If you read Reverse Engineering With Radare2, Part 1 by Sam Symons, you will be hot to jump in and start using Radare2!
Of course, like me, you will ignore most of the introduction and quickly search for Radare2, only to encounter an array of installation options, most of which don’t concern you.
Avoid that mistake, follow this link, http://radare.org/r/down.html (yes, same one that Symons has in his post, and follow these directions:
git clone https://github.com/radare/radare2
cd radare2
sys/install.sh # just run this script to update from r2 from git
OK, you need to:
sudo sys/install.sh if you aren’t in a root shell.
Symons points you to course materials for a Modern Binary Exploitation course and their website.
Starting with ./crackme0x00a, you are introduced to the r2 command to open the first challenge.
Presented in a different order, you will encounter:
- ? – help (append to any command)
- aa – analyze all
- cd – change directories
- pdf – Print disassemble function – pdf@main (simple example)
- pwd – identify working directory
- s – seek
- x – print
I’m working on resetting the colors! Even in a much larger size, this is terribly difficult to read!
That reminds me, there is a book on radare2, imaginatively titled: R2 “Book.” (There is truth to the claim that naming is one of the hardest problems in computer science.)
I got to the end of the first exercise and have some confidence that the Radare2 installation is working properly.
Before going any further, I’m going to experiment with and fix the color display. It’s painful to look at. More on its way!
Enjoy!