Sold by: Kali
AWS Free Tier
Kali Linux is an open-source, multi-platform distribution, aimed at advanced Penetration Testing and Security Auditing.
Kali Linux provides several hundred common tools and industry specific modifications, targeted towards various information security tasks, such as Penetration Testing, Security Research, Computer Forensics, Reverse Engineering, Vulnerability Management and Red Team Testing.
Overview
Kali Linux (formerly known as BackTrack Linux) is an open-source, Debian-based Linux distribution aimed at advanced Penetration Testing and Security Auditing. It does this by providing common tools, configurations, and automations which allows the user to focus on the task that needs to be completed, not the surrounding activity.
Kali Linux contains industry specific modifications as well as several hundred tools targeted towards various Information Security tasks, such as Penetration Testing, Security Research, Computer Forensics, Reverse Engineering, Vulnerability Management and Red Team Testing.
Kali Linux is a multi-platform solution, accessible and freely available to information security professionals and hobbyists.
Highlights
- Advanced penetration testing platform
- Hundreds of security tools
- Cloud-Init support for customized configuration
Details
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Delivery method
Delivery option
64-bit (x86) Amazon Machine Image (AMI)
Latest version
Operating system
OtherLinux 2025.1a
Features and programs
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Pricing
Pricing is based on actual usage, with charges varying according to how much you consume. Subscriptions have no end date and may be canceled any time.
Additional AWS infrastructure costs may apply. Use the AWS Pricing Calculator to estimate your infrastructure costs.
Dimension | Cost/hour |
|---|---|
t2.medium Recommended | $0.00 |
t2.micro AWS Free Tier | $0.00 |
t3.micro AWS Free Tier | $0.00 |
m3.xlarge | $0.00 |
m5dn.2xlarge | $0.00 |
hs1.8xlarge | $0.00 |
u-24tb1.metal | $0.00 |
g4dn.2xlarge | $0.00 |
c5ad.xlarge | $0.00 |
cc2.8xlarge | $0.00 |
Vendor refund policy
This is a free product
Legal
Vendor terms and conditions
Upon subscribing to this product, you must acknowledge and agree to the terms and conditions outlined in the vendor's End User License Agreement (EULA) .
Content disclaimer
Vendors are responsible for their product descriptions and other product content. AWS does not warrant that vendors' product descriptions or other product content are accurate, complete, reliable, current, or error-free.
Delivery details
64-bit (x86) Amazon Machine Image (AMI)
Amazon Machine Image (AMI)
An AMI is a virtual image that provides the information required to launch an instance. Amazon EC2 (Elastic Compute Cloud) instances are virtual servers on which you can run your applications and workloads, offering varying combinations of CPU, memory, storage, and networking resources. You can launch as many instances from as many different AMIs as you need.
Version release notes
This listing is based on Kali Linux (2025.1a - rolling) AMD64
Release: 2025-03-19 Changelog: https://www.kali.org/blog/kali-linux-2025-1-release/
Credentials information: https://www.kali.org/docs/introduction/default-credentials/
For more information about upgrading, please see: https://www.kali.org/docs/general-use/updating-kali/
Additional details
Usage instructions
Once your instance is running, connect to it with your SSH private key using the "kali" account. For more information, please see: https://www.kali.org/docs/introduction/default-credentials/
For more information about our AWS cloud image, please see: https://www.kali.org/docs/cloud/aws/
If you are performing penetration testing, please refer to the AWS Testing Request for more information: https://aws.amazon.com/security/penetration-testing/
Resources
Vendor resources
Support
Vendor support
Kali's Community:
AWS infrastructure support
AWS Support is a one-on-one, fast-response support channel that is staffed 24x7x365 with experienced and technical support engineers. The service helps customers of all sizes and technical abilities to successfully utilize the products and features provided by Amazon Web Services.
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Kali Linux is an open-source, multi-platform distribution, aimed at advanced Penetration Testing and Security Auditing.
Kali Linux provides several hundred common tools and industry specific modifications, targeted towards various information security tasks, such as Penetration Testing, Security Research, Computer Forensics, Reverse Engineering, Vulnerability Management and Red Team Testing.
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Kali Linux 22.4 AMI with tools preloaded for pentesting and latest operating system and security patches applied.
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Customer reviews
Reaux
💡 For anyone still trying to figure out the correct SSH username:
Reviewed on Apr 14, 2025
Purchase verified by AWS
Just adding to the conversation because this wasn’t smooth sailing for me either — but also, I’m a beginner.
When I first launched the AMI in us-east-1, I tried logging in with the username kali and it didn’t work. So I tried the other usual suspects: root, ec2-user, admin — nothing worked.
Eventually, after some trial and error (terminating the instance and starting fresh using the same key pair), I used root again and saw the message from the Kali devs saying that kali is the correct username. I tried it again — and this time it worked.
The first time I used root I didn’t get that message at all. The second time I did. No idea why kali didn’t work initially, or why I didn’t get the dev message the first time. Maybe the instance wasn’t fully initialized yet, maybe I made a typo, maybe it’s just AWS being AWS.
If you’re hitting the same wall, don’t assume you’re doing something wrong — it might just take a few tries. It may have absolutely nothing to do with whether you “read the instructions.” I read them too. Still had issues.
✅ Try terminating the instance and launching a fresh one. That’s what finally worked for me.
Just keep troubleshooting. You’ll get in. 💻🔥
Leave a comment0 comments
dave
Doesn't come with standard PenTest tools
Reviewed on Mar 27, 2025
Purchase verified by AWS
The people that are complaining about not being able to SSH in to the server really shouldn't be using a penTest tool. Follow the instructions people!
My issue is that the OS did not come with Nikto or Metasploit. I had to change the repo list and install it myself. The whole point of Kali is that it comes with hundreds of these tools pre-installed...
dmcg
does what its supposed to
Reviewed on Feb 27, 2025
Purchase verified by AWS
people complaining about ssh are just silly. I am able to ssh no problem to this and i have rolled out many
Jack
Works well
Reviewed on Aug 23, 2024
Purchase verified by AWS
I suspect the people marking this 1 star did not read the instructions and see the user required is kali not root or ec2-user.
Henry Post
Broken
Reviewed on Mar 13, 2024
Purchase verified by AWS
Does not work. I cannot connect to this instance via SSH. It must be set up incorrectly. Please don't use this Kali instance as it's broken and will not work.