The following document describes our own method of creating a custom Kali Linux CuBox ARM image and is targeted at developers. If you would like to install a pre-made Kali image, check out our Install Kali on CuBox article.

Build a Kali rootfs as described in our Kali documentation, using an armhf architecture. By the end of this process, you should have a populated rootfs directory in ~/arm-stuff/rootfs/kali-armhf.

Next, we create the physical image file, which will hold our CuBox rootfs and boot images:

[email protected]:~$ sudo apt install -y kpartx xz-utils sharutils
[email protected]:~$ mkdir -p ~/arm-stuff/images/
[email protected]:~$ cd ~/arm-stuff/images/
[email protected]:~$ dd if=/dev/zero of=kali-custom-cubox.img conv=fsync bs=4M count=7000

[email protected]:~$ parted kali-custom-cubox.img --script -- mklabel msdos
[email protected]:~$ parted kali-custom-cubox.img --script -- mkpart primary ext4 0 -1

[email protected]:~$ loopdevice=$(losetup -f --show kali-custom-cubox.img)
[email protected]:~$ device=`kpartx -va $loopdevice| sed -E 's/.*(loop[0-9])p.*/\1/g' | head -1`
[email protected]:~$ device="/dev/mapper/${device}"
[email protected]:~$ rootp=${device}p1
[email protected]:~$
[email protected]:~$ mkfs.ext4 $rootp
[email protected]:~$ mkdir -p root
[email protected]:~$ mount $rootp root

[email protected]:~$ rsync -HPavz /root/arm-stuff/rootfs/kali-armhf/ root
[email protected]:~$ echo nameserver 8.8.8.8 > root/etc/resolv.conf

If you’re not using ARM hardware as the development environment, you will need to set up an ARM cross-compilation environment to build an ARM kernel and modules. Once that’s done, proceed with the following instructions:

[email protected]:~$ mkdir -p ~/arm-stuff/kernel/
[email protected]:~$ cd ~/arm-stuff/kernel/
[email protected]:~$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/rabeeh/linux.git
[email protected]:~$ cd linux/
[email protected]:~$ touch .scmversion
[email protected]:~$ mkdir -p ../patches/
[email protected]:~$ wget http://patches.aircrack-ng.org/mac80211.compat08082009.wl_frag+ack_v1.patch -O ../patches/mac80211.patch
[email protected]:~$ patch -p1 --no-backup-if-mismatch < ../patches/mac80211.patch
[email protected]:~$ export ARCH=arm
[email protected]:~$ export CROSS_COMPILE=~/arm-stuff/kernel/toolchains/arm-eabi-linaro-4.6.2/bin/arm-eabi-
[email protected]:~$ make cubox_defconfig

# configure your kernel !
[email protected]:~$ make menuconfig
[email protected]:~$ make -j$( cat /proc/cpuinfo|grep processor | wc -l )
[email protected]:~$ make modules_install INSTALL_MOD_PATH=~/arm-stuff/images/root
[email protected]:~$ make uImage
[email protected]:~$ cp arch/arm/boot/uImage ~/arm-stuff/images/root/boot
[email protected]:~$
[email protected]:~$ cat <<EOF > ~/arm-stuff/images/root/boot/boot.txt
echo "== Executing ${directory}${bootscript} on ${device_name} partition ${partition} =="
setenv unit_no 0
setenv root_device ?

if itest.s ${device_name} -eq usb; then
itest.s $root_device -eq ? && ext4ls usb 0:1 /dev && setenv root_device /dev/sda1 && setenv unit_no 0
itest.s $root_device -eq ? && ext4ls usb 1:1 /dev && setenv root_device /dev/sda1 && setenv unit_no 1
fi

if itest.s ${device_name} -eq mmc; then
itest.s $root_device -eq ? && ext4ls mmc 0:2 /dev && setenv root_device /dev/mmcblk0p2
itest.s $root_device -eq ? && ext4ls mmc 0:1 /dev && setenv root_device /dev/mmcblk0p1
fi

if itest.s ${device_name} -eq ide; then
itest.s $root_device -eq ? && ext4ls ide 0:1 /dev && setenv root_device /dev/sda1
fi

if itest.s $root_device -ne ?; then
setenv bootargs "console=ttyS0,115200n8 vmalloc=448M video=dovefb:lcd0:[email protected] clcd.lcd0_enable=1 clcd.lcd1_enable=0 root=${root_device} rootfstype=ext4"
setenv loadimage "${fstype}load ${device_name} ${unit_no}:${partition} 0x00200000 ${directory}${image_name}"
$loadimage && bootm 0x00200000
echo "!! Unable to load ${directory}${image_name} from ${device_name} ${unit_no}:${partition} !!"
exit
fi

echo "!! Unable to locate root partition on ${device_name} !!"
EOF
[email protected]:~$
[email protected]:~$ mkimage -A arm -T script -C none -n "Boot.scr for CuBox" -d ~/arm-stuff/images/root/boot/boot.txt ~/arm-stuff/images/root/boot/boot.scr

[email protected]:~$ umount $rootp
[email protected]:~$ kpartx -dv $loopdevice
[email protected]:~$ losetup -d $loopdevice

Use the dd command to image this file to your SD card. In our example, we assume the storage device is located at /dev/sdb. Change this as needed:

[email protected]:~$ dd if=kali-linux-cubox.img of=/dev/sdb conv=fsync bs=4M

Once the dd operation is complete, unmount and eject the SD card and boot your CuBox into Kali Linux