Kali linux rolling repositories

Kali sources.list Repositories

The single most common causes of a broken Kali Linux installation are following unofficial advice, and particularly arbitrarily populating the system’s sources.list file with unofficial repositories. The following post aims to clarify what repositories should exist in sources.list, and when they should be used.

Any additional repositories added to the Kali sources.list file will most likely BREAK YOUR KALI LINUX INSTALL.

The Kali Rolling Repository

kali-rolling is our current active repository since the release of Kali 2016.1. Kali Rolling users are expected to have the following entries in their sources.list:

deb http: // http.kali.org / kali kali-rolling main contrib non-free
# For source package access, uncomment the following line
# deb-src http://http.kali.org/kali kali-rolling main contrib non-free

Retired Kali sana (2.0) Repositories

For access to the retired sana repositories, have the following entries in your sources.list:

deb http: // old.kali.org / kali sana main non-free contrib
# For source package access, uncomment the following line
# deb-src http://old.kali.org/kali sana main non-free contrib

Retired Kali moto (1.0) Repositories

For access to the retired moto repositories, have the following entries in your sources.list:

deb http: // old.kali.org / kali moto main non-free contrib
# For source package access, uncomment the following line
# deb-src http://old.kali.org/kali moto main non-free contrib

You can find a list of official Kali Linux mirrors here.

More about Kali Repositories

The kali-dev Repository

WARNING: While kali-dev is publicly accessible to everybody on all Kali mirrors, this distribution should not be used by end-users as it will regularly break.

This repository is actually Debian’s Testing distribution with all the kali-specific packages (available in the kali-dev-only repository) force-injected with Kali packages taking precedence over the Debian packages. Sometimes when Testing changes, some Kali packages must be updated and this will not happen immediately. During this time, kali-dev is likely to be broken. This repository is where Kali developers push updated packages and is the basis used to create kali-rolling.

In contrast to kali-dev, kali-rolling is expected to be of better quality because it’s managed by a tool that ensures installability of all the packages it contains. The tool picks updated packages from kali-dev and copies them to kali-rolling only when they have been verified to be installable. The repository is also fed by a stream of tool updates, of which we get notified via our upstream git tagging watch list.

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Kali Linux Repositories Explained [With Examples]

In this article we will explore Kali Linux Repositories but before that let us understand about repositories in general and what do they mean.

What Are Linux Repositories?

If you have worked with any Linux distribution, you must have come across the word «repositories,» especially when installing software or updating and upgrading your system. Repositories on Linux refer to a remote storage location where your system retrieves and installs software and packages. Therefore, when you execute a command like;

you are simply pulling package information and package updates from the remote storage location. Most of these repositories are distribution-based.

Kali Linux repositories are different from those used by a distribution like BlackArch or Debian. Even though situations might force you to add a repository from another distribution to your system, it’s not highly recommended even if they use the same package manager.

Default Kali Linux Repositories

Like any other Linux distribution, Kali Linux also comes with its own repositories from where you can install and update your system packages. These repositories are found in the sources.list file in the /etc/apt directory. When you install Kali Linux for the first time, you should see the following default repositories in the sources.list file. You can view the file by executing the command below:

grep -v '#' /etc/apt/sources.list | sort -u

If you don’t get a similar output, there are three most probable reasons as to why:

• You have switched yourKali Linux branch: A branch is basically another version of Kali Linux with a few different features from the main branch. The main default branch of Kali Linux is kali-rolling.
• You are using a custom image of Kali Linux: Kali Linux is free and open-source. Therefore, anybody can customize the existing and build their own different version of Kali Linux.
• You are running an earlier version of Kali Linux (Kali Linux 2020.2 and earlier versions) installed without an internet connection.

Since Kali Linux 2020.3 release, the default network repositories are enabled even if the installation was done without an internet connection.

Switching Kali Linux Branches / Regular Repositories

Kali Linux supports several branches. In this post, we are going to look at the three main branches.

To switch to any of these branches, you will need to comment out the repository of your current branch in the sources.list file and add the repository for your desired branch.

Kali-rolling branch

This is the main branch enabled by default on your Kali Linux system. This branch is continuously updated and pulls most of the packages from the kali-dev branch.

deb http://http.kali.org/kali kali-rolling main non-free contrib

Kali-last snapshot branch

This branch is point-release which delivers much more stable software and software to users:

deb http://http.kali.org/kali kali-last-snapshot main non-free contrib

Kali-experimental branch

It contains packages that are still under testing from the kali-bleeding edge branch.

deb http://http.kali.org/kali kali-experimental main non-free contrib

From the image below, you can see the system is running on the kali-rolling branch.

