Blackhat Documentation

Have a question? Look here first.

Blackhat is a pretty standard GNU/Linux distribution in most aspects, so it shouldn't be too hard to pick up. This documentation attempts to clear up possible areas of confusion that could arise from inexperience and from any unconventional Blackhat setups. If you have any other questions, email me at geekysuavo@gmail.com.

• About Blackhat

Blackhat is a GNU/Linux distribution that is influenced by Hardened Linux From Scratch, Slackware Linux, and Fedora Core. It conforms to the Linux Filesystem Hierarchy Standard, and includes a simple package management suite similar to the Slackware pkgtools.

• Where to Get Blackhat

Blackhat Linux ISO CD-ROM images are available from the downloads page. There are three different ways to install using the ISO images. If the installation target has a DVD-ROM drive and bandwidth is not an issue, then the *-DVD.iso is the best option, as it provides all of the packages on a single disc. If your computer lacks a DVD drive, then you can download the *-CD.iso files. Finally, if you want to download and install only the packages you need, you can use the *-NET.iso image, which provides a networked environment.

• Installation Steps

1.) Download an ISO image from the downloads page. Burn this iso to either a CD-R or CD-RW disc. In linux, this command (or something similar) should do the trick:

% cdrecord -v -tao -eject dev=ATAPI:1,0,0 speed=16 <iso-file>.iso

2.) Boot to the newly burned CD by modifying your BIOS settings as needed. There is only one kernel to boot to, so just hit enter unless you know that you'll need extra kernel parameters, which you may specify as:

boot: linux opt=value opt2=value2 ...

3.) Setup partition schemes using cfdisk, and create any needed swap partitions using mkswap. Also, format all newly created filesystems using mkfs. The installer will not create or format partitions; you have to do that manually.

4.) Configure the installation process by issuing the following command:

The setup program will present a series of questions and dialogs for you to answer. Once that's done, a file called 'setup.XXXX' will be created (XXXX will be some random string). You can further customize the options file if you like, but make sure you know what you're doing.

5.) Initiate the installation process by issuing the following command:

The execute program will read the setup options and perform the installation without asking for any user input. Feel free to keep a watchful eye on the output of the installation. :-)

6.) Reboot and hope everything worked! :-)