Ethical Hacking Journey

Blog #3 - I Installed Kali Linux Before My Lecturer Even Mentioned It

One big reason I got into this path is Wenura Mendis sir and his streaming channel Vibernet Sreaming. Watching his content opened my eyes to the world of ethical hacking and cybersecurity in a way that felt real and practical not just theory. It inspired me to stop watching and start doing. So when I enrolled in the Cisco Networking Academy Ethical Hacking course, I didn't want to just follow along in class. I wanted to get my hands dirty before anyone told me to. That's where this whole Kali Linux journey began.

---

"I didn't wait to be taught. I broke things, fixed them, broke them again - and learned more than any classroom could have given me in a single week."

---

If you've been following my blog series, you already know I don't wait around. The moment I enrolled in the Cisco Networking Academy Ethical Hacking course, I knew I needed Kali Linux on my machine. Not next week. Not when the lecturer told me to. Now. So I dove in and what followed was one of the most frustrating, exhausting, and ultimately rewarding experiences of my learning journey so far.

This is Blog #3. This is the story of how I installed Kali Linux not once, but twice across two different platforms, faced errors I didn't understand at first, and refused to give up. If you're someone trying to break into cybersecurity and feeling overwhelmed, I want you to read every word of this.

---

 Why Kali Linux? Why Now?

One thing that Wenura Mendis sir said really stuck with me. He told us we don't need to hide our faces. We don't need to wear masks. Because we are white hat hackers. Our purpose is good. We are not here to destroy or steal. We are here to learn, to protect, and to make systems safer. That mindset changed how I see this whole journey. Ethical hacking is not something to be ashamed of it is a skill, a responsibility

and a force for good. That is exactly why I am learning it openly, writing about it publicly, and sharing every step of the way.

Kali Linux is the industry standard for ethical hacking and penetration testing. It comes pre-loaded with hundreds of security tools from network scanners to password crackers all in one place. If you're serious about ethical hacking, Kali isn't optional. It's your workbench.

I was already doing my Cisco ethical hacking course and I wanted real hands-on practice, not just watch videos. So even though my lecturer hadn't assigned it yet, I started on my own. That initiative? I'd recommend it to every student reading this.

---

Attempt 1: VirtualBox

My first try was on VirtualBox. I downloaded the Kali Linux ISO, set up a new virtual machine, and went through the installation steps. And it worked Kali installed successfully inside VirtualBox.

I was proud but I wasn't satisfied. I wanted to try VMware too, because VMware is more widely used in professional environments.

---

Attempt 2: VMware & The Black Screen Wall

Here's where things got real. I set up Kali Linux in VMware Workstation, went through the full installation selected the timezone, set up partitions, chose the XFCE desktop environment (lightweight, perfect for VMs), installed GRUB everything. Hit power. And got a black screen.

No error message. Nothing. Just darkness staring back at me. This is one of the most discouraging moments in any Linux journey because there's no obvious fix. You just have to investigate.

I won't lie  at that moment I was exhausted. Just the day before, I had spent hours trying to install GNS3 (a network simulator) and that didn't work either. Two failed installations in two days. Most people would have stopped. I almost did.

But I didn't. I came back, created a brand new virtual machine in VMware from scratch, and carefully went through every step again with more attention this time. And it worked.

---

The Challenges I Faced

Black Screen After Boot Kali installed but VMware showed only a black screen on power-on. The fix was creating a new VM with correct settings and reinstalling from scratch.

Disk Space Error Mid-Installation Halfway through, the installation crashed because my C: drive was full. VMware stores the virtual disk (.vmdk file) on your host machine if Windows runs out of space, the install dies. I had to free up disk space and retry.

GRUB Bootloader Decision During install, Kali asks whether to install the GRUB bootloader. I wasn't sure what to choose. The answer: Yes, always. Without GRUB, your VM won't boot into Kali at all.

Manual Device Entry Prompt It then asks if you want to enter a device manually for GRUB. The right answer: No. Let Kali auto-detect the disk. Entering manually is only for advanced setups.

---

What I Actually Learned

• Always allocate enough disk space before starting Kali can expand from 10GB to 30GB+ during setup.
• XFCE is the smartest desktop choice for VMware lightweight, fast, and avoids display issues on limited hardware.
• GRUB is not optional. It's the bridge between VMware powering on and Kali actually loading.
• A black screen is not the end. Recreate the VM and try again.
• Starting before you're told to is one of the best habits you can build as a learner.

---

For Anyone Who Feels Like Giving Up

The day I got the black screen, I had already failed once with GNS3. I was tired. My brain hurt. It would have been very easy to say "I'll try again tomorrow" and never come back to it.

But here's what kept me going: every error is a lesson in disguise.

The disk space error taught me how VMware actually stores files. The black screen taught me about display drivers and VM configuration. The GRUB decision taught me how Linux actually boots. I learned more by breaking things than I ever could from a tutorial where everything goes perfectly.

Stop seeing errors as failures. Start seeing them as the curriculum. Every broken install, every cryptic error message, every black screen  that's the course material. Real hackers aren't people who never fail. They're people who don't stop when they do.

---

The journey continues.

Kali Linux is now running on VMware. The GNS3 blog is coming next that story deserves its own post. If you're on the same path, keep going. The tools are hard. The errors are many. But the knowledge you build is yours forever.

#KaliLinux #EthicalHacking #VMware #CyberSecurity #CiscoNetAcad #LearningInPublic #NeverGiveUp