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The BitCurator environment is built around Ubuntu 12.04LTS, and has been customized with digital forensics applications and tools. If you're interested in configuring an existing environment to use the tools and custom software included with BitCurator, we've included these instructions as well.

It is possible to run the BitCurator environment as a stand-alone operating system or as a virtual machine using virtualization software such as VirtualBox or VMWare. The instructions on this page will assist you in installing, configuring, and using the BitCurator environment (and individual tools) for both cases.

Installation

• Running BitCurator as a Virtual Machine:
  1. Installing the BitCurator virtual machine using Oracle's VirtualBox virtualization software
  2. Configuring Media Devices for Use with VirtualBox

• Installing BitCurator from the ISO as a stand-alone operating system

• Installing BitCurator tools on an existing Linux OS (Ubuntu 12.04 LTS only)

Guides and How-To Docs

• Using Nautilus for Data Triage
• Creating a Disk Image Using Guymager
• Using bulk_extractor to Find Personal Identifiable Information (PII) on a Disk Image
• DFXML tag library

Screencasts

Installing BitCurator as a Virtual Machine using VirtualBox

Creating a Disk Image using Guymager in BitCurator

Locating Personally Identifiable Information on a Disk Image

Find more screencasts on our YouTube channel!

Requirements

The BitCurator environment runs best on a host with a 64-bit processor and a native 64-bit OS. We recommend that you configure your virtualization software to provide the VM with at least 2 processor cores and 4GB of memory. For large disk images, data-intensive tasks, and simplified access to a range of hardware write-blockers, the environment should be installed on the host machine as a dedicated operating system.