Awesome Github

GitHub Cheat Sheet

A collection of cool hidden and not so hidden features of Git and GitHub. This cheat sheet was inspired by Zach Holman's Git and GitHub Secrets talk at Aloha Ruby Conference 2012 (slides) and his More Git and GitHub Secrets talk at WDCNZ 2013 (slides).

Shortlink: http://git.io/sheet

Read this in other languages: English, 한국어, 日本語, 简体中文, 正體中文.

GitHub Cheat Sheet is sponsored by Snapshot: create interactive professional-quality product photos using AI

GitHub

Ignore Whitespace

Adding ?w=1 to any diff URL will remove any changes only in whitespace, enabling you to see only the code that has changed.

Read more about GitHub secrets.

Adjust Tab Space

Adding ?ts=4 to a diff or file URL will display tab characters as 4 spaces wide instead of the default 8. The number after ts can be adjusted to suit your preference. This does not work on Gists, or raw file views, but a Chrome extension can automate this.

Here is a Go source file before adding ?ts=4:

...and this is after adding ?ts=4:

Commit History by Author

To view all commits on a repo by author add ?author={user} to the URL.

https://github.com/rails/rails/commits/master?author=dhh

Cloning a Repository

When cloning a repository the .git can be left off the end.

$ git clone https://github.com/tiimgreen/github-cheat-sheet

Branch

Compare all Branches to Another Branch

If you go to the repo's Branches page, next to the Commits button:

https://github.com/{user}/{repo}/branches

... you would see a list of all branches which are not merged into the main branch.

From here you can access the compare page or delete a branch with a click of a button.

Comparing Branches

To use GitHub to compare branches, change the URL to look like this:

https://github.com/{user}/{repo}/compare/{range}

where {range} = master...4-1-stable

For example:

https://github.com/rails/rails/compare/master...4-1-stable

{range} can be changed to things like:

https://github.com/rails/rails/compare/master@{1.day.ago}...master
https://github.com/rails/rails/compare/master@{2014-10-04}...master

Here, dates are in the format YYYY-MM-DD

Branches can also be compared in diff and patch views:

https://github.com/rails/rails/compare/master...4-1-stable.diff
https://github.com/rails/rails/compare/master...4-1-stable.patch

Compare Branches across Forked Repositories

To use GitHub to compare branches across forked repositories, change the URL to look like this:

https://github.com/{user}/{repo}/compare/{foreign-user}:{branch}...{own-branch}

For example:

https://github.com/rails/rails/compare/byroot:master...master

Gists

Gists are an easy way to work with small bits of code without creating a fully fledged repository.

Add .pibb to the end of any Gist URL (like this) in order to get the HTML-only version suitable for embedding in any other site.

Gists can be treated as a repository so they can be cloned like any other:

$ git clone https://gist.github.com/tiimgreen/10545817

This means you also can modify and push updates to Gists:

$ git commit
$ git push
Username for 'https://gist.github.com':
Password for 'https://tiimgreen@gist.github.com':

However, Gists do not support directories. All files need to be added to the repository root. Read more about creating Gists.

Git.io

Git.io is a simple URL shortener for GitHub.

You can also use it via pure HTTP using Curl:

$ curl -i http://git.io -F "url=https://github.com/..."
HTTP/1.1 201 Created
Location: http://git.io/abc123

$ curl -i http://git.io/abc123
HTTP/1.1 302 Found
Location: https://github.com/...

Read more about Git.io.

Keyboard Shortcuts

When on a repository page, keyboard shortcuts allow you to navigate easily.

Pressing t will bring up a file explorer.
Pressing w will bring up the branch selector.
Pressing s will focus the search field for the current repository. Pressing ↓ to select the “All GitHub” option changes the field to search all of GitHub.
Pressing l will edit labels on existing Issues.
Pressing y when looking at a file (e.g., https://github.com/tiimgreen/github-cheat-sheet/blob/master/README.md) will change your URL to one which, in effect, freezes the page you are looking at. If this code changes, you will still be able to see what you saw at that current time.

To see all of the shortcuts for the current page press ?:

Line Highlighting in Repositories

Either adding, e.g., #L52 to the end of a code file URL or simply clicking the line number will highlight that line number.

