Kali Linux: Volatility 2 Tool Installation for Digital Forensics

Computers hold secrets, whether they’re about everyday tasks or something more sinister. When investigators need to dig deep into a system, especially after an incident, they turn to digital forensics. This field is all about finding, keeping safe, and looking at digital clues hidden in devices like computers, phones, and networks. One of the most powerful tools in this detective work is Volatility.

Volatility helps forensic experts peer into a computer’s memory, like pausing a live system to see what was happening. It can pull out vital details from memory dumps, spot tricky malicious software, and recover bits of data that cybercriminals thought they had erased. It’s a real lifesaver for figuring out what went wrong.

There are two main versions of Volatility: version 2 and version 3. While version 3 is newer, there’s a good reason why many still need Volatility 2. Some older memory images, the digital snapshots of a computer’s RAM, simply won’t work with the newer Volatility 3. This means that for certain investigations, Volatility 2 is a must-have. However, getting Volatility 2 up and running on Kali Linux can be a bit of a puzzle, often leading to installation headaches. But don’t worry, we’ve got a straightforward guide to help you set it up.

Getting Volatility 2 Ready on Kali Linux

Here’s how to install Volatility 2 on Kali Linux, step by step:

1. First, Get Your System Prepared

Before anything else, make sure your Kali Linux system has all the necessary building blocks. Open your terminal and type these commands:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y build-essential git libdistorm3-dev yara libraw1394-11 libcapstone-dev capstone-tool tzdata

2. Bring in Python 2 and Its Package Manager (pip2)

Volatility 2 relies on Python 2, which is an older version of Python. We need to install it along with pip2, its package installer.

sudo apt install -y python2 python2.7-dev libpython2-dev curl
curl https://bootstrap.pypa.io/pip/2.7/get-pip.py -o get-pip.py
sudo python2 get-pip.py
sudo python2 -m pip install -U setuptools wheel

3. Install Volatility 2 and Its Essential Tools

Now it’s time to get Volatility 2 itself, plus a few key plugins it needs to function correctly.

python2 -m pip install -U distorm3 pycrypto pillow openpyxl ujson pytz ipython capstone

4. Handle the Specific Yara Plugin

This part can be a bit particular. The Yara plugin needs a specific version (3.8.0) for Volatility 2 to play nice.

pip2 install yara-python==3.8.0
git clone https://github.com/VirusTotal/yara-python
cd yara-python
git checkout v3.8.0

5. Grab Volatility 2 Directly From GitHub

We’ll install Volatility 2 from its official source on GitHub. This ensures you have the correct version.

python2 -m pip install -U git+https://github.com/volatilityfoundation/volatility.git

6. Check Your Work and Make It Easy to Use

After all those steps, let’s confirm everything worked. Then, we’ll make sure you can run Volatility from anywhere in your terminal.

python2 /usr/local/bin/vol.py --info

Then, to update your system’s PATH variable, replace <username> with your actual Kali username:

echo 'export PATH=/home/<username>/.local/bin:$PATH' >> ~/.bashrc
exec bash
source ~/.bashrc

If you followed these steps, your Volatility 2 tool should now be fully ready to go on Kali Linux. You’re all set to start diving into memory forensics!