Kali Linux 2020.4 Switches The Default Shell From Bash To ZSH

Kali Linux 2020.4 was released yesterday by Offensive Security, and it takes the big step of changing the default shell from Bash to ZSH.

Kali Linux comes with numerous software packages and tools that allow cybersecurity professionals and ethical hackers to perform penetration testing and security audits.

With this release, the Kali Linux Team introduces the following new features outlined below.

Kali Linux switches to ZSH as the default shell

In August, we reported that Kali Linux was switching from Bash to ZSH so that users could benefit from the numerous plugins, themes, and new features, including path expansions, auto directory changing, and auto-suggestions.

With Kali Linux 2020.4, the new default shell is now ZSH for users who install the distribution.

For existing users who perform an upgrade to the latest version, you will need to manually copy Kali’s new ZSH configuration and switch to it as your default shell.

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This can be done with the following commands:

cp -i /etc/skel/.zshrc ~/
chsh -s /bin/zsh

New Bash theme

This release also includes a makeover for the Bash shell to use a similar-looking theme to the Kali’s ZSH shell.

For new installs, you will automatically use this new theme with Bash.

For upgrades, you will need to copy over the new .bashrc file using the following commands: 

cp -i .bashrc{,.bak}
cp -i /etc/skel/.bashrc ~/
source ~/.bashrc

Dynamic messages at login

To better help people use Kali Linux, this version will display a dynamic message (MOTD) on login that offers suggestions on fixing detected issues with the installation.

“With all of that said, we are wanting to improve our communications going forwards. Most of the actions in Kali are done by the command line. So now, upon logging into a Kali terminal or console, you may be presented with a mixture of the following (depending on the configuration of your system, as it is dynamic),” the Kali Linux Team explains.

Below is an example of the new MOTD containing detected issues and how to fix them that will be shown to users on login. When users resolve the listed messages, the MOTD will be changed to no longer list issues that have been fixed.

You can disable the MOTD on a per-user basis using the touch ~/.hushlogin command or globally with touch /etc/kali-motd/disable-all.

Complete list of changes in Kali Linux 2020.4

The full list of changes in Kali Linux 2020.4 are:

• ZSH is the new default shell – We said it was happening last time, Now it has. ZSH. Is. Now. Default.
• Bash shell makeover – It may not function like ZSH, but now Bash looks like ZSH.
• Partnership with tools authors – We are teaming up with byt3bl33d3r.
• Message at login (MOTD) – Proactively pointing users to resources that resolve detected issues.
• AWS image refresh – Now on GovCloud. Includes Kali’s default (command line) tools again. And there is a new URL.
• Packaging Guides – Want to start getting your tool inside of Kali? This should help.
• New Tools & Updates – New Kernel and various new tools and updates for existing ones, as well as setting Proxychains 4 as default.
• NetHunter Updates – New NetHunter settings menu, select from different boot animations, and persistent Magisk.
• Win-KeX 2.5 – New “Enhanced Session Mode” brings Win-KeX to ARM devices
• Vagrant & VMware – We now support VMware users who use Vagrant.

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This version also includes the following new or updated tools:

• Apple bleee
• CertGraph
• dnscat2
• FinalRecon
• goDoH
• hostapd-mana
• Metasploit Framework v6
• Whatmask

How to get Kali Linux 2020.4

To install a fresh version of Kali Linux 2020.4, you can download ISO images that support full installs or live distributions.

For those updating from a previous version, you can use the following commands to upgrade and switch your default shell to ZSH:

echo "deb http://http.kali.org/kali kali-rolling main non-free contrib" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list

sudo apt update && sudo apt -y full-upgrade

cp -i /etc/skel/.bashrc ~/

cp -i /etc/skel/.zshrc ~/

chsh -s /bin/zsh

[ -f /var/run/reboot-required ] && sudo reboot -f

You can then check if the upgrade was successful using the following command:

grep VERSION /etc/os-release