It also works with ranges, e.g., #L53-L60, to select ranges, hold shift and click two lines:

https://github.com/rails/rails/blob/master/activemodel/lib/active_model.rb#L53-L60

Closing Issues via Commit Messages

If a particular commit fixes an issue, any of the keywords fix/fixes/fixed, close/closes/closed or resolve/resolves/resolved, followed by the issue number, will close the issue once it is committed to the repository's default branch.

$ git commit -m "Fix screwup, fixes #12"

This closes the issue and references the closing commit.

Cross-Link Issues

If you want to link to another issue in the same repository, simply type hash # then the issue number, and it will be auto-linked.

To link to an issue in another repository, {user}/{repo}#ISSUE_NUMBER, e.g., tiimgreen/toc#12.

Locking Conversations

Pull Requests and Issues can now be locked by owners or collaborators of the repo.

This means that users who are not collaborators on the project will no longer be able to comment.

CI Status on Pull Requests

If set up correctly, every time you receive a Pull Request, Travis CI will build that Pull Request just like it would every time you make a new commit. Read more about how to get started with Travis CI.

Filters

Both issues and pull requests allow filtering in the user interface.

For the Rails repo: https://github.com/rails/rails/issues, the following filter is built by selecting the label "activerecord":

is:issue label:activerecord

But, you can also find all issues that are NOT labeled activerecord:

is:issue -label:activerecord

Additionally, this also works for pull requests:

is:pr -label:activerecord

Github has tabs for displaying open or closed issues and pull requests but you can also see merged pull requests. Just put the following in the filter:

is:merged

Read more about searching issues.

Finally, github now allows you to filter by the Status API's status.

Pull requests with only successful statuses:

status:success

Syntax Highlighting in Markdown Files

For example, to syntax highlight Ruby code in your Markdown files write:

```ruby
require 'tabbit'
table = Tabbit.new('Name', 'Email')
table.add_row('Tim Green', 'tiimgreen@gmail.com')
puts table.to_s
```

This will produce:

require 'tabbit'
table = Tabbit.new('Name', 'Email')
table.add_row('Tim Green', 'tiimgreen@gmail.com')
puts table.to_s

GitHub uses Linguist to perform language detection and syntax highlighting. You can find out which keywords are valid by perusing the languages YAML file.

Emojis

Emojis can be added to Pull Requests, Issues, commit messages, repository descriptions, etc. using :name_of_emoji:.

The full list of supported Emojis on GitHub can be found at emoji-cheat-sheet.com or scotch-io/All-Github-Emoji-Icons. A handy emoji search engine can be found at emoji.muan.co.

The top 5 used Emojis on GitHub are:

:shipit:
:sparkles:
:-1:
:+1:
:clap:

Images/GIFs

Images and GIFs can be added to comments, READMEs etc.:

![Alt Text](http://www.sheawong.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/keephatin.gif)

Raw images from the repo can be used by calling them directly.:

![Alt Text](https://github.com/{user}/{repo}/raw/master/path/to/image.gif)

All images are cached on GitHub, so if your host goes down, the image will remain available.

Embedding Images in GitHub Wiki

There are multiple ways of embedding images in Wiki pages. There's the standard Markdown syntax (shown above). But there's also a syntax that allows things like specifying the height or width of the image:

[[ http://www.sheawong.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/keephatin.gif | height = 100px ]]

Which produces:

Quick Quoting

When on a comment thread and you want to quote something someone previously said, highlight the text and press r, this will copy it into your text box in the block-quote format.

Read more about quick quoting.

Pasting Clipboard Image to Comments

(Works on Chrome browsers only)

After taking a screenshot and adding it to the clipboard (mac: cmd-ctrl-shift-4), you can simply paste (cmd-v / ctrl-v) the image into the comment section and it will be auto-uploaded to github.

Read more about issue attachments.

Quick Licensing

When creating a repository, GitHub gives you the option of adding in a pre-made license:

You can also add them to existing repositories by creating a new file through the web interface. When the name LICENSE is typed in you will get an option to use a template:

Also works for .gitignore.

Task Lists

In Issues and Pull requests check boxes can be added with the following syntax (notice the space):

- [ ] Be awesome
- [ ] Prepare dinner
  - [ ] Research recipe
  - [ ] Buy ingredients
  - [ ] Cook recipe
- [ ] Sleep

When they are clicked, they will be updated in the pure Markdown:

- [x] Be awesome
- [ ] Prepare dinner
  - [x] Research recipe
  - [x] Buy ingredients
  - [ ] Cook recipe
- [ ] Sleep

Read more about task lists.

