How to Install Homer on Kali Linux Latest

Homer is an open-source event viewer and analyzer for various types of logs. It supports different file formats, including Syslog, Apache Log, and Snort IDS Log. This tutorial will guide you on how to install Homer on Kali Linux latest version.

Prerequisites

Kali Linux Latest version (2021.x.x)
User account with sudo privileges
Stable internet connection

Step 1: Update the System

Open the terminal and run the following command to update the system:

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade

Step 2: Install Required Packages

To install Homer on Kali Linux, we need to install some packages. Copy and paste the following command into the terminal and press Enter to install all the required packages.

sudo apt install apache2 php7.4 php7.4-mbstring php7.4-mysql php7.4-xml php7.4-curl php7.4-gd git

The above command will install the Apache webserver, PHP7.4, and other necessary packages. Git will be used to download Homer from GitHub.

Step 3: Configure MySQL Server

Homer requires MySQL server to store logs. We need to configure it first. Run the command below to install MySQL server:

sudo apt install mysql-server

During the installation process, you will be prompted to set a root password for the MySQL server. Set a strong password for the MySQL root account and remember it. After the installation is complete, run the following command to secure the MySQL installation:

sudo mysql_secure_installation

Answer the questions that appear on the screen to configure MySQL server according to your requirements.

Step 4: Download and Install Homer

In this step, we will download Homer from its GitHub repository and install it on our system.

Go to the /var/www/html/ directory and download the latest version of Homer using the following command:

sudo git clone https://github.com/bastienwirtz/homer.git

This command will create a homer directory in the /var/www/html/ folder.

Now we need to give the proper permission to the homer directory using the following command:

sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/html/homer/

This will give the Apache webserver permission to the homer directory.

Step 5: Configure Apache Web Server

In this step, we will configure the Apache webserver to access the Homer web interface.

Run the following commands to create a new virtual host file for Homer:

sudo cp /etc/apache2/sites-available/000-default.conf /etc/apache2/sites-available/homer.conf

sudo nano /etc/apache2/sites-available/homer.conf

This will open the homer.conf file in the nano editor. Replace the contents of the file with the following configuration:

<VirtualHost *:80>
        ServerAdmin webmaster@localhost
        DocumentRoot /var/www/html/homer/webroot/
        <Directory /var/www/html/homer/webroot/>
                Options Indexes FollowSymLinks
                AllowOverride All
                Require all granted
        </Directory>
        ErrorLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/homer-error.log
        CustomLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/homer-access.log combined
</VirtualHost>

Save and close the file by pressing CTRL+X, then press Y and hit Enter.

Enable the Homer virtual host by running the following command:

sudo a2ensite homer.conf

Restart the Apache webserver using the following command to apply the changes:

sudo systemctl restart apache2

Step 6: Initialize the Homer database

To initialize the Homer database, run the following command in the terminal:

cd /var/www/html/homer && sudo bin/cake migrations migrate

Step 7: Accessing the Homer web interface

Open your browser and navigate to http://localhost/homer/ to access the Homer web interface.

That's it! You have successfully installed Homer on Kali Linux Latest version. Start analyzing your logs by adding log sources as per your requirements.

Note: For security purposes, it’s recommended that you change the default username and password of the Homer web interface.