I will give a step by step instruction on how to use your own Kali VM and remote desktop protocol (RDP) into a Windows machine that you started on TryHackMe. My assumption is that it may also work on other Linux distribution but I cannot confirm that. I usually use my Kali machine because it usually has all the tools needed to do the labs in TryHackMe, and it has better specifications than the THMs AttackBox, so everything is smoother.
1: Log on to your account on THM.
2: On the top right side, click on “Access”
3: Click on “Download My Configuration File.”
4: Open the terminal in Kali.
5: Access the openvpn file that you downloaded with sudo openvpn nameofvpnfile.ovpn . It should your username.ovpn. If your username is JohnDoe123, then the file name should be JohnDoe123.ovpn. You might be prompted to type your password for your Kali VM since you used the sudo command.
Note: Navigate to the folder that your vpn file is at, or move the vpn file to where you want it to. For me, I moved my vpn file to Desktop. I navigated to my Desktop in the terminal and typed the above, which works for me. If you are not in the right folder where your file is, the command wouldn’t work.
6: If you did it correctly, you should see your VPN IP on the top right of the Kali
7: Now enter the following, xfreerdp /u:(username) /p:(password) /v:(Machine IP) /dynamic-resolution . Using the sysmon room as an example, our command would be /u:THM-Analyst /p:5TgcYzF84tcBSuL1Boa%dzcvf /v:10.10.107.31 /dynamic-resolution
You will be prompted if we trust the certificate. Press “Y.” We will now be in the Windows machine!
You may also be wondering what dynamic-resolution is. It’s to allow us to adjust the resolution of the machine by dragging the borders or maximizing the window.
8: When you are finished, you can close the RDP window to exit out of the session.
Hope this helps!
If instructions are unclear, please let me know!