Task Lists in Markdown Documents

In full Markdown documents read-only checklists can now be added using the following syntax:

- [ ] Mercury
- [x] Venus
- [x] Earth
  - [x] Moon
- [x] Mars
  - [ ] Deimos
  - [ ] Phobos

Relative Links

Relative links are recommended in your Markdown files when linking to internal content.

[Link to a header](#awesome-section)
[Link to a file](docs/readme)

Absolute links have to be updated whenever the URL changes (e.g., repository renamed, username changed, project forked). Using relative links makes your documentation easily stand on its own.

Read more about relative links.

Metadata and Plugin Support for GitHub Pages

Within Jekyll pages and posts, repository information is available within the site.github namespace, and can be displayed, for example, using {{ site.github.project_title }}.

The Jemoji and jekyll-mentions plugins enable emoji and @mentions in your Jekyll posts and pages to work just like you'd expect when interacting with a repository on GitHub.com.

Viewing YAML Metadata in your Documents

Many blogging websites, like Jekyll with GitHub Pages, depend on some YAML-formatted metadata at the beginning of your post. GitHub will render this metadata as a horizontal table, for easier reading

Rendering Tabular Data

GitHub supports rendering tabular data in the form of .csv (comma-separated) and .tsv (tab-separated) files.

Rendering PDF

GitHub supports rendering PDF:

Read more about rendering PDF.

Revert a Pull Request

After a pull request is merged, you may find it does not help anything or it was a bad decision to merge the pull request.

You can revert it by clicking the Revert button on the right side of a commit in the pull request page to create a pull request with reverted changes to this specific pull request.

Diffs

Rendered Prose Diffs

Commits and pull requests, including rendered documents supported by GitHub (e.g., Markdown), feature source and rendered views.

Click the "rendered" button to see the changes as they'll appear in the rendered document. Rendered prose view is handy when you're adding, removing, and editing text:

Read more about rendered prose diffs.

Diffable Maps

Any time you view a commit or pull request on GitHub that includes geodata, GitHub will render a visual representation of what was changed.

Read more about diffable maps.

Expanding Context in Diffs

Using the unfold button in the gutter of a diff, you can reveal additional lines of context with a click. You can keep clicking unfold until you've revealed the whole file, and the feature is available anywhere GitHub renders diffs.

Diff or Patch of Pull Request

You can get the diff of a Pull Request by adding a .diff or .patch extension to the end of the URL. For example:

https://github.com/tiimgreen/github-cheat-sheet/pull/15
https://github.com/tiimgreen/github-cheat-sheet/pull/15.diff
https://github.com/tiimgreen/github-cheat-sheet/pull/15.patch

The .diff extension would give you this in plain text:

diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 88fcf69..8614873 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ All the hidden and not hidden features of Git and GitHub. This cheat sheet was i
 - [Merged Branches](#merged-branches)
 - [Quick Licensing](#quick-licensing)
 - [TODO Lists](#todo-lists)
+- [Relative Links](#relative-links)
 - [.gitconfig Recommendations](#gitconfig-recommendations)
     - [Aliases](#aliases)
     - [Auto-correct](#auto-correct)
@@ -381,6 +382,19 @@ When they are clicked, they will be updated in the pure Markdown:
 - [ ] Sleep

(...)

Rendering and diffing images

GitHub can display several common image formats, including PNG, JPG, GIF, and PSD. In addition, there are several ways to compare differences between versions of those image formats.

Hub

Hub is a command line Git wrapper that gives you extra features and commands that make working with GitHub easier.

This allows you to do things like:

$ hub clone tiimgreen/toc

Check out some more cool commands Hub has to offer.

Contribution Guidelines

GitHub supports adding 3 different files which help users contribute to your project. These files can either be placed in the root of your repository or a .github directory under the root.

CONTRIBUTING File

Adding a CONTRIBUTING or CONTRIBUTING.md file to either the root of your repository or a .github directory will add a link to your file when a contributor creates an Issue or opens a Pull Request.

ISSUE_TEMPLATE file

You can define a template for all new issues opened in your project. The content of this file will pre-populate the new issue box when users create new issues. Add an ISSUE_TEMPLATE or ISSUE_TEMPLATE.md file to either the root of your repository or a .github directory.

