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How to install the Realtek RTL8812AU Driver on Kali Linux 2022.4 running on VMware step by step process?

April 28, 2023

Before I am starting this article, I want to explain you the main difference between 2 Wi-Fi network adapters. The name of these 2 adapters are:

Realtek RTL8812AU
Realtek RTL8812BU

These both Wi-Fi network adapters support dual-band (2.4 GHz and 5 GHz) Wi-Fi and use the USB interface to connect to a computer.
The main difference between the two adapters is the version of the USB interface they use. The RTL8812AU uses USB 3.0, while the RTL8812BU uses USB 2.0.
Chipset: The RTL8812AU and RTL8812BU use different chipsets. The RTL8812AU uses a USB 3.0 interface and a 2x2 MIMO antenna configuration, while the RTL8812BU uses a USB 3.0/2.0 interface and a 2x2 MU-MIMO antenna configuration.
Performance: the RTL8812BU chipset is a more recent version of the RTL8812AU chipset and offers some improvements in terms of performance and features. The RTL8812BU can achieve higher data transfer rates and has better range and signal strength. The RTL8812BU chipset supports Bluetooth 4.2 and 5.0, while the RTL8812AU chipset does not.
Compatibility: The RTL8812AU is compatible with Windows, macOS, and Linux operating systems, while the RTL8812BU is compatible with Windows and macOS but may not be fully supported on Linux.
Price: The RTL8812BU is generally more expensive than the RTL8812AU due to its better performance and compatibility.
(Note: Only Buy Realtek RTL8812AU Wi-Fi network adapter, because of their support with Kali Linux Operating System OS).

Why and for what purpose do we use RTL8812AU Wi-Fi network adapter?

The RTL8812AU adapter is a popular wireless network adapter used for penetration testing and monitoring in Kali Linux because it supports packet injection, which is a crucial feature for many wireless attacks.
Packet injection allows an attacker to send specially crafted packets to a wireless network to exploit vulnerabilities or carry out attacks such as de-authentication, man-in-the-middle, and replay attacks. Without packet injection support, the adapter would not be able to send these types of packets effectively, making it difficult to perform certain types of attacks.
The RTL8812AU adapter also has a high data transfer rate, which makes it ideal for monitoring and capturing large amounts of wireless network traffic. Additionally, it supports both the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz wireless frequency bands, which allows it to work with a wide range of wireless networks.
Overall, the RTL8812AU adapter is a versatile and powerful tool for wireless penetration testing and monitoring in Kali Linux, making it a popular choice among security professionals and enthusiasts.

I am sharing some links where you can buy RTL8812AU Wi-Fi network adapter online, and you can know the information about to it from nearby your Computer Shop.

Devices Names with URLs to buy:

Ugreen AC1300 USB WiFi Adapter:

https://www.ugreen.com/collections/usb-wifi-adapter/products/ugreen-ac1300-usb-wifi-adapter

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005003481169749.html

I used this Ugreen AC1300 USB WiFi Adapter in this whole article.

BrosTrend USB wifi adapter for Linux - AC1L:

https://www.brostrend.com/collections/linux-wifi-adapter/products/ac1l

BrosTrend AC1200 Linux Compatible USB WiFi Adapter - AC3L:

https://www.brostrend.com/collections/linux-wifi-adapter/products/ac3l

OR any other RTL8812AU Wi-Fi network adapter you can use.

You should need to follow a series of steps to make the Realtek RTL8812AU Wi-Fi network adapter work in Kali Linux:

Step 1:
You should need to be download Kali Linux 2022.4 version, which I will be using in the next series of steps, because I have downloaded all the required necessary files which Realtek RTL8812AU Wi-Fi network adapter needs to make workable in Kali Linux. Kali Linux offline installation download URL provided below:
(Note: In this case, you can copy all my steps, and I will share download links of obsolete files which kali Linux organization deleted form their Kali Pool).
OR
You can download the latest version of Kali Linux offline installation from the official website as 64-bit or 32-bit according to your given PC/Laptop requirements from the given URL provided below:
(Note: In this case, you can simply follow all my steps, and do your latest required files download from Kali Pool, similarly as I am doing for Kali Linux 2022.4 version).

