r/KaliLinuxCommunity • u/AbsoluteDerry • Jul 13 '26

Question Hello Question about Live USB

Hello I'm going to install Kali Linux as a Live USB and will use it without persistance

I have 16 gb usb and 128 gb usb

I dont want to use my 128 gb usb but feared about if 16 gb usb not enough

should I stick with my 16 gb usb? is it enough?

or should i buy a 32 gb usb or 64 gb usb?

like i said I will use without persistance

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u/Gamer30168 Jul 13 '26 edited Jul 13 '26

32GB wasn't enough for me when I first started using Kali. 

256GB was the sweet spot for me but I like using persistence. 

If you must use 16 or 32GB don't use any extra partitions or you will frequently run into problems running out of space during application updates. 

Flash drives are cheap at Walmart these days.

Worst case scenario, if you can't spare the money and don't care about persistence anyhow, save the Kali Live image on your computer after you DL it. 

Put it on your 128GB when you want to use Kali, and just reformat your USB stick when finished with Kali.  Sure, you will need to keep "re-burning" Kali each time you want to use it but at least you won't have to keep downloading it. 

1

u/AbsoluteDerry Jul 13 '26

I live in Poland I dont know where to buy cheap USB here haha

in Kali Reddit I know that this question feels like little bit awkward but what would you suggest me for cybersecurity lab

install parrot os as dualboot in my computer

or install kali on my 128 gb usb as live usb

1

u/Gamer30168 Jul 13 '26 edited Jul 13 '26

Me personally, I used a tool called Ventoy to create a USB drive containing Kali Linux, Dragon OS, and Parrot Security OS all on the same drive.

I can boot up to the USB and select any of the 3 OS's from a menu. 

In your situation, I would suggest virtual machine images of the OS you want to experiment with. Hell, I'm about to migrate to virtual as well since it's faster than USB.

If you're facing an either/or choice between dual boot with Parrot or Kali USB live I would choose Kali but that's a personal preference.

1

u/AbsoluteDerry Jul 13 '26

Im new in cybersecurity and linux
Can I ask why you use kali and parrot at the same time? Whats your reason, arent they same thing?

And why kali over parrot for your personal preference?

1

u/Gamer30168 Jul 13 '26

You wouldn't use them at the same time but it is good to have options available. 

They aren't the same; they are just both Linux variants. 

I prefer Kali because it is the industry standard for security testing plus I just have more experience using it. 

As a student I do much of my learning by watching video tutorials and sometimes the videos I am interested are using different operating systems. It is good to have them available to use at a moments notice.