Kali Linux Install Guide

Step 1: Prepare your Mac for installation

Download Kali Live ISO from the official Kali Linux Live ISO page or click this link to download.
Open Disk Utility on macOS
Partition the Disk:

macOS disk utility application — Disk Utility

macOS disk utility partition — Disk Utility

*** If separate EFI partition format the partition using FAT system ***

Download WiFi and Bluetooth firmware.sh.
In macOS terminal run the following commands bash chmod +x ~/Downloads/firmware.sh ~/Downloads/firmware.sh # Choose option 1 when prompted

Getting WiFi & Bluetooth firmware from macOS — After running firmware.sh script

Download and install QEMU for macOS from QEMU official site.

Step 2: Boot Kali Live in a VM and format the partitions

Run the following command in the macOS Terminal (adjust paths accordingly): sudo qemu-system-x86_64 \ -accel hvf \ -m 4G \ -smp 4 \ -boot d \ -drive file=<path-to-Kali-Live-ISO>,media=cdrom \ -drive file=/dev/<disk-name>,if=virtio,format=raw \ -drive file=/usr/local/opt/qemu/share/qemu/edk2-x86_64-code.fd,if=pflash,readonly=on \ -vga std
Start the Live system (amd64)

Open the terminal and format partitions with following commands: # Format root mkfs.ext4 /dev/<disk-name> # Format swap mkswap /dev/<disk-name>

*** <disk-name> = vda, vdb or vdc according to their file system ***
Verify the partition by running the command lsblk -f
Reboot the system

Step 4: Start the Live system (amd64) again

Open terminal and run the following commands sudo su mount /dev/<root-partition> /mnt mount /dev/<efi-partition> /mnt/boot/efi mount --bind /dev /mnt/dev mount --bind /dev/pts /mnt/dev/pts mount --bind /proc /mnt/proc mount --bind /sys /mnt/sys

Copy and rename required *.efi files # making BOOT directory at EFI system mkdir -p /mnt/boot/efi/EFI/BOOT # check the *.efi files exists should contain boot.efi, grubx64.efi, and mmx64.efi ls /run/live/medium/EFI/boot # copying boot files from live system to EFI system cp -r /run/live/medium/EFI/boot/* /mnt/boot/efi/EFI/BOOT/ # renaming grubx64.efi to bootx64.efi mv /mnt/boot/efi/EFI/BOOT/grubx64.efi /mnt/boot/efi/EFI/BOOT/bootx64.efi

Step 5: Add T2 Drivers, kernel, and configure the system

Continue in the live system

Change the root directory chroot /mnt
Fix hosts for root system vim /etc/hosts # Add: 127.0.0.1 localhost kali

Add T2 Repository and install T2 drivers curl -s --compressed "https://adityagarg8.github.io/t2-ubuntu-repo/KEY.gpg" | gpg --dearmor | sudo tee /etc/apt/trusted.gpg.d/t2-ubuntu-repo.gpg >/dev/null curl -s --compressed -o /etc/apt/sources.list.d/t2.list "https://adityagarg8.github.io/t2-ubuntu-repo/t2.list" apt update CODENAME=testing echo "deb [signed-by=/etc/apt/trusted.gpg.d/t2-ubuntu-repo.gpg] https://github.com/AdityaGarg8/t2-ubuntu-repo/releases/download/${CODENAME} ./" | tee -a /etc/apt/sources.list.d/t2.list apt update apt install linux-t2 -y
Install T2 Audio Fix: git clone https://github.com/kekrby/t2-better-audio.git /tmp/t2-better-audio cd /tmp/t2-better-audio ./install.sh rm -rf /tmp/t2-better-audio
Edit the default grub and replace with: vim /etc/default/grub # GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX="quiet splash intel_iommu=on iommu=pt pcie_ports=compat"

Editing /etc/default/grub using vim — Before Edit

Run diskutil from macOS terminal diskutil list
Configure fstab: # edit fstab in Kali Linux terminal vim /etc/fstab # replace the name with nvme0n1pX where X should be replaced by related disk no

Editing /etc/fstab using vim — Before Edit

Update Initramfs & GRUB: vim /etc/initramfs-tools/modules # Add: snd snd_pcm apple-bce # save the file update-initramfs -u update-grub -o /boot/efi/boot/grub/grub.cfg shutdown now

Editing /etc/initramfs-tools/modules using vim — Before Edit

Step 6: Final macOS steps

Bless the boot folder sudo bless --folder /Volumes/EFI/EFI/BOOT/ --label "GRUB"
Follow these steps to update the NVRAM and it will fix suspend
- Reboot your MacBook Pro and hold Command + R to enter macOS Recovery
- From the top menu bar, open Utilities > Startup Security Utility
- Set Secure Boot to: Full Security
- Set External Boot to: Allow booting from external or removable media
- Reboot the system
- Restart and hold Option (⌥) key
- Select your EFI system to boot and it will fail
  ** This has worked for me hope it does for everyone **
- Reboot your MacBook Pro and hold Command + R to enter macOS Recovery
- Set Secure Boot to: No Security
- Set External Boot to: Allow booting from external or removable media
- Reboot the system
- Restart and hold Option (⌥) key

Step 7: Boot into Kali Linux

Install WiFi and Bluetooth firmware chmod +x /boot/efi/firmware.sh # choose option 1 on prompt and yes to save the files # connect to the wifi
Suspend workaround which modprobe which rmmod # as for Kali Linux it should be in /usr/share/sbin/ # create the file suspend-fix-t2.service using vim vim /etc/systemd/system/suspend-fix-t2.service
Add the following to the file


                            
                                [Unit]
                            
                            
                                Description=Disable and Re-Enable Apple BCE Module (and Wi-Fi)
                            
                            
                                Before=sleep.target
                            
                            
                                StopWhenUnneeded=yes
                            
                            
                                
                            
                            
                                [Service]
                            
                            
                                User=root
                            
                            
                                Type=oneshot
                            
                            
                                RemainAfterExit=yes
                            
                            
                                
                            
                            
                                #ExecStart=/usr/sbin/modprobe -r brcmfmac_wcc
                            
                            
                                #ExecStart=/usr/sbin/modprobe -r brcmfmac
                            
                            
                                ExecStart=/usr/sbin/rmmod -f apple-bce
                            
                            
                            
                                ExecStop=/usr/bin/modprobe apple-bce
                            
                            
                                #ExecStop=/usr/sbin/modprobe brcmfmac
                            
                             
                                #ExecStop=/usr/sbin/modprobe brcmfmac_wcc
                            
                            
                            
                                [Install]
                            
                            
                                WantedBy=sleep.target

Save and run the following command


                            
                                sudo systemctl enable suspend-fix-t2.service
                            
                            
                                apt update && apt upgrade -y
                            
                            
                                reboot

Installing Kali Linux on a MacBook Pro with T2 Chip

Reference:

Overview of Steps:

Step 1: Prepare your Mac for installation

Step 2: Boot Kali Live in a VM and format the partitions

Step 3: Start the Kali installer

Step 4: Start the Live system (amd64) again

Step 5: Add T2 Drivers, kernel, and configure the system

Step 6: Final macOS steps

Step 7: Boot into Kali Linux

Step 8: Optional settings