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Jenkins on Hardened Ubuntu vs Kali Linux comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Jenkins on Hardened Ubuntu
Ranking in Operating Systems (OS) for Business
26th
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
8.5
Number of Reviews
2
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Kali Linux
Ranking in Operating Systems (OS) for Business
10th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
26
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Featured Reviews

reviewer2795433 - PeerSpot reviewer
Enterprise Cloud Operations Lead at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Secure pipelines have reduced incidents and save significant setup and configuration time
One of the best features Jenkins on Hardened Ubuntu offers is that it saves time because rather than trying to have a vanilla OS, such as Ubuntu on an EC2 instance, and then trying to secure it yourself, Jenkins on Hardened Ubuntu is already secured with a ton of insecure features disabled on the VM, which saves us time and is quite cost-effective. The IAM integration has helped my team because it is quicker to set up and more secure since using AWS IAM roles is natively secure, where long-term credentials can be insecure, but by using already configured IAM roles, it is much more secure. Jenkins on Hardened Ubuntu has positively impacted my organization because it is more secure to use rather than us trying to use a vanilla OS, lowering the attack surface of common OS-related vulnerabilities.
Ciyagi Ciyagi - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Solution Architect & Delivery Lead at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
Runs efficiently across devices and streamlines penetration testing workflows
Kali Linux could be improved by including more tools. I would personally like to see improvements in Kali Linux, particularly regarding Grub issues that sometimes occur when installing the VM. Additionally, I have experienced problems when updating Kali Linux from a higher version to a lower version, which resulted in crashes. These Grub issues should be resolved. I face significant challenges with Kali Linux regarding a major issue with the Grub loader becoming corrupted, which makes it very difficult to recover data.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"The benefits of Jenkins on Hardened Ubuntu include its easy integration with every tool; it can be used as both an integration tool and a deployment tool, and with the help of scripts, we can easily configure Jenkins on Hardened Ubuntu in an effective way."
"I have definitely noticed a reduction in incidents and time saved since switching to Jenkins on Hardened Ubuntu, which saves at least between ten to twenty hours in configuration time, translating to potential savings of hundreds or even thousands of dollars."
"Kali Linux offers excellent features including being lightweight with low memory usage, easy installation, portability, and multiple architectures such as ARM architecture and server architecture."
"Kali Linux has helped me significantly in simulating penetration testing and other activities, and since all the tools are open source, I can easily modify and customize them based on my needs."
"The outcomes from using Kali Linux in our organization are significant; we experienced reduced cybersecurity attacks and improved application security, leading to decreased attack surfaces and quicker testing cycles that enabled faster launches and installations."
"I use the tool with Nmap to perform network audits. We use it to find vulnerabilities in our network through attacks. It's for those who want to launch or create viruses or perform attacks on systems. With Kali Linux, you can conduct penetration testing for networks, web applications, and Android mobile apps."
"If you are looking for faster, better performance or scalability, then Kali Linux is the best."
"Additionally, it now includes comprehensive migration analytics and reporting capabilities."
"Kali Linux has impacted my work and personal projects positively by providing an accessible platform to understand the entire Linux ecosystem."
"The interface is good and straightforward to use."
 

Cons

"There is a maintenance overhead to using Jenkins on Hardened Ubuntu since the customer is responsible for patching both Jenkins on Hardened Ubuntu and the OS, and although security issues are somewhat handled, Jenkins on Hardened Ubuntu third-party plugins may still be insecure, and hardened images can be too restrictive."
"I face significant challenges with Kali Linux regarding a major issue with the Grub loader becoming corrupted, which makes it very difficult to recover data."
"I face significant challenges with Kali Linux regarding a major issue with the Grub loader becoming corrupted, which makes it very difficult to recover data."
"I would like for them to offer more features for the free version in order for users to test them in their internal environment before purchasing."
"There are areas for improvement in Kali Linux, particularly regarding its use of the Linux kernel, which requires external additional patching, and the fact that network services are disabled by default, which complicates usage; enhancing user-friendliness through more GUI-based tools and better integration could be beneficial."
"I think Kali Linux is good, but there is a widespread misunderstanding related to Kali Linux because many people believe Kali Linux is a tool for hackers and that anything can be hacked using it."
"Increasing the tutorials and the help inside Kali Linux would make it more useful."
"Kali Linux can be improved, as I have encountered challenges with dependencies that can be overwhelming."
"The only real limitation I can see with Kali Linux is the steep learning curve of using it."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"I have used the free version."
"I use it free of charge."
"Kali Linux is open source."
"Kali Linux is a free product, and you don't have to pay for a license."
"The price is good because Kali Linux already provides a good bundle of tools."
"It is an open-source tool."
"The tool is open-source."
"Kali Linux offers a perpetual license, meaning you pay for it once and can use it. While free versions of Linux are available, Kali Linux, being an enterprise edition, usually comes with a perpetual license. I rate its pricing a five out of ten."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
No data available
University
14%
Comms Service Provider
13%
Educational Organization
11%
Computer Software Company
10%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business10
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise16
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Jenkins on Hardened Ubuntu?
The organization handles the payment for Jenkins on Hardened Ubuntu. I am not certain about how they calculate the usage percentage and pricing.
What needs improvement with Jenkins on Hardened Ubuntu?
I have not seen many disadvantages with Jenkins on Hardened Ubuntu. From an improvement perspective, implementing AI features would be beneficial. If AI could be integrated for scripting in the Jen...
What is your primary use case for Jenkins on Hardened Ubuntu?
I am using Jenkins on Hardened Ubuntu for procuring the infrastructure to deploy our applications and procuring databases for various tasks.
What do you like most about Kali Linux?
I use the tool with Nmap to perform network audits. We use it to find vulnerabilities in our network through attacks. It's for those who want to launch or create viruses or perform attacks on syste...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Kali Linux?
My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing for Kali Linux has been that it was free to use.
What needs improvement with Kali Linux?
I think Kali Linux is good, but there is a widespread misunderstanding related to Kali Linux because many people believe Kali Linux is a tool for hackers and that anything can be hacked using it. T...
 

Overview

Find out what your peers are saying about Red Hat, Rocky Linux, Canonical and others in Operating Systems (OS) for Business. Updated: January 2026.
881,082 professionals have used our research since 2012.