Kali Linux Repository Format

As you will notice, the repository isn’t just a link. It’s divided into various sections:

deb http://http.kali.org/kali kali-rolling main non-free contrib (Archive) (Mirror) (branch) (Component)

• Archive: This can either be deb or deb-src . Deb contains the pre-compiled binary packages we regularly use when installing software in most Debian-based distros. Deb-src indicates the program source.
• Mirror: It should be set to HTTP:kali.org/kali.
• Branch: This shows the current branch you are using.
• Component: This refers to the package that you wish to use on your system. The three mainly used components in Kali Linux are main, non-free, and contrib.

Non-Kali Linux Repositories

If you want to install additional software, you might be required to add external repositories other than those meant for the Kali Linux system. These new repositories should NOT be added to the /etc/apt/sources.list file. Instead, they are stored in their own separate directory. The most common path for external repositories is the /etc/apt/sources.list.d directory. For example, to install Signal on Kali Linux, we would need to add the repository deb [arch=amd64] https://updates.signal.org/desktop/apt xenial main in your /sources.list.d directory.

Installing Kali Linux repositories on another distribution like Ubuntu or Debian might break the system. You might not see this immediately but as you continue adding more packages and updating the system, you increase the chances of your system not working. Similarly, adding another distribution’s repositories to Kali Linux might break your Kali installation.

Conclusion

The topic «Linux repositories» can be quite challenging especially if you are just getting started with Linux systems. This post has given you a deeper understanding of repositories and how to switch between the different Kali Linux branches. Even though we mainly concentrated on the Kali-rolling branch, feel free to explore other Kali branches.

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How to Update Kali Linux Repositories

• May 24, 2022
• admin
• Kali Linux

In this article, we are going to learn how to update your Kali Linux Repositories file on Kali Linux 2022.2. The repository is a link or storage location where Kali Linux packages are stored. The tools and utilities of Kali Linux are installed by using this repository. The packages which are presented in the storage location are tested and maintained by the developer of Kali Linux.

Network Repository Location

In the new Kali installation, Kali Linux Repositories file location is /etc/apt/sources.list. And you have the following entries that should be there:

# See https://www.kali.org/docs/general-use/kali-linux-sources-list-repositories/ deb http://http.kali.org/kali kali-rolling main contrib non-free # Additional line for source packages # deb-src http://http.kali.org/kali kali-rolling main contrib non-free

If your output does not exactly match like above output, you may not be able to update or install any new packages in your Kali Linux. There is the main reason that’s why you are facing this kind of error. This may happen for other reasons like:

Kali Linux branches

A branch is an alternative version of some software in the Kali OS. Kali Linux has multiple branches which allow users to decide how up-to-date their packages will be. Kali Linux has many different branches to choose and you can switch it if you want.

deb http://http.kali.org/kali kali-rolling main non-free contrib

deb http://http.kali.org/kali kali-last-snapshot main non-free contrib

deb http://http.kali.org/kali kali-experimental main non-free contrib

Network Repository after offline Installation

If you are using the offline mode to install Kali Linux that means you do not access your network while you install the Kali. You will be limited to the packages or getting updates. You can see the following entry in the sources.ist file.

# ​ # deb cdrom:[Kali GNU/Linux 2020.1a _Kali-last-snapshot_ - Official amd64 DVD Binary-1 with firmware 20200213-14:56]/ kali-rolling main non-free # deb cdrom:[Kali GNU/Linux 2020.1a _Kali-last-snapshot_ - Official amd64 DVD Binary-1 with firmware 20200213-14:56]/ kali-rolling main non-free # This system was installed using small removable media # (e.g. netinst, live or single CD). The matching "deb cdrom" # entries were disabled at the end of the installation process. # For information about how to configure apt package sources,

If you want to update your Kali and install all tools or other utilities. You have to update your /etc/apt/sources.list file. If your network working properly you have to copy the following codes in the repository file.

deb http://http.kali.org/kali kali-rolling main contrib non-free deb-src http://http.kali.org/kali kali-rolling main contrib non-free

Conclusion

In this article, we know how to update the Kali Linux Repositories. And we know all about repositories like location and official repo links. We used kali-rolling for the branch above, but you can select any value you wish.

IMPORTANT THINGS TO REMEMBER

• This article was written only for educational purposes.
• The author can not be held any responsibility for damage caused by the use of these resources.
• You will not use this information to gain unauthorized access or any other legal activity.

If you are using any illegal activities using these techniques kalilinuxtutorial.com can’t hold any responsibility for your action.
This blog only for educational purposes where you will learn about Kali Linux how it works and how you can install any tools in Kali Linux.

Finally

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About The Author

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Kali Linux Tutorial blog that publishes articles, Tips, Tricks and Tutorials about Kali Linux operations, new techniques and Linux security.

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