virtualbox-network-playbook

VM management & network recovery playbook for Kali / Metasploit labs

Pentest Lab Ops Playbook — Kali VM Management & Network Recovery

A one-page-style operational guide for managing Kali Linux labs in VirtualBox without breaking networking — plus rapid recovery steps when things go wrong.

This repository focuses on prevention first, not reinstalling VMs.

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🎯 What This Covers

• Snapshot strategy before attacks
• Safe VirtualBox networking layouts
• Host VPN / proxy avoidance
• Post-lab cleanup routine
• NAT troubleshooting
• DHCP failures on host systems
• Firewall & routing resets
• Verification checklist
• Printable poster reference

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🧪 Typical Lab Failures

• Kali shows connected but no internet
• NAT gateway unreachable
• DNS failures
• Host machine offline
• DHCP server not responding
• Broken routes after pivoting

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🟢 Prevention Rules (Before Every Lab)

1️⃣ Take a snapshot
2️⃣ Use NAT only unless required
3️⃣ Disable host VPN / proxies
4️⃣ Document routing changes
5️⃣ Avoid saving broken VM states

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⚡ Kali 60-Second Reset Routine

sudo systemctl restart NetworkManager
sudo ip route flush table main
sudo dhclient eth0

sudo iptables -F
sudo iptables -t nat -F
sudo iptables -X
sudo nft flush ruleset

unset http_proxy https_proxy HTTP_PROXY HTTPS_PROXY