A Comprehensive Guide to Installing Volatility for Digital Forensics and Incident Response
NOTE: Before diving into the exciting world of memory dump analysis, let’s take a moment to protect ourselves from potential mishaps. Think of it as wearing a helmet before embarking on a wild roller coaster ride. So, make sure to take a snapshot of your VM, just in case things go haywire. We should always have an escape plan!
Introduction:
Picture this: you’re in the heart of a Capture The Flag (CTF) competition, and the challenge requires you to analyze memory dumps like a digital Sherlock Holmes. Intrigued by this forensics adventure, I put on my virtual detective hat and started exploring. Lo and behold, I stumbled upon Volatility, a trusty framework packed with more plugins than Batman’s utility belt! But, as any seasoned cybersec student would tell you, installing it on my Kali Linux machine turned into quite a bumpy ride.
First Challenge:
Enter the Volatility dilemma! I encountered two versions: Volatility 2.x and Volatility 3.x. It’s like choosing between two delicious ice cream flavors, except one of them is chocolate (Volatility 2.x) and the other is still experimenting with weird ingredients (Volatility 3.x). The cool kids unanimously agreed that Volatility 2.x is the way to go, as it boasts an impressive collection of plugins. It’s like the Avengers of memory dump analysis tools! On the other hand, Volatility 3.x is like a teenager going through an awkward growth phase. It shows potential, but it’s not quite there yet.
Second Challenge:
Oh boy, installing Volatility 2.x on my Python 3 environment felt like navigating a maze of cybersecurity red tape! It was like trying to find Waldo in a sea of code snippets. After countless hours spent on GitHub, Stack Overflow, and other sacred knowledge repositories, I emerged victorious with a solution. And now, my fellow cyber warriors, I present to you the secret path to Volatility enlightenment.
The Solution:
Hold on tight! We can’t rely on the old “sudo apt-get install volatility” trick anymore. It seems Volatility got a little too cozy with Python 2.x, which, by the way, has officially reached its End of Life (EOL). It’s time to introduce a virtual hero: the Python 2.7 virtual environment!
Step 1: Choose a catchy name for your Volatility 2.6 kingdom, like “volatility.” It’s your digital realm, after all!
Step 2: Summon your Python 2.7 package from the mystical “/usr/bin/” directory. Find its path and prepare to wield its power.
Step 3: Cast the virtualenv spell in the same directory where you built your kingdom. Use the command “virtualenv -p /usr/bin/python2.7 <virtual env name>”. Watch as a Python 2.7 sanctuary takes shape before your eyes.
Step 4: Activate the virtual environment with the sacred chant “source <virtual env name>/bin/activate”. Behold the power of Python 2.7! To exit this mystical realm, simply whisper “deactivate.”
Step 5: Venture into the virtual environment and start assembling the Volatility arsenal. But first, we need to gather the necessary ingredients. Execute the following command to acquire them: “sudo apt install -y build-essential git libdistorm3-dev yara libraw1394–11 libcapstone-dev capstone-tool tzdata”. If errors rain down upon you, try invoking “sudo apt-get update” to clear the skies.
Step 6: Unleash the pip enchantment for Python 2.7. Here’s the secret formula:
- “sudo apt install -y python2 python2.7-dev libpython2-dev”
- “curl https://bootstrap.pypa.io/pip/2.7/get-pip.py — output get-pip.py”
- “sudo python2 get-pip.py”
- “sudo python2 -m pip install -U setuptools wheel”
Step 7: Let the Volatility feast begin! Install Volatility and its plugin allies using these commands:
- “sudo python2 -m pip install -U distorm3 yara pycrypto pillow openpyxl ujson pytz ipython capstone”
- “sudo python2 -m pip install yara”
- “sudo ln -s /usr/local/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/usr/lib/libyara.so /usr/lib/libyara.so”
Step 8: The climax approaches! Download Volatility by executing the following command:
- “sudo python2 -m pip install -U git+https://github.com/volatilityfoundation/volatility.git"
But wait, there’s more! To make Volatility easily accessible, let’s add it to your user bin. Embrace the power of the command “echo ‘export PATH=/home/<username>/.local/bin:$PATH’ >> ~/.bashrc”. Remember to replace “<username>” with your own mighty alias. To test if Volatility heeds your call, unleash the command “vol.py -h” and see if it answers your cyber-summoning.
Here is my github link where I have tried to package it in a script.
#Creating python env
virtualenv -p /usr/bin/python2.7 <virtual env name>
<virtual env name>/bin/activate
#Installing dependencies
sudo apt install -y build-essential git libdistorm3-dev yara libraw1394–11 libcapstone-dev capstone-tool tzdata
#Installing pip for python2.7.x
sudo apt install -y python2 python2.7-dev libpython2-dev
curl https://bootstrap.pypa.io/pip/2.7/get-pip.py - output get-pip.py
sudo python2 get-pip.py
sudo python2 -m pip install -U setuptools wheel
#Installing essential packages for volitility
sudo python2 -m pip install -U distorm3 yara pycrypto pillow openpyxl ujson pytz ipython capstone
sudo python2 -m pip install yara
sudo ln -s /usr/local/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/usr/lib/libyara.so /usr/lib/libyara.so
#Installing volitility and adding it to path
sudo python2 -m pip install -U git+https://github.com/volatilityfoundation/volatility.git
echo 'export PATH=/home/<username>/.local/bin:$PATH' >> ~/.bashrc