Step 2:
In this step, I am introducing you the 2 ways of downloading files from github.com. By using first method, you can directly download any github file by going to the download link of that particular file. Right now, I am adopting this method by going to the given below download link of Realtek RTL8812AU Driver, and copying the downloaded zip file directly from windows to Kali Linux folder.
OR you can download from my drive.google link as:

Step 3:
You can click the green color drop down Code option, and then click the Download ZIP option.

Step 4:
After downloading, you can open directory/location of the Download ZIP file folder.

Step 5:
Then you can open the Kali Linux in VMware, right click on Desktop and click the Create Folder option.

Step 6:
Then enter the Name of the folder as rtl8812au, and click Create option.

Step 7:
The folder with name rtl8812au is created on Desktop and next you can open the rtl8812au folder.

Step 8:
Next, you can right click on the downloaded zip file named as rtl8812au-5.6.4.2 and click the Copy option or press ctrl+c keys simultaneously from keyboard to copy the file as shown below in picture.

Step 9:
Then you can again come back to the rtl8812au folder, right click, and click the Paste option.

Step 10:
Then right click on the downloaded zip file named as rtl8812au-5.6.4.2 and click Extract Here option.

Step 11:
Double click the rtl8812au-5.6.4.2 folder, and you can see the 'Aircrack-ng' files.

Step 12:
Click the Terminal Emulator to open it and write the following command:
cd Desktop
(Here 'cd' stands for change directory from 'Home Directory' to current user working 'Desktop' directory).

Step 13:
Then again use 'cd' command to move further in rtl8812au directory by using the same following command as above:
cd rtl8812au

Step 14:
After that I am connecting my rtl8812au Wi-Fi network adapter, by going through 'VM' menu, then 'Removable Devices', then 'Realtek 802.11n NIC' option, and click the 'Connect (Disconnect from Host)' as shown in the below picture.

And click the 'OK' button to confirm it.

Step 15:
In this step, I used the 'lsusb' command which shows our RTL8812AU WLAN Adapter and its manufacturer's information.
lsusb
(Here 'lsusb' command allows users to list the USB (Universal Serial Bus) devices connected to the system).

Step 16:
Then I used the 'dir' command to list the content of current directory. You can also use 'ls' command.
dir
(Here 'dir' command shows users to list the content of current directory).

Step 17:
And then use the 'cd' command to move into rtl8812au-5.6.4.2 directory.

Step 18:
Then again use the 'dir' command to list the content of current rtl8812au-5.6.4.2 directory.

Step 19:
After that I make the 'sudo make' command in rtl8812au-5.6.4.2 directory and press Enter.
sudo make
(Here 'sudo' and 'make' are two different commands, but I used consecutively, because 'sudo' command allow a sysadmin to give limited root privileges to users and log root activity. And 'make' command invokes the execution of the makefile. It is a special file that contains the shell commands that we create to maintain the project).

After pressing Enter, it asks password for salman (current user) to gain the root privileges.

After giving password, the make command does not work successfully and gives an error of following:
Make[1]: *** /lib/modules/6.0.0-kali3-amd64/build: No such file or directory. Stop.

Step 20:
So, I need this file modules to complete the make commands successful. For this purpose, I went two directories/folders back by using 'cd ..' command.
cd ..
(Here '..' double dots after cd command represents 2 directories/folders back and similarly one dots represents 1 directory/folder back).

Step 21:
I went back to the rtl8812au folder located on Desktop.

And I download the required package file from https://http.kali.org/kali/pool/main/l/linux/
OR you can download from my drive.google link as:
linux-headers-6.0.0-kali3-amd64_6.0.7-1kali1_amd64.deb
And copy this file from Windows directory.

Come back to the rtl8812au directory/folder, right click and click the Paste option.

Step 22:
In this step, I come back to the terminal emulator and write 'dir' to list the content of current directory and it shows the required .deb file named as:
linux-headers-6.0.0-kali3-amd64_6.0.7-1kali1_amd64.deb

Copy the file name 'linux-headers-6.0.0-kali3-amd64_6.0.7-1kali1_amd64.deb' by selecting it, and press ctrl+shift+c keys simultaneously from keyboard to copy the file name as shown below in picture.

