CompTIA Security+ SY0-701

Lab Setup Guide - UPDATED

Follow these instructions to prepare your lab environment. Perform each task in sequence until done.

Pre-requisites
• Windows 10 64-bit Home or Pro 22H2 (build 19045) or higher
• 64-bit processor with Second Level Address Translation (SLAT)
• Hardware virtualization enabled in BIOS
• 16 GB RAM (minimum)
• 60 GB free disk space (minimum)
• Your local Windows account must be a member of the administrators group
o It will be a member by default
o If you can install software on the computer, then you are an administrator
• A working webcam

Prepare Your Host PC

1. Back Up Your PC
When working with hacking tools, there is always a chance that you could accidentally damage your
operating system, apps, or data. Be sure to back up all important data to a removable drive or the cloud
before you start.

2. Disable any Anti-virus Programs

Disable any anti-virus program you have running on your Host PC, including real-time protection. If you
use Windows Security, follow these steps:

1. Go to Settings → Update & Security / Privacy & security → Windows Security → Virus & threat
protection → Manage settings.
2. Turn off all of the protection features.
3. At the bottom, under Exclusions, click Add an exclusion→ Folder → Local Disk (C:) → Select
folder.
4. Close Settings.

Note: You will have to disable real-time protection every time you restart your computer.
3. Uninstall Hyper-V
Microsoft Hyper-V is incompatible with VMware. If you have it installed, you will need to uninstall it for
VMware Workstation Player to run.

1. Search for and open Control Panel.

2. Click Uninstall a program.
3. Click Turn Windows Features on or Off.
4. Ensure that Hyper-V is unchecked (un-ticked) and click OK.
5. If prompted to reboot, do not do so yet.
6. Click Start → Command Prompt.
7. Right-click Command Prompt → Run as administrator. When prompted, click Yes.
8. Type the following command and press Enter:
bcdedit /set hypervisorlaunchtype off
9. Close the Command Prompt window.
10. Reboot your Host PC and then log back in.

4. Obtain the Host PC IP Address

1. Search for Command Prompt and open it.
2. At the command prompt, type:

ipconfig

3. Press Enter.
4. In the results, scroll up to the first adapter and make note of the IPv4 Address.
Note: Your address and adapter name may be quite different from the example shown.
Optional Hardware
The following devices are featured in two of the lab activities. While not required (you can just watch the
demo), they offer additional hands-on exploration for students who may already own them or wish to
invest in advanced tools. Please note that these devices can be expensive and are not expected
purchases for this course.
• [Link] Cable (Basic USB-A to Apple Lightning)
[Link]
• Flipper Zero
[Link]
Install and Configure Software
1. Download the Software
Download the Activity Files, Software Tools and Virtual Machines to your host PC:

You can download all of the files from any of the following mirrors.

NOTE: To avoid compatibility issues, all hyperlinks have been removed from this document. Copy and
paste the URL to your browser.

[Link]

[Link]

[Link]

[Link]

[Link]
Activity Files:

• password_is_Security+.txt
• Sec+701_Activity_Files.7z
Software Tools:

• VMware Workstation Player 17.5.0 ([Link])

• 7-zip ([Link])
• PuTTY ([Link])
• .NET Framework 4.8 ([Link])
• JetBrains dotPeek ([Link])
• Valhalla Honeypot (English) ([Link])
• BlueStacks v5.22 (BlueStacksFullInstaller_5.22.85.1011_amd64_native.exe)
• Docker Desktop for Windows (Docker Desktop [Link])
Virtual Machines:

Note: The Kali Linux VM has been divided into parts which you will reassemble after download.