Read more about issue templates.

Issue template file generator

PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE file

You can define a template for all new pull requests opened in your project. The content of this file will pre-populate the text area when users create pull requests. Add a PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE or PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE.md file to either the root of your repository or a .github directory.

Pull request template file generator

Octicons

GitHubs icons (Octicons) have now been open sourced.

Read more about GitHub's Octicons

GitHub Student Developer Pack

If you are a student you will be eligible for the GitHub Student Developer Pack. This gives you free credit, free trials and early access to software that will help you when developing.

GitHub Resources

Title

Link

GitHub Explore

https://github.com/explore

GitHub Blog

https://github.com/blog

GitHub Help

https://help.github.com/

GitHub Training

https://training.github.com/

GitHub Developer

https://developer.github.com/

Github Education (Free Micro Account and other stuff for students)

https://education.github.com/

GitHub Best Practices

Best Practices List

GitHub Talks

Title

Link

How GitHub Uses GitHub to Build GitHub

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qyz3jkOBbQY

Introduction to Git with Scott Chacon of GitHub

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDR433b0HJY

How GitHub No Longer Works

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXD1ITW7iZI

Git and GitHub Secrets

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Foz9yvMkvlA

More Git and GitHub Secrets

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p50xsL-iVgU

SSH keys

You can get a list of public ssh keys in plain text format by visiting:

https://github.com/{user}.keys

e.g. https://github.com/tiimgreen.keys

Profile Image

You can get a user's profile image by visiting:

https://github.com/{user}.png

e.g. https://github.com/tiimgreen.png

Repository Templates

You can enable templating on your repository which allows anyone to copy the directory structure and files, allowing them to instantly use the files (e.g. for a tutorial or if writing boilerplate code). This can be enabled in the settings of your repository.

Changing to a template repository will give a new URL endpoint which can be shared and instantly allows users to use your repository as a template. Alternatively, they can go to your repository and click the 'Use as template' button.

Git

Remove All Deleted Files from the Working Tree

When you delete a lot of files using /bin/rm you can use the following command to remove them from the working tree and from the index, eliminating the need to remove each one individually:

$ git rm $(git ls-files -d)

For example:

$ git status
On branch master
Changes not staged for commit:
	deleted:    a
	deleted:    c

$ git rm $(git ls-files -d)
rm 'a'
rm 'c'

$ git status
On branch master
Changes to be committed:
	deleted:    a
	deleted:    c

Previous Branch

To move to the previous branch in Git:

$ git checkout -
# Switched to branch 'master'

$ git checkout -
# Switched to branch 'next'

$ git checkout -
# Switched to branch 'master'

Read more about Git branching.

Stripspace

Git Stripspace:

Strips trailing whitespace
Collapses newlines
Adds newline to end of file

A file must be passed when calling the command, e.g.:

$ git stripspace < README.md

Checking out Pull Requests

Pull Requests are special branches on the GitHub repository which can be retrieved locally in several ways:

Retrieve a specific Pull Request and store it temporarily in FETCH_HEAD for quickly diff-ing or merge-ing:

$ git fetch origin refs/pull/[PR-Number]/head

Acquire all Pull Request branches as local remote branches by refspec:

$ git fetch origin '+refs/pull/*/head:refs/remotes/origin/pr/*'

Or setup the remote to fetch Pull Requests automatically by adding these corresponding lines in your repository's .git/config:

[remote "origin"]
    fetch = +refs/heads/*:refs/remotes/origin/*
    url = git@github.com:tiimgreen/github-cheat-sheet.git

[remote "origin"]
    fetch = +refs/heads/*:refs/remotes/origin/*
    url = git@github.com:tiimgreen/github-cheat-sheet.git
    fetch = +refs/pull/*/head:refs/remotes/origin/pr/*

For Fork-based Pull Request contributions, it's useful to checkout a remote branch representing the Pull Request and create a local branch from it:

$ git checkout pr/42 pr-42

Or should you work on more repositories, you can globally configure fetching pull requests in the global git config instead.

git config --global --add remote.origin.fetch "+refs/pull/*/head:refs/remotes/origin/pr/*"

This way, you can use the following short commands in all your repositories:

git fetch origin

git checkout pr/42

Empty Commits

Commits can be pushed with no code changes by adding --allow-empty:

$ git commit -m "Big-ass commit" --allow-empty

Some use-cases for this (that make sense), include:

Annotating the start of a new bulk of work or a new feature.
Documenting when you make changes to the project that aren't code related.
Communicating with people using your repository.
The first commit of a repository: git commit -m "Initial commit" --allow-empty.

