Kali Linux Menu in Ubuntu Unity desktop

This article is in continuation to my last article where we discussed Setting up Ubuntu as a Penetration Testing and Development environment.

For this post I assume that you have completed all the steps mentioned in the above post to install Kali tools (especially the kali-menu application)

I have been using Unity for some time and prefer it to the gnome panel,  but if you need to work with Kali tools the gnome panel (actually the application kali-menu) does a really commendable job in creating the hierarchical menu setup of the various penetration testing tools available in Kali.

So essentially I needed a solution that will allow me to have a hierarchical menu structure of Kali tools within the Unity desktop.

Enter a small application that does this neatly, called classicmenu-indicator. Take a look at the image below that shows the gnome-panel type menu with Kali Linux tools in the Ubuntu Unity interface.

First install classicmenu-indicator by following the instructions mentioned at http://www.liberiangeek.net/2012/05/install-classic-menu-indicator-in-ubuntu-12-04-precise-pangolin/.

Once done you will see the classicmenu-indicator icon at the top right bar, but when you expand it you will not see the Kali Linux tools options in the drop down menu. To get the same working there are additional steps to be performed.

sudo cd /etc/xdg/menus
sudo mkdir classicmenuindicatorsystem-merged
sudo cp applications-merged/kali-applications.menu classicmenuindicatorsystem-merged
sudo vi classicmenuindicatorsystem.menu

Store the following in the classicmenuindicatorsystem.menu and save the file <!DOCTYPE Menu PUBLIC "-//freedesktop//DTD Menu 1.0//EN" "http://www.freedesktop.org/standards/menu-spec/1.0/menu.dtd" > <Menu>   <Name>Applications</Name>   <Directory>X-GNOME-Menu-Applications.directory</Directory>   <!-- Read standard .directory and .desktop file locations -->   <DefaultAppDirs />   <DefaultDirectoryDirs />   <!-- Read in overrides and child menus from applications-merged/ -->   <DefaultMergeDirs />   <Layout>   <Menuname>Kali</Menuname>   </Layout>    </Menu> <!-- End Applications -->
Save.

Select Refresh a couple of times in classicmenu-indicator options or logout and login again. You will notice the Kali Linux menu now showing up.

Also note that Kali Linux menu will only show entries for those Kali Linux applications you have installed. It will not show other applications that are yet to be installed. They will start appearing as and when you install them.