How to Install Kali Linux on Raspberry Pi

Tested on: Kali Linux 2026.1 ARM images — Last updated: July 2026

Offensive Security publishes official ARM images for Raspberry Pi, prebuilt and ready to flash — no cross-compiling or manual bootstrapping needed. This covers flashing the image, first boot, and the Pi-specific setup steps that differ from a standard x86 install. For the general install methods (VM, bare metal, WSL2, Docker), see Kali Linux: Install and First Steps.

Legal notice: as with any Kali install, its tools are for authorized testing only. Running scans or attacks against systems you don't own or have written permission to test is illegal in most jurisdictions.

Which Raspberry Pi Models Are Supported

Should You Actually Use a Pi for This?

A Raspberry Pi running Kali is not a replacement for a laptop or VM in most engagements — it's a specific-purpose tool. Where it earns its place:

• Drop boxes — a Pi Zero 2 W hidden on a target network for authorized physical penetration tests, running headless and phoning home over a reverse shell or VPN tunnel
• Portable field kit — small enough to carry alongside a laptop for on-site engagements without hauling extra hardware
• Always-on lab node — a permanently powered box for services like a personal VPN endpoint into a home lab, or continuous low-intensity scanning

Where it falls short: GPU-dependent password cracking (no discrete GPU, Hashcat performance is poor), heavy Metasploit sessions with multiple concurrent listeners, and any workflow depending on wireless monitor mode through the onboard adapter (see below). For those, a laptop or VM is the right tool — don't force the Pi into a role it isn't built for.

Power Supply and Thermal Considerations

Undervoltage is the most common source of mysterious instability on a Pi running a full desktop plus security tools. Use the official power supply rated for your model (5V/5A USB-C for Pi 5, 5V/3A for Pi 4) — generic phone chargers frequently can't sustain load during a Nmap scan or Hashcat run and cause silent throttling or random reboots. For sustained workloads, add a case with active cooling; the Pi 4 and 5 both throttle under prolonged CPU load without one, which shows up as scans that inexplicably slow down mid-run.

Prerequisites

• A Raspberry Pi (3B+ or newer recommended)
• microSD card, 16 GB minimum — 32 GB+ if you plan to install additional tool metapackages
• A computer to flash the image (Linux, macOS, or Windows)
• Ethernet cable or known Wi-Fi credentials for first boot

Step 1 — Download the Correct ARM Image

Go to kali.org/get-kali/#kali-arm and download the image matching your Pi model from the table above. Verify the checksum before flashing — a corrupted image is the most common cause of boot failures on this platform.

sha256sum kali-linux-2026.1-raspberry-pi-arm64.img.xz
# Compare the output against the hash published on kali.org

Step 2 — Flash the Image to microSD

Use Raspberry Pi Imager (recommended, has a GUI) or dd directly from a terminal:

# Identify your SD card device — check carefully, this is destructive
lsblk

# Decompress and write in one step
xzcat kali-linux-2026.1-raspberry-pi-arm64.img.xz | sudo dd of=/dev/sdX bs=4M status=progress conv=fsync
sync

Replace /dev/sdX with your actual device — never a partition like /dev/sdX1, and never guess. Running dd against the wrong device overwrites it with no warning.

Step 3 — First Boot and Login

Insert the microSD card, connect Ethernet (simplest for first boot), and power on. Default credentials for the ARM images:

Username: kali
Password: kali

Change the password immediately:

passwd

Step 4 — Expand the Filesystem

The base image is small; expand it to use the full microSD card:

sudo raspi-config
# System Options → nothing needed here for Kali's ARM image —
# use raspi-config's "Advanced Options → Expand Filesystem" if present,
# otherwise:
sudo parted /dev/mmcblk0 resizepart 2 100%
sudo resize2fs /dev/mmcblk0p2

Step 5 — Update and Install Tools

sudo apt update && sudo apt full-upgrade -y

# The ARM images ship minimal by default — install what you need
sudo apt install -y kali-linux-default    # ~3 GB, general toolset
# or pick specific disciplines:
sudo apt install -y kali-tools-wireless kali-tools-web

Don't run kali-linux-everything on a Pi with 4 GB of RAM or less — the install will take hours and several tools in that set assume more memory than a Pi has available.

Step 6 — Enable Wi-Fi and SSH (Headless Setup)

For headless units (Zero 2 W, or any Pi you'll access remotely), configure Wi-Fi and SSH before or right after first boot:

# Enable SSH
sudo systemctl enable ssh
sudo systemctl start ssh

# Connect to Wi-Fi via nmcli
sudo nmcli device wifi connect "YourSSID" password "YourPassword"

# Confirm the IP address to SSH in from another machine
ip a show wlan0

Wireless Adapter Considerations

The Raspberry Pi's onboard Wi-Fi chip does not support monitor mode or packet injection on most models — required for tools like Aircrack-ng. For wireless testing, use an external USB Wi-Fi adapter with a chipset known to support monitor mode (Atheros AR9271 and Ralink RT3070-based adapters are the common recommendations in the Kali community).

Troubleshooting

The Pi doesn't boot after flashing

Re-verify the image checksum, then re-flash. A partial or corrupted write is by far the most common cause — this isn't a Kali-specific issue, it affects any OS image on a Pi.

No Wi-Fi network shown after first boot

sudo nmcli device wifi rescan
sudo nmcli device wifi list

Performance is very slow with the desktop environment

Run headless and connect over SSH instead of using the local desktop, especially on a Pi 3 or Zero 2 W. XFCE on a Pi 4 with 4 GB+ RAM is usable; anything below that struggles.

Random reboots or freezes during a scan

Almost always undervoltage. Check for the throttling flag and switch to the official power supply if it's set:

vcgencmd get_throttled
# 0x0 means no issues; any other value indicates undervoltage or thermal throttling at some point

SD card corrupts after repeated use

microSD cards wear out faster under the write load of logging tool output and scan results. Use a high-endurance card (rated for continuous writes, not just a fast read speed), or better, boot from a USB SSD if your Pi model supports USB boot — meaningfully more reliable for regular use.