And use the following command 'sudo dpkg -i' and paste that file name 'linux-headers-6.0.0-kali3-amd64_6.0.7-1kali1_amd64.deb' after it by pressing ctrl+shift+v keys simultaneously from keyboard to de-package the debian file.
sudo dpkg -i linux-headers-6.0.0-kali3-amd64_6.0.7-1kali1_amd64.deb
(Here 'dpkg' (Debian Package Manager) represents a medium-level tool to install, build, remove, and manage Debian packages. On the other hand, '-i' flag used for install packages).

After pressing Enter its ask password for salman. I give password and Again press Enter.

It says that the package 'linux-headers-6.0.0-kali3-amd64' depends upon the  following package:
linux-headers-6.0.0-kali3-common

Step 23:
Again I download the required package file from https://http.kali.org/kali/pool/main/l/linux/
linux-headers-6.0.0-kali3-common_6.0.7-1kali1_all.deb
OR you can download from my drive.google link as:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1P5mM5vELhnSdQp-0KTWLBw4fS04Gz-rY/view?usp=share_link
And copy this file from Windows directory.

Come back to the rtl8812au directory/folder, right click and click the Paste option.

Step 24:
In this step, I come back to the terminal emulator and write 'dir' to list the content of current directory and it shows the required .deb file named as:
linux-headers-6.0.0-kali3-common_6.0.7-1kali1_all.deb

Copy the file name 'linux-headers-6.0.0-kali3-common_6.0.7-1kali1_all.deb' by selecting it, and press ctrl+shift+c keys simultaneously from keyboard to copy the file name as shown below in picture.

And use the following command 'sudo dpkg -i' and paste that file name 'linux-headers-6.0.0-kali3-common_6.0.7-1kali1_all.deb' after it by pressing ctrl+shift+v keys simultaneously from keyboard to de-package the debian file.
sudo dpkg -i linux-headers-6.0.0-kali3-common_6.0.7-1kali1_all.deb

After pressing Enter, this package 'linux-headers-6.0.0-kali3-common_6.0.7-1kali1_all.deb' will be successfully installed.

Step 25:
So, I again copied the 'linux-headers-6.0.0-kali3-amd64_6.0.7-1kali1_amd64.deb' file name by selecting this de-package file, and press ctrl+shift+c keys simultaneously from keyboard to copy the file name as shown below in picture.

And again use the following command 'sudo dpkg -i' and paste that file name 'linux-headers-6.0.0-kali3-amd64_6.0.7-1kali1_amd64.deb' after it by pressing ctrl+shift+v keys simultaneously from keyboard to de-package the debian file.
sudo dpkg -i linux-headers-6.0.0-kali3-amd64_6.0.7-1kali1_amd64.deb

It says that the package 'linux-headers-6.0.0-kali3-amd64' depends upon the  following package:
linux-kbuild-6.0

Step 26:
Again I download the required package file from https://http.kali.org/kali/pool/main/l/linux/
OR you can download from my drive.google link as:
linux-kbuild-6.0_6.0.7-1kali1_amd64.deb
And copy this file from Windows directory.

You can come back to the rtl8812au directory/folder, right click and click the Paste option.

Step 27:
In this step, I come back to the terminal emulator and write 'dir' to list the content of current directory and it shows the required .deb file named as:
linux-kbuild-6.0_6.0.7-1kali1_amd64.deb

So, I again copied the 'linux-kbuild-6.0_6.0.7-1kali1_amd64.deb' file name by selecting this de-package file, and press ctrl+shift+c keys simultaneously from keyboard to copy the file name as shown below in picture.

And use the following command 'sudo dpkg -i' and paste that file name 'linux-kbuild-6.0_6.0.7-1kali1_amd64.deb' after it by pressing ctrl+shift+v keys simultaneously from keyboard to de-package the debian file.
sudo dpkg -i linux-kbuild-6.0_6.0.7-1kali1_amd64.deb

After pressing Enter this package 'linux-kbuild-6.0_6.0.7-1kali1_amd64.deb' will be successfully installed.

Step 28:
So, I again copied the 'linux-headers-6.0.0-kali3-amd64_6.0.7-1kali1_amd64.deb' file name by selecting this de-package file, and press ctrl+shift+c keys simultaneously from keyboard to copy the file name as shown below in picture.

