This is a sweet link for anyone looking for a leg-up on getting started with Backtrack 4:
http://www.corelan.be:8800/index.php/2009/07/04/backtrack-4-cheat-sheet/
I do have a couple of additions to it though:
1. In point number 1, the writer states that in order to install Virtual Box guest additions you need to type in “mount cdrom“. That actually didnt work for me. I had downloaded the Backtrack ISO and installed it into a Virtual Box VM, but in order to install the guest additions I had to type
mount /dev/hdc
/mediacdrom0/VBoxLinuxAdditions-x86.run
Probably this differs from what’s written in the cheat sheet because I downloaded the physical ISO and built the VM myself rather than using the pre-built VM available for download. This meant that the cdrom was actually located as a master device on the 2nd IDE controller. In fact, the /etc/fstab shows why I had to use /dev/hdc:
# /etc/fstab: static file system information.
#
# <file system> <mount point> <type> <options> <dump> <pass>
proc /proc proc defaults 0 0
[…]
/dev/hdc /media/cdrom0 udf,iso9660 user,noauto,exec,utf8 0 0
/dev/fd0 /media/floppy0 auto rw,user,noauto,exec,utf8 0 0
Note the line in bold which maps hdc to the cdrom.
2. In order to update the exploits / programs using Fast-track, in point 4 in the cheat sheet I had to first install Fasttrack by using the command:
cd /pentest/exploits/fasttrack
python setup.py install
Before continuing with the commands as per the cheat sheet
3. One last addition: I wanted to change the screen resolution on my VM and make the change permanent. I had to
sudo gedit /etc/X11/xorg.conf
Find something similar to the below:
Section “Screen”
Identifier “Primary Screen”
Device “Nvidia”
EndSection
and add this to it:
DefaultDepth 24
SubSection “Display”
Depth 24
Modes “1280×1024” “1024×768” “640×480”
EndSubSection
so it should all look similar to this:
Section “Screen”
Identifier “Primary Screen”
Device “ATI Technologies, Inc. M22 [Radeon Mobility M300]”
DefaultDepth 24
SubSection “Display”
Depth 24
Modes “1280×1024” “1024×768” “640×480”
EndSubSection
EndSection
Make sure you add your new resolution to the modes line, for example:
Modes “1280×1024” “1024×768” “640×480”
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