• Kali Linux 2023.4 (8 parts)

• Metasploitable 2 (1 part)
• XP-PRO (1 part)
Additional Activity File:

1. Open a browser to:

[Link]

2. Download the ISO IMAGE

3. Make note of the SHA 1 Hash value published on the website

2. Install the First Set of Tools

1. On your Host PC, perform a default installation of the following software tools:
• 7-zip
• VMware Workstation 17 Player
• PuTTY
• .NET Framework 4.8
• JetBrains dotPeek

3. Install and Test BlueStacks 5

BlueStacks is actually Android 7.1.2 (Nougat) running in its own virtual machine. Previous versions of
BlueStacks 5.x required Hyper-V, which is disabled for this lab. Bluestacks 5.22 does not require Hyper-V.

1. If necessary, plug your webcam into your Host PC.

2. Locate the BlueStacks 5.20 installer and double-click it.
3. Click Yes, then Install Now.
4. When the installation is complete, ensure that the BlueStacks App Player opens.
 5. In the lower right corner of the BlueStacks Player, click the Settings button
6. In Settings, click Devices.
7. Set the Camera to your webcam.
8. Set the Microphone to a working mic (the webcam should be fine) and click Save Changes.
9. Close Settings.
10. On the App Player desktop, in System Apps click the Camera icon.

11. Click Allow, then click Next.

12. Verify that the camera works.
13. In either the upper left or lower right corner of the App Player, click the Home button .
14. Close BlueStacks 5.
15. To reduce confusion, on your Host PC desktop, locate and delete the shortcuts for:
• BlueStacks Multi-Instance Manager
• BlueStacks X

4. Install Packet Tracer and Obtain a Free Account

In order to run Packet Tracer, you will first need a free Cisco Network Academy student login.

1. Sign up for a free Cisco Network Academy account.

a. Open a browser to [Link]
b. Click Sign up.
c. Enter the required information and click Register.
d. Return to the login page and log in with your new credentials.
2. Perform a default installation of Packet Tracer. When prompted to run multi-user, click No.
3. Log in
a. At the Cisco Packet Tracer Login page, click Keep me logged in
b. Click CISCO Skills For All
 c. When prompted, log in.
d. Verify that Packer Tracer opens to a blank palette.

4. Close Packet Tracer.

5. Create a Test Gmail account

You will use a live Gmail account for two activities. You can use an existing account, or sign up for a free
one.

1. Open a browser to [Link].

2. At the Sign in page click Create account.
3. Select For my personal use.
4. Enter details and verify account as required.
5. When finished, send/receive a test email to ensure that the account is working ok.
6. Close Gmail.
6. Install Docker Desktop for Windows
You will need Docker Desktop for Windows for the Containers activity. Docker Desktop requires the
Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL), which you will install first.

A. Install the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL)

1. Open PowerShell as administrator.
a. On your Host PC, search for powershell
b. Right-click Windows PowerShell → Run as administrator
2. Check to see if you already have WSL installed. Enter this command:

wsl -l -v

3. If you do not already have WLS installed, then enter this command:

wsl –install

4. Allow WSL to finish installing.

B. Install Docker Desktop

1. Locate your download of Docker Desktop.
2. Double-click Docker Desktop [Link] to run the installer.
Note: By default, Docker Desktop is installed at C:\Program Files\Docker\Docker.
3. On the Configuration page, when prompted, ensure the Use WSL 2 instead of Hyper-V option is
selected.
4. Follow the instructions on the installation wizard to authorize the installer and proceed with the
install.
5. When the installation is successful, select Close to complete the installation process.
6. Start the Docker Desktop app.

7. Verify that Docker Desktop opens.

 8. Close Docker Desktop.

Prepare the Virtual Machines

You will need to unzip the VMs, open them in VMware Workstation Player, and then configure them.

