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Install Cobalt Strike

Dependencies

Cobalt Strike requires the following software:

Kali Linux Rolling 2016.1

  1. Extract cobaltstrike-trial.tgz
    tar zxvf cobaltstrike-trial.tgz
  2. Install Oracle's Java Virtual Machine
  3. Tell Kali Linux Rolling to use Oracle's Java by default
    update-java-alternatives -s java-8-oracle

OpenJDK is not recommended. There are a number of bugs (graphical glitches, CPU hogging, etc.) present with OpenJDK on Kali Linux Rolling.

Wayland is not recommended. Wayland is a replacement for X. Java may crash when the Cobalt Strike GUI is run on top of Wayland. Type echo $XDG_SESSION_TYPE to find out if you're on wayland or x11. To make x11 the default again, follow these steps.

Kali Linux 1.0

  1. Extract cobaltstrike-trial.tgz
    tar zxvf cobaltstrike-trial.tgz
  2. Tell Kali Linux to use Java 1.7 by default
    32-bit Kali Linux:
    update-java-alternatives --jre -s java-1.7.0-openjdk-i386
    64-bit Kali Linx:
    update-java-alternatives --jre -s java-1.7.0-openjdk-amd64

Linux

  1. Extract cobaltstrike-trial.tgz
    tar zxvf cobaltstrike-trial.tgz

MacOS X

  1. Double-click the cobaltstrike-trial.dmg file to mount it.
  2. Drag the Cobalt Strike folder to your Applications folder.

Windows

  1. Disable anti-virus before you download and install Cobalt Strike.
  2. Use your favorite zip tool to extract cobaltstrike-trial.zip to your preferred install location.

What's next?

Read Starting Cobalt Strike to learn how to start a Cobalt Strike team server and connect a client to it.