# 🔹 How to Create a Bootable Kali Linux USB on macOS

This guide shows how to format and write a Kali Linux ISO/IMG file to a USB drive using **Terminal** on macOS.

---

## 1. Download Kali Linux

* Get the latest installer ISO/IMG from the [official Kali Linux download page](https://www.kali.org/get-kali/).
* For Apple Silicon Macs, use the **ARM64 installer image**.

---

## 2. Identify the USB Drive

List all disks:

```bash
diskutil list external physical
```

Find your USB device (e.g., `/dev/disk4`).
⚠️ **Be absolutely sure of the correct disk — choosing the wrong one can erase your Mac’s internal drive.**

---

## 3. Unmount the USB Drive

Unmount all mounted volumes from the USB:

```bash
diskutil unmountDisk force /dev/disk4
```

---

## 4. Convert the ISO to IMG (if needed)

Some Kali images come as `.iso`. Convert to `.img`:

```bash
hdiutil convert -format UDRW -o ~/Downloads/kali.img ~/Downloads/kali-linux-2025.2-installer-arm64.iso
```

macOS will append `.dmg`, resulting in `kali.img.dmg`.

---

## 5. Write the Image to the USB

Use `dd` to copy the image.
⚠️ This erases the entire USB drive.

```bash
sudo dd if=~/Downloads/kali-linux-2025.2-installer-arm64.img.dmg of=/dev/rdisk4 bs=4m status=progress
sync
```

Notes:

* Use `/dev/rdiskX` (raw device) instead of `/dev/diskX` for faster writes.
* Replace `disk4` with your actual USB device.

---

## 6. Eject the USB

When the process finishes:

```bash
diskutil eject /dev/disk4
```

---

## 7. Boot From USB

* Insert the USB into the target computer.
* Open BIOS/UEFI (usually **F12**, **DEL**, or **ESC** at startup).
* Select the USB device to boot.
* Install Kali Linux.

---

✅ **You now have a bootable Kali Linux USB installer created on macOS.**

---