The VM Won't Power On
Symptom: an error mentioning VT-x, AMD-V, or "virtualization" when starting the VM.
Fix: reboot your host and enable Intel VT-x / AMD-V in the BIOS or UEFI settings. This is nearly always a host setting, not a problem with the downloaded image.
The VM Boots but Hangs at a Blank Screen
Symptom: the console window opens but never reaches a login prompt.
Fix: give it a full minute — Metasploitable 2's boot process is slow by modern standards. If it's still blank after that, confirm the disk was attached correctly in VirtualBox or VMware rather than a newly created empty disk.
Login Fails Immediately
Symptom: "incorrect password" or similar, even with the documented credentials.
Fix: credentials are case-sensitive; retype them instead of relying on a paste, since some console windows handle clipboard paste unreliably. Double-check against the default credentials list.
No Network Connectivity At All
Symptom: ifconfig inside the VM shows no address, or only a loopback interface.
Fix: confirm a host-only network actually exists in your hypervisor before it's assigned to the VM — see network configuration. Restart networking inside the VM with sudo /etc/init.d/networking restart if the adapter setting was only just corrected.
Attacking VM Can't Reach Metasploitable 2
Symptom: Metasploitable 2 has an address, but ping from Kali Linux (or another attacking VM) times out.
Fix: the two most common causes are (1) the VMs are on two different host-only networks that happen to have similar names, and (2) the host-only network's advanced settings block promiscuous mode. See connecting Kali Linux for the exact settings to check.
Performance Is Very Slow
Symptom: the VM is sluggish even for a lightweight lab image.
Fix: confirm the VM has at least 512 MB of RAM allocated and that your host isn't simultaneously running other heavy VMs. See system requirements for realistic host sizing when running two VMs together.
Still stuck? Most remaining issues trace back to a networking mismatch. Re-walk the network configuration guide end to end before assuming something else is wrong.