Metasploitable 2 Command Reference

ping -c 4 192.168.56.101

What It Does

Sends four ICMP echo requests to confirm a host responds.

When To Use It

First check after booting both VMs, before attempting any scan.

Expected Output

Four "64 bytes from..." reply lines with no packet loss.

Common Mistake

Assuming no reply means a firewall, when it's almost always a network adapter mismatch on Metasploitable 2.

Related: Connect Kali Linux

arp -a

What It Does

Lists devices your machine has recently communicated with on the local network.

When To Use It

Useful for spotting a target's IP when you haven't set one manually.

Expected Output

A table of IP and MAC address pairs.

Common Mistake

Reading stale entries from a previous session as the current address.

Related: Find IP Address

nmap -sn 192.168.56.0/24

What It Does

Performs a ping sweep across an entire subnet without port scanning.

When To Use It

When you don't know the target's exact address yet.

Expected Output

A short list of hosts that responded, each with an IP and possibly a MAC vendor.

Common Mistake

Scanning the wrong subnet range for your specific host-only network.

Related: Find IP Address

ifconfig

What It Does

Displays network interfaces and their assigned addresses.

When To Use It

Run inside Metasploitable 2 to read its own IP address.

Expected Output

A block per interface, including an inet line with the IPv4 address.

Common Mistake

Reading the address from the wrong interface (e.g. loopback instead of eth0).

Related: Find IP Address

ip addr show

What It Does

The modern equivalent of ifconfig on newer Linux distributions.

When To Use It

On recent Kali releases, where ifconfig may not be installed by default.

Expected Output

A numbered list of interfaces with their addresses.

Common Mistake

Confusing interface numbering between different VMs.

nmap 192.168.56.101

What It Does

Scans the 1,000 most common ports with default settings.

When To Use It

Your first look at any new target.

Expected Output

A short table of port, state, and service name.

Common Mistake

Assuming an unscanned port is closed rather than simply outside the default range.

Related: Nmap Tutorial

nmap -sV 192.168.56.101

What It Does

Adds service and version detection to a standard scan.

When To Use It

Once you know which ports are open and want to identify what's running on them.

Expected Output

The same port table, with a version string appended to each service.

Common Mistake

Treating the version string as 100% certain — it's a probe-based guess, usually accurate but not guaranteed.

Related: Nmap Tutorial

nmap -p- 192.168.56.101

What It Does

Scans all 65,535 ports instead of the default top 1,000.

When To Use It

When you want full confidence nothing unusual is running on a high port.

Expected Output

A longer version of the standard port table, takes noticeably more time.

Common Mistake

Running this as your first scan and waiting far longer than necessary.

Related: Nmap Tutorial

nc -nv 192.168.56.101 21

What It Does

Opens a raw connection to a specific port and shows anything the service sends back.

When To Use It

To manually grab a service banner nmap already hinted at.

Expected Output

A line or two of text the service sends immediately on connection, such as an FTP welcome banner.

Common Mistake

Forgetting to close the connection, leaving it open unintentionally.

Related: FTP Vulnerabilities

searchsploit vsftpd 2.3.4

What It Does

Searches a local exploit database by keyword.

When To Use It

After identifying a specific service and version worth researching further.

Expected Output

A list of matching entries with file paths for further reading.

Common Mistake

Assuming every search result applies to your exact configuration without reading it.

Related: FTP Vulnerabilities

whoami

What It Does

Prints the current user account.

When To Use It

Right after gaining any shell, to confirm what context you're in.

Expected Output

A single username, e.g. msfadmin.

Common Mistake

Assuming a shell has more privilege than the output actually shows.

uname -a

What It Does

Prints kernel and OS version information.

When To Use It

To confirm exactly what system you're working with.

Expected Output

A line including kernel version, architecture, and build date.

Common Mistake

Confusing kernel version with the distribution version.

ls -la

What It Does

Lists all files in a directory, including hidden ones, with permissions.

When To Use It

Whenever you need to check file permissions or ownership.

Expected Output

A table of permission strings, owners, sizes, and filenames.

Common Mistake

Overlooking hidden files (those starting with a dot) by using plain ls.

Related: Misconfigurations