Styled Git Status

Running:

$ git status

produces:

By adding -sb:

$ git status -sb

this is produced:

Styled Git Log

Running:

$ git log --all --graph --pretty=format:'%Cred%h%Creset -%C(auto)%d%Creset %s %Cgreen(%cr) %C(bold blue)<%an>%Creset' --abbrev-commit --date=relative

produces:

Credit to Palesz

This can be aliased using the instructions found here.

Git Query

A Git query allows you to search all your previous commit messages and find the most recent one matching the query.

$ git show :/query

where query (case-sensitive) is the term you want to search, this then finds the last one and gives details on the lines that were changed.

$ git show :/typo

Press q to quit.

Git Grep

Git Grep will return a list of lines matching a pattern.

Running:

$ git grep aliases

will show all the files containing the string aliases.

Press q to quit.

You can also use multiple flags for more advanced search. For example:

-e The next parameter is the pattern (e.g., regex)
--and, --or and --not Combine multiple patterns.

Use it like this:

 $ git grep -e pattern --and -e anotherpattern

Merged Branches

Running:

$ git branch --merged

will give you a list of all branches that have been merged into your current branch.

Conversely:

$ git branch --no-merged

will give you a list of branches that have not been merged into your current branch.

Fixup and Autosquash

If there is something wrong with a previous commit (can be one or more from HEAD), for example abcde, run the following command after you've amended the problem:

$ git commit --fixup=abcde
$ git rebase abcde^ --autosquash -i

Web Server for Browsing Local Repositories

Use the Git instaweb command to instantly browse your working repository in gitweb. This command is a simple script to set up gitweb and a web server for browsing the local repository.

$ git instaweb

opens:

Git Configurations

Your .gitconfig file contains all your Git configurations.

Aliases

Aliases are helpers that let you define your own git calls. For example you could set git a to run git add --all.

To add an alias, either navigate to ~/.gitconfig and fill it out in the following format:

[alias]
  co = checkout
  cm = commit
  p = push
  # Show verbose output about tags, branches or remotes
  tags = tag -l
  branches = branch -a
  remotes = remote -v

...or type in the command-line:

$ git config --global alias.new_alias git_function

For example:

$ git config --global alias.cm commit

For an alias with multiple functions use quotes:

$ git config --global alias.ac 'add -A . && commit'

Some useful aliases include:

Alias

Command

What to Type

git cm

git commit

git config --global alias.cm commit

git co

git checkout

git config --global alias.co checkout

git ac

git add . -A git commit

git config --global alias.ac '!git add -A && git commit'

git st

git status -sb

git config --global alias.st 'status -sb'

git tags

git tag -l

git config --global alias.tags 'tag -l'

git branches

git branch -a

git config --global alias.branches 'branch -a'

git cleanup

git branch --merged | grep -v '*' | xargs git branch -d

git config --global alias.cleanup "!git branch --merged | grep -v '*' | xargs git branch -d"

git remotes

git remote -v

git config --global alias.remotes 'remote -v'

git lg

git log --color --graph --pretty=format:'%Cred%h%Creset -%C(yellow)%d%Creset %s %Cgreen(%cr) %C(bold blue)<%an>%Creset' --abbrev-commit --

git config --global alias.lg "log --color --graph --pretty=format:'%Cred%h%Creset -%C(yellow)%d%Creset %s %Cgreen(%cr) %C(bold blue)<%an>%Creset' --abbrev-commit --"

Some Aliases are taken from @mathiasbynens dotfiles: https://github.com/mathiasbynens/dotfiles/blob/master/.gitconfig

Auto-Correct

Git gives suggestions for misspelled commands and if auto-correct is enabled the command can be fixed and executed automatically. Auto-correct is enabled by specifying an integer which is the delay in tenths of a second before git will run the corrected command. Zero is the default value where no correcting will take place, and a negative value will run the corrected command with no delay.

For example, if you type git comit you will get this:

$ git comit -m "Message"
# git: 'comit' is not a git command. See 'git --help'.

