3rd Party build for Kali NetHunter on Android

(updated for 2026).

This repository provides a 3rd party build of Kali NetHunter designed for installation on Android devices using Termux. It enables a full Kali Nethunter desktop environment on a VNC for security research.

Estimated Installation Time: 45 minutes to 1 hour, depending on your network speed.
Minimum Device Requirements: 2 GB RAM, 15 GB storage.

Dependencies

Before starting, download the following applications:

• Termux: Install from F-Droid (recommended for regular updates; avoid the Google Play Store version).

  • Download link: https://f-droid.org/repo/com.termux_1022.apk
  • GitHub Repository: https://github.com/termux/termux-app

• VNC Viewer: We recommended this one for accessing the desktop environment.

  • Download link: https://github.com/gujjwal00/avnc

Setting Up Termux

After installing Termux, open the app and run the following commands one by one. Press Y to confirm any prompts.

pkg update && pkg upgrade -y

pkg install x11-repo -y

apt-get update && apt full-upgrade -y

termux-setup-storage

pkg install git && \
pkg install python && \
pkg install python3 && \
pkg install wget && \
pkg install curl && \
pkg install cmake && \
pkg install rust && \
pkg install proot

Your Termux environment is now set up. Now lets move onto the build.

Installing Kali Linux environment

Run the following commands one by one:

pkg install wget openssl-tool proot -y && hash -r && wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/EXALAB/AnLinux-Resources/master/Scripts/Installer/Kali/kali.sh && bash kali.sh

After installation, start Kali:

./start-kali.sh

Your prompt should change to root@localhost:~#.

Fixing Kali keyring

Input these commands in the Kali environment before starting or this will not work at all.

gpg --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com --recv-keys 827C8569F2518CC677FECA1AED65462EC8D5E4C5

gpg --export --armor 827C8569F2518CC677FECA1AED65462EC8D5E4C5 |  tee /etc/apt/trusted.gpg.d/kali-archive-2025.asc

Installing the Desktop Environment (XFCE)

It is important that on this first part you do not kill the vncserver as we are building a desktop enviroment inside it.

Run the following:

wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/EXALAB/AnLinux-Resources/master/Scripts/DesktopEnvironment/Apt/Xfce4/de-apt-xfce4.sh --no-check-certificate && bash de-apt-xfce4.sh

Follow the on screen instructions to complete the installation.

Then update the system:

apt update && apt full-upgrade -y

Building Kali NetHunter

Install the NetHunter package:

apt install -y kali-linux-nethunter

Follow the prompts to build Nethunter:

Answer yes to all questions. For Kismet, select yes, press Enter, leave the field blank and press Enter again.

Error fix:

After running apt install -y kali-linux-nethunter it will fail and when it does just input

apt --fix-broken install

The error happens because we are missing certain packages in Termux needed for the build and the cmd above resolves the missing packages and continues the build like we could sit here and create a shell script that installs the right packages manually so we don't get this error at all but this just works plus every device is different.

Also The process may appear idle while configuring packages in the background do not interrupt or close Termux or you'll need to restart.

Once finished continue with:

apt install apt-file

apt-file update

apt update && apt full-upgrade -y

If no updates are needed exit Kali:

exit

Press Ctrl + Z, then type exit twice.

Open Termux and start Kali again asap:

./start-kali.sh

Your prompt should now be the Nethunter one ┌──(root㉿localhost)-[~]. Ignore any messages from Kali developers (it's an advertisement).

Now run:

touch ~/.hushlogin

apt-get update && \
apt-get upgrade -y && \
apt autoremove -y && \
apt update && apt full-upgrade -y

Starting the Desktop Environment

Start the VNC server:

vncserver

Open your VNC Viewer app and connect using:

• Host: 127.0.0.1 (localhost)
• Port: Typically 5902 (check Termux output for the exact port).
• Password: The one you set during VNC setup. Once logged in return to Termux and stop the initial VNC session:

vncserver -kill :1

It is no longer needed as by this point our desktop environment should be built

Troubleshooting:

If you encounter a black screen on VNC run:

vncserver -kill :1

chmod +x ~/.vnc/xstartup

vncserver

The blackscreen error can happen for multiple reasons most of the time it is to do with connections to the VNC (it isnt a Kali specific error it is why we added this part). You should only get this error if you killed the first vncserver before logging back into the Nethunter environment and starting the second one.

Nethunters toolkit and dependencies

Okay we are now on the final steps of the build. We now need to add the Nethunter toolkit to the desktop environment along with some dependencies.

follow the steps below to build Nethunters toolkit

Make sure the vncserver is running then make sure you're in Nethunters cmd line either in Termux or the Nethunter gui terminal on the vnc app. Then run these commands below.

git clone https://github.com/DresOperatingSystems/Third-Party-Kali-Nethunter-Build

cd Third-Party-Kali-Nethunter-Build

python nhtools.py

yes we made a python script to automate the final steps, just let it run and once its done it will tell you ALL DONE YOU SHOULD NOW HAVE A FULL WORKING NETHUNTER DESKTOP ENVIROMENT.

Exiting NetHunter

To exit follow the steps we took earlier to stop the VNC and exit Kali/Termux.

Uninstalling Nethunter

Just input this into the Termux cmd line not Nethunters

wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/EXALAB/AnLinux-Resources/master/Scripts/Uninstaller/Kali/UNI-kali.sh && bash UNI-kali.sh

Now Nethunter is removed from your device.

end notes

Our very first project release was this 3rd party build of NetHunter back in 2024 (now updated and working again). Honestly, we never thought back then that we'd take things as far as we have now and that's 100% thanks to all of our supporters. Truth is, we started this whole thing just messing around now we have a lifetime of work to be proud of.

Anyways NetHunter was (and kinda still is) notorious for being broken. Rootless installs came with a million errors that made most people just give up and rooted ones could easily bootloop you or straight up hard brick your device. We spent way too many sleepless nights piecing it all together just because it was a challenge.

Seriously at the time you couldn't find any real fixes for Nethunter anywhere. Just hundreds of people on forums like Reddit, XDA, github etc asking the exact same thing: "how do I fix NetHunter??"

Instead of just trying to fix it we thought there has to be a another way. We already loved Kali Linux (we use it for our bot servers), the whole Linux community loves Kali and let's be real running Kali on your phone is just kinda cool y'know?

So out of that love, dedication and our respect for Kali plus the frustration with how broken Nethunter was this project was born.

Imagine if we never bothered or couldn't figure it out our whole organisation probably wouldn't even exist right now.

So we want to give the OffSec community a massive thank you especially the Nethunter team for being a massive inspiration to us

---

Thank You and lets keep building
The DresOS Team

For questions or issues contact us directly you can find ways to contact us on our website here: https://dresoperatingsystems.github.io/