Pentora Box: Pen-Test Practice Labs

Learn by doing, not just reading or watching.

Pen-testing can’t be mastered by watching videos or reading blogs alone. You need to get your hands dirty.

Pentora Box turns each Linux Handbook tutorial into a self-try exercise. Every lab gives you a realistic, safe environment where you can explore reconnaissance, scanning, exploitation, and post-exploitation, step by step.

How to use it?

Curious how you can get started with ethical hacking and pen-testing for free with these hands-on labs? It's easy. Here's what you need to do:

Step 1: Pick a lab to practice

Choose from a curated list of hands-on pen-testing exercises, from OSINT to exploitation. The labs are not in a particular order but it would be a good practice to follow:

• 🧭 Reconnaissance Track: To scout the target for attack surface and vulnerabilities
• ⚔️ Exploitation Track: Simulate attack after finding vulnerabilities.
• 🛡️ Defense Track: Monitor your system and network and harden up your defenses.

Step 2: Set up locally

Each lab includes setup instructions. It's good to use Kali Linux, as it often includes the required tools. You can also use Debian or Ubuntu based distributions, as the package installation command will work the same. Sure, you can try it on any Linux distro as long as you manage to install the packages.

Labs are safe to perform as they are performed on VulnHub, a platform dedicated for pen-testing exercises.

Step 3: Execute and learn

Run commands, observe output, fix errors, and build muscle memory, the hacker way. The tutorials explain the output so that you can understand what's going on and what you should be focusing on after running the commands.

Before you start: Setting up your practice environment

You don’t need a dedicated server or paid sandbox to begin. All labs can be practiced on your Linux system or a virtual machine.

Recommended Setup:

• 🐧 Kali Linux/ParrotOS/Debian/Ubuntu + tools
• 🐳 Docker (for local vulnerable targets)
• ⚙️ VS Code or terminal-based editor
• 🔒 Good ethics: always test in legal environments

Stay in touch for future labs

New labs are added regularly. Subscribe to get notified when a new tool, challenge, or lab goes live. You can also share your results or request new topics in our community forum or newsletter.