# Did you mean this?
#   commit

Auto-correct can be enabled like this (with a 1.5 second delay):

$ git config --global help.autocorrect 15

So now the command git comit will be auto-corrected to git commit like this:

$ git comit -m "Message"
# WARNING: You called a Git command named 'comit', which does not exist.
# Continuing under the assumption that you meant 'commit'
# in 1.5 seconds automatically...

The delay before git will rerun the command is so the user has time to abort.

Color

To add more color to your Git output:

$ git config --global color.ui 1

Git Resources

Title

Link

Official Git Site

http://git-scm.com/

Official Git Video Tutorials

http://git-scm.com/videos

Code School Try Git

http://try.github.com/

Introductory Reference & Tutorial for Git

http://gitref.org/

Official Git Tutorial

http://git-scm.com/docs/gittutorial

Everyday Git

http://git-scm.com/docs/everyday

Git Immersion

http://gitimmersion.com/

Git God

https://github.com/gorosgobe/git-god

Git for Computer Scientists

http://eagain.net/articles/git-for-computer-scientists/

Git Magic

http://www-cs-students.stanford.edu/~blynn/gitmagic/

Git Visualization Playground

http://onlywei.github.io/explain-git-with-d3/#freeplay

Learn Git Branching

http://pcottle.github.io/learnGitBranching/

A collection of useful .gitignore templates

https://github.com/github/gitignore

Unixorn's git-extra-commands collection of git scripts

https://github.com/unixorn/git-extra-commands

Git Books

Title

Link

Pragmatic Version Control Using Git

https://pragprog.com/titles/tsgit/pragmatic-version-control-using-git

Pro Git

http://git-scm.com/book

Git Internals PluralSight

https://github.com/pluralsight/git-internals-pdf

Git in the Trenches

http://cbx33.github.io/gitt/

Version Control with Git

http://www.amazon.com/Version-Control-Git-collaborative-development/dp/1449316387

Pragmatic Guide to Git

https://pragprog.com/titles/pg_git/pragmatic-guide-to-git

Git: Version Control for Everyone

https://www.packtpub.com/application-development/git-version-control-everyone

Git Videos

Title

Link

Linus Torvalds on Git

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XpnKHJAok8

Introduction to Git with Scott Chacon

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDR433b0HJY

Git From the Bits Up

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYP56QJpDr4

Graphs, Hashes, and Compression, Oh My!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ig5E8CcdM9g

GitHub Training & Guides

https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PLg7s6cbtAD15G8lNyoaYDuKZSKyJrgwB-&v=FyfwLX4HAxM

Git Articles

Title

Link

GitHub Flow

http://scottchacon.com/2011/08/31/github-flow.html

Migrating to Git Large File Storate (Git LFS)

http://vooban.com/en/tips-articles-geek-stuff/migrating-to-git-lfs-for-developing-deep-learning-applications-with-large-files/

Github-VPS

📜 Description

GitHub Codespaces allows developers and hackers to create and utilize their coding environments directly from GitHub in the cloud. As a CTF player or pentester, you can also leverage GitHub Codespaces similarly to a VPS (Virtual Private Server). This makes it easy to work on projects from anywhere with the flexibility of a portable development setup using Docker.

📚 Table of Contents

📜 Description
🔥 What's Nice
🐳 Installation
🙍🏻‍♂️ Configuration
🚫 Temporarily Disabled
👨🏾‍⚖️ License

🔥 What's Nice

Offers more power with 2-vCPUs, 8GB-RAM, and a temporary 32GB-SSD storage drive.
Higher performance with 4-vCPUs, 16GB-RAM, and a temporary 32GB-SSD storage drive.

🐳 Installation

[!NOTE] Github codespace terminal

# pulling images 
$ docker pull docker.io/kalilinux/kali-rolling

# Option 1: Priviliged mode (recommended for ctf players)
$ docker run --privileged -it kalilinux/kali-rolling /bin/bash

# Option 2: Interactive mode
$ docker run --tty --interactive kalilinux/kali-rolling

Kali headless vs default

$ apt update && apt install -y kali-linux-default

$ apt update && apt install -y install kali-linux-headless

kali-linux-default: This is a metapackage that installs the default set of tools for a typical Kali Linux system. It includes both GUI and command-line tools that are generally used for penetration testing and security auditing.
It is intended for users who want the full range of Kali Linux tools, including the graphical user interface (GUI) tools and a more complete desktop experience.
kali-linux-headless: This is another metapackage, but it installs a more minimal setup. It is intended for users who do not need or want a graphical user interface (GUI). This package installs the core tools needed for penetration testing, but without the overhead of a GUI environment (like X11 or a desktop environment).
It’s ideal for servers or systems where you want to run Kali in a headless environment (no monitor, no graphical interface).

