Kali Linux Docker Desktop

This project runs a full Kali Linux XFCE desktop through Docker with both VNC and noVNC (browser) access.

Quick start

docker compose up -d

Then browse to http://localhost:6080/vnc.html (noVNC) or use a VNC client on localhost:5901.

Display size / Fullscreen

The virtual display defaults to 1920x1200. Adjust it before launching if you prefer a different size, e.g.:

DISPLAY_WIDTH=1920 DISPLAY_HEIGHT=1080 docker compose up -d

You can also tweak DISPLAY_DEPTH (default 24). Existing containers need a restart for resolution changes.

Passwords

• Desktop login: The XFCE session auto-starts as the kali user. The default password is kali. Override it by exporting KALI_PASSWORD before docker compose up.
• VNC access: By default the VNC password is kali. Set your own with VNC_PASSWORD=my-secret docker compose up -d. To allow passwordless VNC access, set the variable to an empty string, e.g.:

  export VNC_PASSWORD=
  docker compose up -d

Tools

• Burp Suite Community Edition is pre-installed. Launch it from the XFCE menu under Applications → Web Application Analysis → Burp Suite or run burpsuite in a terminal.
• Ghidra is available under Applications → Reverse Engineering → Ghidra or via the ghidra launcher.

Mirrors

If apt attempts to use a blocked Kali mirror, rebuild with a different mirror:

docker compose build --build-arg KALI_MIRROR=http://archive-4.kali.org/kali

Any public Kali mirror URL should work.

macOS Screen Sharing tips

• To avoid seeing both the remote and local mouse pointer, start the container with X11VNC_EXTRA_ARGS="-nocursorshape".
• Use the Screen Sharing View menu to toggle between Actual Size, Fit to Window, and Enter Full Screen so the remote desktop fills your display cleanly.

RealVNC clipboard

Clipboard sharing is enabled by default (via autocutsel). If you still cannot paste into Kali from your host, restart the stack (or rebuild) so the background sync process starts, then reconnect in RealVNC. Some viewers expect the x11vnc -clipboard option; that flag is available for override via X11VNC_EXTRA_ARGS, but note that recent x11vnc builds may not ship with that legacy option.

Low disk space during builds

If you see no space left on device while building the image, prune unused Docker data:

docker system prune -a

Re-run the build afterward.

The passwords can also be managed via an .env file in this directory.