’s boot behavior. The visible Fedora desktop shows both system tools and the nested Kali instance side by side, confirming that nested KVM and libvirt integration are functioning inside the XRDP session.

Altogether, the scene captures a layered virtualization testbed: macOS running Microsoft Remote Desktop, connected to a Fedora VM via XRDP, which in turn is hosting a Kali VM through libvirt and QEMU. This configuration demonstrates the robustness of nested virtualization workflows for debugging image pipelines, enabling deep introspection and rebuilds of KubeVirt-ready base images from within their own managed virtualized environments—an elegant example of using the infrastructure itself to diagnose and perfect the infrastructure.

2 1 5

usrbinkat.io @usrbinkat.io · 9h

The first boot of the kali vm in kubevirt did not work and i had limited troubleshooting options available without working cloud-init or ssh-server being enabled.

So i deployed a kubevirt fedora 42 vm with rdp and virt-manager to test the qcow2 disk in docker.io/containercraft/kali:latest-dev

2 1 5

usrbinkat.io @usrbinkat.io · 11h

subjectively feels like it's landing somewhere between insta and pinterest

1

usrbinkat.io @usrbinkat.io · 12h

It is!

github.com/ContainerCra...

100DaysOfHomelab/docs/hardware at main · ContainerCraft/100DaysOfHomelab

~~ Begins Summer 2024 ~~. Contribute to ContainerCraft/100DaysOfHomelab development by creating an account on GitHub.

github.com

1

usrbinkat.io @usrbinkat.io · 12h

First build of the image is published...

...going to touch grass, will try deploying to OptiplexPrime KubeVirt cluster when I get back. 🌱

A Docker Hub page is open to the `containercraft/kali` repository under the "Tags" tab, confirming the successful publication of two new image tags: `latest-dev` and `2025-3-dev`. Both were pushed just 3 minutes ago by the user `katamo`, and both share the same digest `6bb06c7900e0c` for the `linux/amd64` architecture. The image size is listed as 5.42 GB, suggesting it contains a full-featured Kali Linux environment ready for use. The command to pull the latest image is shown as `docker pull containercraft/kali:latest-dev`, verifying the image is now live on Docker Hub and ready for downstream use in virtual machines or containers.

This image is the containerDisk backing the KubeVirt virtual machine being built in the previous screenshot. Now that it’s published, it enables automated VM creation via Kubernetes manifests using `kubevirt.io` and Multus network attachments. With this update, users can run a GUI-enabled, XRDP-accessible Kali Linux environment in-cluster for remote access, testing, or full-stack red/blue team exercises—all with the same infrastructure-as-code pipeline used to publish Fedora, Debian, and other base images in the ContainerCraft image library.

Together with CircleCI automation, this image pushes KMI’s capabilities into the realm of security-focused development and education. By publishing Kali to Docker Hub, the ContainerCraft team is making it trivial to spawn a fully provisioned Kali VM in Kubernetes for platform security engineering, vulnerability research, or offensive security training—with no local installs required and support for declarative version pinning (`2025-3-dev`) or rolling tags (`latest-dev`).

2 6

usrbinkat.io @usrbinkat.io · 13h

Happy Saturday!

What's cookin? 🍳👩‍🍳

CircleCI dashboard shows an in-progress job titled “customize-kali-linux-amd64”, part of the `build-and-publish-dev` workflow for the `kmi` project under the GitHub organization ContainerCraft. The executor is a Linux machine of the `Large` class, and the job has been running for over 6 minutes. The job is currently executing the “Customize image” step, which includes a bash script building a customized Kali Linux image using the `guestfs` tool. The output reveals provisioning actions like creating user accounts, inspecting machine IDs, and preparing the image for deployment. This confirms the pipeline is constructing a new headless Kali Linux VM image for inclusion in the KubeVirt Machine Image library github.com/ContainerCraft/kmi.

Previous steps in the pipeline “Spin up environment,” “Preparing environment variables,” “Checkout code via HTTPS,” “Restore cache”—have completed successfully, showing green checkmarks. The log output for image customization includes low-level commands like `udevadm`, `guestfsd`, and filesystem operations to finalize OS configurations within the disk image. These automated scripts enable reproducible image creation with pre-installed tooling, setting the stage for a full-featured Kali Linux environment. This approach aligns with GitOps and Infrastructure-as-Code principles, allowing developers and security teams to deploy immutable VMs consistently across environments.

This screenshot is a teaser for an upcoming feature in the ContainerCraft image library: a Kali Linux VM with full xRDP support, designed for red, blue, and purple team use cases. Built to run inside Kubernetes via KubeVirt, the image provides white-hat hackers and enterprise security engineers with a reproducible, RDP-accessible Kali workstation tailored for penetration testing, reverse engineering, and defensive operations.

2 1 11

usrbinkat.io @usrbinkat.io · 15h

Talos in Talos via KubeVirt