Key Differences

kali-linux-default includes the full Kali suite with a GUI.
kali-linux-headless includes the same core set of tools, but without the GUI, making it lighter and more suitable for headless (non-GUI) environments.

Which one to use?

If you plan to use Kali Linux with a graphical interface (for example, on a laptop or desktop), go with kali-linux-default.
If you plan to run Kali on a server or in a virtual machine where you don’t need a GUI, choose kali-linux-headless for a more lightweight installation.

Installation without errors

[!TIP] Refer to default installation Guide

Configuration

Starting Docker Kali Image

# Display
$ docker ps -a

# Rename 
$ docker rename <current_name> <new_name>

# Status details 
$ docker inspect <container id>

# Start 
$ docker start <container id> (e.q) d36922fa21e8

# Attach 
$ docker attach <container id>

# Stop  
$ docker stop <container id>

# Remove
$ docker rm <container id>

Adding non-root user

$ sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

# option 1:
# To add a new user:
$ sudo adduser l0n3m4n

# option 2:
# Set a Default Shell
$ sudo useradd -m -s /bin/bash l0n3m4n

# Add User to Groups
$ sudo usermod -aG sudo username

# Set a Password for the User
$ sudo passwd username

# Verify User Creation
grep username /etc/passwd

# Add user to sudoers
# option 1: replace to your username
username ALL=(ALL:ALL) ALL

# option 2: 
$  echo "username ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD:ALL" > /etc/sudoers/username

# switching to non-root user
$ su - username

# verify
$ whoami

Diskspace Monitoring

# view ram details
$ free -h 

# view disk space 'du'
$ du -h --max-depth=1 /

# view disk space GB
$ df -h

Docker Privileged

[!IMPORTANT] The way to use openvpn or enable tun0 you need to add --privileged option instead using --tty by default, Docker containers do not have access to TUN/TAP devices on the host system due to security and isolation concerns.

# options 1:
$ docker run --privileged -it kalilinux/kali-rolling /bin/bash

# Option 2: Use --device Flag (More Secure)
# A more secure approach is to use the --device flag to explicitly map the TUN/TAP device from the host into the container. This approach is more controlled and limits access to only the necessary device.

$ docker run --device=/dev/net/tun:/dev/net/tun -it kalilinux/kali-rolling /bin/bash

# Verify TUN/TAP Functionality Inside the Container
$ ls -l /dev/net/tun

Automation in new terminal session

kali_privs.sh

#!/bin/bash

RED='\033[0;31m'
GREEN='\033[0;32m'
YELLOW='\033[0;33m'
NC='\033[0m'

# Checking Kali-linux docker ID
kali_id=$(docker ps -a -q)
bash='/bin/bash'

echo -e '${YELLOW}Starting another terminal kali privs${NC}'
docker start $kali_id
docker exec -it $kali_id $bash
echo -e "${YELLOW}Success..${NC}"
sleep 1.5

New Terminal Session

[!NOTE] Github codespace terminal

$ docker exec -it <container_id> /bin/bash

Adding Graphical User Interface (noVNC)

[!IMPORTANT] Run this script in the terminal of your Github Codespace, which is using Ubuntu OS

setup-noVNC.sh

#!/bin/bash

RED='\033[0;31m'
GREEN='\033[0;32m'
YELLOW='\033[0;33m'
NC='\033[0m' 

error_exit() {
    echo -e "${RED}Error: $1${NC}" >&2
    exit 1
}
set -e

echo -e "${GREEN}Starting setup of VNC and noVNC on github codespace terminal...${NC}"

# Update and install necessary packages
echo -e "${YELLOW}1. Updating system and installing required packages...${NC}"
{
    sudo apt update
    sudo apt install -y xfce4 xfce4-goodies novnc python3-websockify python3-numpy tightvncserver htop nano neofetch
} || error_exit "Failed to update and install packages."

