Getting Started on the Kali Attacker Box — Pentest Range Module M1

Getting Started on the Kali Attacker Box (Module M1)

Pentest Range series · Part 1 of 5 · by Vinh NTT

Every engagement in the CertInstructor Pentest Range starts from the same place: your Kali attacker box at 10.10.10.10. Before you touch a single target, Module M1 makes sure you're comfortable at the shell and can find your way around the network. Think of it as basic training — short, but it's the foundation everything else stands on.

Simulation only. Everything in M1 runs in your browser. No real host is scanned and nothing leaves your machine.

What's in Module M1

M1 contains two labs, in order:

1. Kali Basics & Recon — learn the shell, read config files, build a workspace, then map the lab network.
2. Kali Sandbox & Flag Hunt — enumerate the users, processes and open ports on a Kali box and capture 7 hidden flags.

The first lab gives you the vocabulary; the second turns it into a game so it sticks.

Step by step

1. Open the range and run recon

Go to go.certinstructor.org/range. On the landing page, find Stage 00 · Reconnaissance and click ▶ Run ARP discovery. The simulated Kali terminal runs sudo netdiscover -r 10.10.10.0/24 and reveals the live hosts — your attacker box plus the three targets. This is reconnaissance in miniature: before you attack anything, you find what's alive.

2. Enter the Kali box

Click the highlighted Enter the Kali box — start here (M1) card. You'll land on the M1 Lab Launcher — a page that lists the module's labs as cards along the kill chain, with a Reset progress button and a link to the ATT&CK Navigator.

3. Work "Kali Basics & Recon"

Open the first lab. You'll see the standard range layout:

• A terminal in the centre — type commands here.
• A Missions tab — your objectives, which tick off automatically as you complete them.
• A Guide / Hints panel — suggested commands if you get stuck.
• A Quiz tab — the knowledge check for the end.

Start by exploring the filesystem the way you would on a real box — list directories, read the lab readme and notes files, poke around the config. Then follow the missions: they'll walk you from "look around" to "map the network." Every time you satisfy an objective, the progress bar moves.

4. Take the Kali Sandbox flag hunt

Once basics feel comfortable, open Kali Sandbox & Flag Hunt. This one is a mini-CTF: enumerate users, running processes and listening ports to uncover 7 flags hidden around the system. It's the most fun way to cement enumeration habits — the exact skill you'll lean on in every module after this.

5. Check the ATT&CK Navigator

Before you move on, open the ATT&CK Navigator from the launcher. You'll see the MITRE techniques M1 covers light up, and the ones you've actually completed marked as done. Getting used to reading this matrix now pays off later — it's how you'll see your coverage grow across the whole range.

Tips

• Type the commands, don't just read them. The muscle memory is the point.
• Use help and the hint chips freely — they're there to keep you moving, not to be avoided.
• Finish both labs on the same browser so your progress carries into the ATT&CK Navigator.

Where M1 fits in your certification path

M1 is pure fundamentals: the shell, enumeration, and the recon mindset. That's exactly the ground floor of CompTIA Security+ — core concepts, tools, and the vocabulary every security role assumes you already have.

Next step when you're ready: the CompTIA Security+ CertMaster Labs (SY0-701) take these fundamentals into official, exam-aligned lab environments. The range gets you fluent for free; the CertMaster Labs get you exam-ready.

Up next

You've got your operator box and your recon habits. Time to use them on a real (well — realistically simulated) target.

→ Continue to Module M2 — Owning the Linux Box (Metasploitable 2)

About the author — Vinh NTT  , founder of CertInstructor, 20+ years in IT-security training. Holds the full CompTIA security stack (Security+, CySA+, PenTest+, SecurityX) and is a two-time EC-Council Instructor Circle of Excellence Award winner (2022 & 2023). The Pentest Range is his original work, shared free.