Required materials for the course
It should come as no surprise that the majority of exploits available in the Metasploit Framework are targeted against Microsoft Windows, so in order to complete the course labs you will require a target system to attack. This system should consist of a Virtual Machine running on your choice of host operating system.
If you don't already have an extra WindowsXP and/or VMware Workstation license, NIST has a pre-made WinXP virtual machine available to download under the Federal Desktop Core Configuration project at the URL in the references in the following section. Their FAQ is a good resource to become familiar with the FDCC.
Unfortunately, the virtual machine provided by NIST is in Microsoft VirtualPC format. In addition, the VMs produced by NIST are designed and configured to keep people who wield the Metasploit Framework from compromising them. The steps in the following section will walk you through the process of converting the VirtualPC image to VMware format and stripping out the patches and group policy settings from the image. You will then be able to load and run the virtual machine using the free VMware Player to complete the course labs.
While VMware Converter and VMware Player are "free", you will have to register for the downloads. However, the virtualization applications and appliances are well worth the registration if you're not already a current member. You may also use VMware Workstation or other implementations of Virtual Infrastructure.
This course was created using the latest svn trunk version of the Metasploit Framework which, at the time of this writing is version 3.3-dev. If you are using back|track 4 as your platform, you can always update to the latest version of the trunk by issuing a 'svn up' in the '/pentest/exploits/framework3/' directory.
Lastly, if you intend to do any exploit development, the NIST VM, being a regular workstation image, does not have a debugger installed. You will want to install OllyDbg or Immunity Debugger (or both) in your VM.
If you don't already have an extra WindowsXP and/or VMware Workstation license, NIST has a pre-made WinXP virtual machine available to download under the Federal Desktop Core Configuration project at the URL in the references in the following section. Their FAQ is a good resource to become familiar with the FDCC.
Unfortunately, the virtual machine provided by NIST is in Microsoft VirtualPC format. In addition, the VMs produced by NIST are designed and configured to keep people who wield the Metasploit Framework from compromising them. The steps in the following section will walk you through the process of converting the VirtualPC image to VMware format and stripping out the patches and group policy settings from the image. You will then be able to load and run the virtual machine using the free VMware Player to complete the course labs.
While VMware Converter and VMware Player are "free", you will have to register for the downloads. However, the virtualization applications and appliances are well worth the registration if you're not already a current member. You may also use VMware Workstation or other implementations of Virtual Infrastructure.
This course was created using the latest svn trunk version of the Metasploit Framework which, at the time of this writing is version 3.3-dev. If you are using back|track 4 as your platform, you can always update to the latest version of the trunk by issuing a 'svn up' in the '/pentest/exploits/framework3/' directory.
Lastly, if you intend to do any exploit development, the NIST VM, being a regular workstation image, does not have a debugger installed. You will want to install OllyDbg or Immunity Debugger (or both) in your VM.
© Offensive Security 2009