Although Hetzner doesn’t provide prebuilt Kali Linux images, you can deploy it on a server manually via the Rescue System and booting the mini.iso. This method works on both dedicated and cloud servers.
Step 1. Boot into the Rescue System
In the Hetzner panel, switch the server to Rescue Mode (Linux 64-bit) and reboot.
After that, connect to the server over SSH (the login details are emailed to you).
Step 2. Prepare the Disk and Download mini.iso
In Rescue mode we can download the minimal Debian installer, on which Kali is based.
# Download the netboot ISO
wget http://http.kali.org/kali/dists/kali-rolling/main/installer-amd64/current/images/netboot/gtk/mini.iso -O /root/mini.isoStep 3. Write the ISO to Disk
WARNING: this command will completely wipe the disk (/dev/sda or /dev/nvme0n1). Confirm the disk name with lsblk before running it!
dd if=/root/mini.iso of=/dev/sda bs=4M status=progress
syncStep 4. Reboot into the Installer
After writing the ISO, reboot the server:
rebootThe server will boot into the Kali installer (mini.iso). Through the Hetzner console (or VNC) you can go through the standard installation procedure:
- configuring language, keyboard layout and network
- partitioning the disks
- installing the base system
- installing the GRUB bootloader
Step 5. Finishing the Installation
Once the installation is complete, the server will automatically reboot into Kali Linux.
Connect over SSH with your password or key to continue the configuration.
Additional Notes
- Hetzner does not officially support Kali Linux, so everything is done at your own risk.
- If you only need a subset of the tools, it’s easier to install Debian 12 via installimage, then add the Kali repositories and install kali-linux-default or individual metapackages.
- For security, set up SSH keys, a firewall (ufw/iptables) and update the system right away:
sudo apt update && sudo apt full-upgrade -y✅ Your Hetzner server now runs Kali Linux and is ready for tests and experiments.