BASIC BACKTRACK USAGE....HOW TO

                                           BACKTRACK  HOW TO'S...??? 

 

BY NOW YOU ALREADY KNOW WHAT IS BACKTRACK, WHY IT IS USED, WHAT ARE THE FEATURES AND THE DIFFERENT COMMANDS USED IN BACKTRACK. EVEN THOUGH YOU MIGHT HAVE UNDERSTOOD HOW TO USE BACKTRACK MANY TIMES WE DON'T KNOW TO USE SOME VERY BASIC FEATURES. SO IN THIS POST WE ARE GOING TO SEE SOME OF THE MOST BASIC AND IMPORTANT HOW TO'S. 

 

1.  DIRECTORY :-  Directory is the path of a file where it is located in the hard disk. that means it gives us the address of a file or a folder where we stored it. For example if we have stored a file "abc.doc" in a folder named "xyz" which we placed in D drive. So the directory of the file will be as follows  d:/xy/abc.doc . 

 

2.  EXECUTE : The tools or scripts that we use on our Backtrack are all some type of executable files not necessary that they should have an extension .exe . So in order  to run any program or script we must know their location i.e the directory where that executable file is placed. It may be possible that currently we are in some other directory and the script or tool that we want to use is in some other directory. So to run that program we will use here the "Change Directory" option to navigate to that location.

To do that just open your terminaland run the change directory commandFor example if ypu want to use WIFITE which is a wi-fi password cracking tool present in directory  "pentest/wireless/wifite"  i.e WIFITE is a folder which contains the executable file by name WIFITE.PY . " Here .PY is the extension for the executable file. It's written in Python language that's why the extension is ".py" . Now in terminal we will type " cd /pentest/wireless/wifite/ " and hit enter. That means we are now in WIFITE folder where our required executable file WIFITE.PY is located. This folder may contain several files in it with the file that we require. So we have to check the name of our file and to do that we will use a command "ls".

So in the terminal just type "ls". It will show you all the files in that folder. So just copy the file name with with extension ".py" in this case. in terminal everything is case sensitive. All the commands have to be in lower case. But the executable file name must be same as it is in that directory. Now that we have our file name to run that file type in terminal  "./filename (i.e dot foreward slash and filename)" and hit enter. That's it. Your program will now get executed. 

 

3.  INSTALLING : Installing a software in backtrack is bit different from windows. Its also very easy in backtrack. In order to install any software we have to do it by command line. We just need to know the name of the program that we want to install. Also we need to be connected to the internet while installing the desired software. For example if we have to install "NESSUS" just type "apt-get install nessus". i.e "apt-get install pacage name". Replace the package name in the command with the name of the tool that you want to install.

Here in this command "apt" get stands for "Advance Packing Tool". The Advanced Packaging Tool, or APT, is a free user interface that works with core libraries to handle the installation and removal of software on the Debian GNU/Linux distribution and its variants.

 

4.  UPDATE : Now once we are done with installing the software/tools we need to update the tool or package that we just installed in order to get the latest features of that tools. Whatever tools we use in backtrack get timely updates and upgrades from their creators. So we always need to be in sync with what the latest trend is going on....!!! Update is used to resynchronize the package index files from their sources. The lists of available packages are fetched from the location(s) specified in /etc/apt/sources.list. For example, when using a Debian archive, this command retrieves and scans the package.gz files, so that information about new and updated packages is available. So to update your Backtrack type in terminal the following command and make sure that you are connected to the internet all the times while running the update command. So type in terminal as below :  "apt-get update" and hit the Enter button. Wait for some time to finish the process. It will take approximately 5 min to complete.

 

5.  UPGRADE : Once you have finished updating Backtrack Upgrade your backtrack for the latest versions. Upgrade is used to install the newest versions of all packages currently installed on the system from the sources enumerated in /etc/apt/sources.list. Packages currently installed with new versions available are retrieved and upgraded; under no circumstances are currently installed packages removed, or packages not already installed retrieved and installed. New versions of currently installed packages that cannot be upgraded without changing the install status of another package will be left at their current version.  To do this just type in terminal "apt-get upgrade" and press the Enter button.  

Wait for it to finish and have patiece because it may take some time to complete depending on you internet connection speed. All the progress you can see on the screen. If you have good internet connection speed i.e around 600-700 Kbps then it will take approx. 30-35 minutes or else it will take much more time.

 

6.  HELP CONTENTS : Most of the times we require help for the commands that we are using. It may happen with anyone just as we are about to type the command a thought comes in our mind "ohhh what was the syntax for this command....??? and there's nobody to help you out. So don't feel helpless Backtrack knows very well to take care of it's users. It has everything that you require. To get help on any command ask Backtrack. Type as  below and  you will get your answer    "command -h" and hit enter. If this doesn't work type "conmmand --help" and you will get every thing that you require i.e command syntax and also the different that you can use. give it a try once....!!! Replace the word "command" with the command name that you want information about. For example if you want help about command "apt-get" type in terminal "apt-get -h" and press enter button and you will get the complete information about it.

Now you are all set to use the backtrack by you own.