1. Prepare Kali Linux

1. Unzip and reassemble Kali.
a. Locate and right-click kali-linux-2023.4.7z.001 → 7-zip → Extract here.
b. Allow 7-zip to reconstruct the Kali folder.
2. Add the Kali VM to the VMware Workstation 17 Player library.
a. Launch VMware Workstation 17 Player.
b. On the VMware Workstation 17 Player Home page, click Open a Virtual Machine.
c. Browse into the unzipped kali-linux-2023.4 folder.
d. Select the [Link] file and click Open.
3. Set the Kali VM Network Adapter to Bridged mode.
a. Select the Kali VM and click Edit virtual machine settings.

b. On the Hardware tab, select Network Adapter.

c. Under Network connection, change the adapter to Bridged. Ensure that under Device
status it is set to Connect at power on.

d. Click OK.
4. Start the Kali VM and log in.
a. In the VMware Workstation Player home page, with the Kali Linux VM selected, click
Play virtual machine. If prompted, click I copied it.
b. Allow Kali to boot up.
c. Log into Kali Linux as kali with the password of kali
5. Obtain Kali’s IP address.
a. At the top of the Kali desktop, click the terminal button.

b. In the terminal, type the following and press Enter (note: Linux is case sensitive!):

ifconfig

c. Under eth0: make note of the IP address listed after inet.

d. Verify that the IP address is in the same subnet as the Host PC.
• The first three numbers (octets) should be the same on both your Host PC and Kali
Linux.
• For example: Host PC = [Link], Kali Linux = [Link]

Note: The IP addresses of your VMs may change periodically as you power the VMs on
and off.

5. Set the root password to kali and log out.

a. In the terminal, enter:
 sudo passwd root

b. When prompted, enter kali (you will do this three times).

c. Close the terminal window.

6. Leave Kali Linux VM running, and switch to your Host PC.

2. Prepare Metasploitable2
Note: Metasploitable2 has no GUI. If your mouse becomes trapped in the Metasploitable2 VM, press
Ctrl+Alt to release it.

1. Following the same procedure you used for Kali Linux:

a. Use 7-zip to extract Metasploitable2-Linux.7z.001 (it only has one file)
b. Add the Metasploitable2 VM to the VMware Workstation 17 Player library
c. Set its Network Adapter to Bridged
d. Start the VM
e. Log in as msfadmin / msfadmin
f. Obtain and make note of Metasploitable2’s IP address
g. Verify that the IP address is in the same subnet as Kali Linux and the Host PC
Note: If you are prompted to install VMware Tools, click Never Remind Me

2. Leave Metasploitable2 VM running, and switch to your Host PC

3. Prepare XP-PRO

1. Using the same procedure as before, perform the following:

a. Use 7-zip to extract Metasploitable2-Linux.7z.001 (it only has one file)
b. Add the Metasploitable2 VM to the VMware Workstation 17 Player library
c. Set its Network Adapter to Bridged
d. Start the VM
e. If prompted that the virtual device ide 1:0 cannot be connected, click No.
f. Log in as Administrator / password
g. Open a command prompt and enter ipconfig
h. Make note of XP-PRO’s IP address
i. Verify that the IP address is in the same subnet the other VMs and your Host PC
Note: If you are prompted to install VMware Tools, click Never Remind Me

2. Leave XP-PRO VM running and switch to your Host PC.

Final Preparation
1. Verify that the Host PC can ping all VMs.
a. On your Host PC, open a Command Prompt.
b. Ping Kali Linux VM. Enter the following command. Substitute <Kali IP Address> with
Kali’s actual IP:

ping <Kali IP Address>

For example: ping [Link]

c. Verify that you receive four replies from Kali.

d. Using the same technique, verify that you can ping Metasploitable2 and XP-PRO.

2. Verify that the Kali Linux VM can ping Metasploitable2 and XP-PRO.
a. Switch to Kali.
b. Open a terminal.
c. Use the ping command to ping Metasploitable2.
d. After receiving a few replies, press Ctrl+c to stop the ping.
e. Repeat the process to ping XP-PRO.

3. Suspend the VMs.

Perform this on all three VMs.
a. In upper left of the VMware Player, click the Suspend guest button.

b. When prompted, click Yes.

c. Verify that all three VMs suspend, and that their windows disappear.

Note: To resume a suspended VM, open VMware Workstation 17 Player. Select the VM and
click Play Virtual Machine.

Congratulations! Your Security+ SY0-701 lab setup is complete!