Building a Virtual Ethical Hacking Home Lab — Part 2: Lab Topology

Building a Virtual Ethical Hacking Home Lab — Part 2: Lab Topology

An interactive guide for building your very own ethical hacking home lab using VMware

Banner Inspiration: David Varghese

Module overview

1. Hardware requirements

2. Enabling virtualization

3. Lab topology

4. Installing VMware

In this part, I will outline the lab topology of this project and guide you through installing the virtualization software necessary to conduct ethical hacking activities.

? Before we proceed, it’s essential to understand the system requirements needed to handle the tasks in this project and ensure that virtualization is enabled.

Hardware Requirements

For this lab setup, I am using a Dell Inspiron 15 5000 Series. However, to meet up, it’s recommended that your system meets the following specifications:

◆ CPU: 64-bit multi-threaded CPU (minimum 4 cores) with Virtualization Support

◆ RAM: 16 GB

◆ Storage: 250 GB Disk Space (preferably SSD)

◆ Host OS: Any operating system of your choice (note that, this lab is built on a Windows host)

To check for a detailed system specifications, go to command prompt:

On Windows, press Win + R, and type cmd and press Enter to open the Command Prompt.

On Command Prompt, type systeminfo

Enabling Virtualization

For VMware to function, your system must support and have virtualization enabled. To check if virtualization is enabled on a Windows machine:

1. Press Ctrl + Shift + Escto open Task Manager.

2. Navigate to the Performance tab.

3. Look for the “Virtualization” field at the bottom right.

If virtualization is shown as Disabled, it means that your CPU supports virtualization but it is disabled in the BIOS. If you do not see any virtualization option, it means your CPU does not support virtualization.

Assuming it shows Disabled, you need to enable it in the BIOS.

? This process of enabling virtualization in the firmware can vary from device to device. Refer to your system manual for device-specific instructions.

To enable virtualization in the BIOS, go to Command Prompt again and type shutdown /r /o /f /t 00

This will restart your system but unlike a normal restart, it will take you to the firmware options of your system before booting your OS.

In the options, select Troubleshoot

Select UEFI Firmware Settings

Navigate to virtualization tab and check Enable Intel Virtualization Technology. Exit the firmware settings.

Lab Topology

The lab environment consists of three virtual machines, all hosted on VMware. These include:

1. Domain Controller — Running Windows Server 2016, serving as the centralized management point for network resources.
2. Metasploitable VM — Running Windows Server 2008, designed to be intentionally vulnerable for penetration testing.
3. Attack Machine — Running Kali Linux, configured as the primary system for attacking other VMs.

All virtual machines are connected to the internet through NAT (Network Address Translation), allowing them to access external resources while isolating them from the host’s primary network.

? Detailed setup and configuration of each VM will be covered in Part 3 of this series. For now, this provides an overview of the logical placement of each VM within the lab environment.

Installing VMware Workstation

As previously mentioned, VMware Workstation Pro will serve as the hypervisor for this lab, although you can install VirtualBox, it’s perfectly suitable for all the lab activities.

You can watch this video to download and configure VirtualBox: YouTube Video by Cloud Tech

Downloading VMware Workstation

Go to the following URL: Download VMware Workstation from Techspot

Click on Workstation Windows

When the download is complete, you will get a.exe file on your system.

Installing VMwawre Workstation

Click on the VMware executable to start the setup. Click on Nextto continue.

Leave all the options in their default settings and click Next

Click Next until you Finish the installation.

Now start VMware.

Changing VM Storage Location

Now that you have VMware sitting in your computer, you might want to have a separate drive dedicated for your virtual machines.

? This step is not necessary but recommended, especially on devices that have multiple drives.

On my laptop, the primary drive (C:\) only has 250 GB of free space, which is likely to get filled by the end of the project. My secondary drive (E:\) on the other hand has 1 TB of free space. In order to not fill-up my primary drive I have changed the machine folder to a folder on my secondary drive.

From the Edit bar, selectEdit > preferencesor simply press Ctrl + Pon your keyboard.

Click on Browse to choose your desired drive.

I selected my E:\drive and named the dedicated folder VMs

In the next part of the series, we will install and configure the VMs and complete the initial setup of the lab.

Previously on this series:

Building a Virtual Ethical Hacking Home Lab — Part 1: Intro

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◆ If you’re following the setup for this lab and you come across any technical issue, feel free to reach me through WhatsApp.

Building a Virtual Ethical Hacking Home Lab — Part 2: Lab Topology was originally published in InfoSec Write-ups on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.