# Generate SSL certificate
echo -e "${YELLOW}2. Generating SSL certificate for noVNC...${NC}"
{
    mkdir -p ~/.vnc
    openssl req -x509 -nodes -newkey rsa:3072 -keyout ~/.vnc/novnc.pem -out ~/.vnc/novnc.pem -days 3650 -subj "/C=US/ST=State/L=City/O=Organization/OU=OrgUnit/CN=localhost"
} || error_exit "Failed to generate SSL certificate."

# Start VNC server to create initial configuration files
echo -e "${YELLOW}3. Starting VNC server to create initial configuration files...${NC}"
{
    vncserver
} || error_exit "Failed to start VNC server."

# Kill the VNC server to edit the configuration
echo -e "${YELLOW}4. Stopping VNC server to modify configuration files...${NC}"
{
    vncserver -kill :1
} || error_exit "Failed to kill VNC server."

# Backup and create new xstartup file
echo -e "${YELLOW}5. Backing up old xstartup file and creating a new one...${NC}"
{
    mv ~/.vnc/xstartup ~/.vnc/xstartup.bak

    cat <<EOL > ~/.vnc/xstartup
#!/bin/sh
xrdb \$HOME/.Xresources
startxfce4 &
EOL

    chmod +x ~/.vnc/xstartup
} || error_exit "Failed to back up and create xstartup file."

echo -e "${GREEN}Succesfully configured please run ${YELLOW}start-novcn.sh${NC}"

Starting noVNC Web access

start-novnc.sh

#!/bin/bash

NC="\e[0m"        
RED="\033[0;31m"      
GREEN="\033[0;32m"    
YELLOW="\033[1;33m"   
BLUE="\033[1;34m"     
CYAN="\033[1;36m"     
WHITE="\033[1;37m"    
MAGENTA="\033[1;35m"  

WEB_DIR="/usr/share/novnc/"
CERT_FILE="$HOME/.vnc/novnc.pem"
LOCAL_PORT="5901"
LISTEN_PORT="6080"


# Check if the cert file exists
if [ ! -f "$CERT_FILE" ]; then
    echo -e "${RED}Error: Certificate file not found: ${BLINK}$CERT_FILE${NC}"
    exit 1
fi

# Start noVNC
echo -e "${YELLOW} Starting noVNC to enable web-based VNC access...${NC}"
websockify -D --web="$WEB_DIR" --cert="$CERT_FILE" $LISTEN_PORT localhost:$LOCAL_PORT

# Start vncserver
# Note: adjust the resolution if applicable
echo -e "${YELLOW} Starting novncserver${NC}"
vncserver -geometry 1920x1080

echo -e "${GREEN}noVNC server started on port ${WHITE}$LISTEN_PORT${WHITE}, forwarding to localhost:${WHITE}$LOCAL_PORT${NC}"

🚫 Temporarily Disabled

If you've used 100% of the included services for GitHub Codespaces storage, a few things might happen depending on your account settings and actions.

Inability to Use Codespaces: You won't be able to create or use GitHub Codespaces until either your free allotment resets next month or you take action to manage your usage.
Options to Regain Access:
- Set Up a Spending Limit: You can set up a spending limit on your GitHub account to prevent unexpected charges and manage your usage effectively.
- Delete Unused Resources: Consider deleting Codespaces or prebuilds that are no longer needed to free up space and potentially reduce future charges.
Access to In-Progress Work: It's important to export any unpushed work to a branch if you want to retain access to your in-progress projects. This ensures you have a backup and can continue working on them when you regain access to Codespaces.
Review Usage and Charges: GitHub provides a usage report where you can see detailed information about your Codespaces and prebuild usage. This can help you understand your usage patterns and manage future usage effectively.

🔄 Changelog

v1.1.0 - [2024-06-29]

Adjustment:
- Adding privileged user mode to enable TUN error when starting the OpenVPN file.

📝 Todo

~~Adding remotehost for graphical user inferface (GUI), this includes xrdp, ssh, noVNC and etc.~~
Adding Automated builds Dockerfile to ensure consistency and reliability.
Adding ngrok to exposed your cloud servers behind NATs and firewalls to the public internet over secure tunnels.
Adding Openvpn default configuration to ensure privacy and security

👨🏾‍⚖️ License

This project is under terms of the MIT License. bugs and error, create issue

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Last updated 5 months ago