And again use the following command 'sudo dpkg -i' and paste that file name 'linux-headers-6.0.0-kali3-amd64_6.0.7-1kali1_amd64.deb' after it by pressing ctrl+shift+v keys simultaneously from keyboard to de-package the debian file.
sudo dpkg -i linux-headers-6.0.0-kali3-amd64_6.0.7-1kali1_amd64.deb

It says that the package 'linux-headers-6.0.0-kali3-amd64' depends upon the  following package:
linux-compiler-gcc-12-x86

Step 29:
Again I download the required package file from https://http.kali.org/kali/pool/main/l/linux/
OR you can download from my drive.google link as:
linux-compiler-gcc-12-x86_6.0.7-1kali1_amd64.deb
And copy this file from Windows directory.

You can come back to the rtl8812au directory/folder, right click and click the Paste option.

Step 30:
In this step, I come back to the terminal emulator and write 'dir' to list the content of current directory and it shows the required .deb file named as:
linux-compiler-gcc-12-x86_6.0.7-1kali1_amd64.deb

So, I again copied the 'linux-compiler-gcc-12-x86_6.0.7-1kali1_amd64.deb' file name by selecting this de-package file, and press ctrl+shift+c keys simultaneously from keyboard to copy the file name as shown below in picture.

And use the following command 'sudo dpkg -i' and paste that file name 'linux-compiler-gcc-12-x86_6.0.7-1kali1_amd64.deb' after it by pressing ctrl+shift+v keys simultaneously from keyboard to de-package the debian file.
sudo dpkg -i linux-compiler-gcc-12-x86_6.0.7-1kali1_amd64.deb

After pressing Enter this package 'linux-compiler-gcc-12-x86_6.0.7-1kali1_amd64.deb' will be successfully installed.

Step 31:
So, I again copied the 'linux-headers-6.0.0-kali3-amd64_6.0.7-1kali1_amd64.deb' file name by selecting this de-package file, and press ctrl+shift+c keys simultaneously from keyboard to copy the file name as shown below in picture.

And again use the following command 'sudo dpkg -i' and paste that file name 'linux-headers-6.0.0-kali3-amd64_6.0.7-1kali1_amd64.deb' after it by pressing ctrl+shift+v keys simultaneously from keyboard to de-package the debian file.
sudo dpkg -i linux-headers-6.0.0-kali3-amd64_6.0.7-1kali1_amd64.deb

After pressing Enter, this package 'linux-headers-6.0.0-kali3-amd64_6.0.7-1kali1_amd64.deb' will be finally successfully installed.

Step 32:
So, I write 'dir' command to list the content of current directory.

Step 33:
And then use the 'cd' command to move into rtl8812au-5.6.4.2 directory.

Step 34:
Then again use the 'dir' command to list the content of current rtl8812au-5.6.4.2 directory.

Step 35:
After that I make the 'sudo make' command in rtl8812au-5.6.4.2 directory and press Enter.

After pressing Enter, it will start executing the makefile.

Step 36:
After that I write 'sudo make install' command and press Enter.
sudo make install

Step 37:
Next I check the RTL8812AU adpater shown in Kali Linux or not by using 'iwconfig' command.
iwconfig
(Here 'iwconfig' is used to display and change the parameters of the network interface which are specific to the wireless operation (e.g. interface name, frequency, SSID). It may also be used to display the wireless statistics (extracted from /proc/net/wireless )).

Step 38:
So, to check the RTL8812AU Wi-Fi network adapter, you should need to disconnect it first by going through 'VM' menu, then 'Removable Devices', then 'Realtek 802.11n NIC' option, and click the 'Disconnect (Connect to host)'.

After RTL8812AU Wi-Fi network adapter disconnect you can again repeat the same process to connect it by going through 'VM' menu, then 'Removable Devices', then 'Realtek 802.11n NIC' option, and click the 'Connect (Disconnect from Host)'.

And click the 'OK' button to confirm it.

Step 39:
So, you can again check the RTL8812AU Wi-Fi network adapter shown in Kali Linux by using 'iwconfig' command and THANKFULLY it works.
iwconfig

Finally your RTL8812AU Wi-Fi network adapter works in Kali Linux. You can simply connect with other NETWORKS by clicking the 'Ethernet network connection' and under 'Wi-Fi NETWORKS', there is a option of 'Available networks' and then select and connect with any of your desired network which have password access to you or provided by those networks owner.

Don't walk as you are the king, walk as you don't care who the king is....!!