TryHackMe VM Automation Suite

This workspace contains the init-vm CLI tool and helper scripts designed to streamline and automate the setup, connection, and scanning phases of TryHackMe rooms.

Overview

The init-vm tool automates the interaction with the TryHackMe website using a headless/headful browser backend. Once started, it automatically manages the life cycle of target VMs, local OpenVPN connections, hosts file mappings, and scanning tools.

Core Features

1. Automatic VM Deployment: Navigates to the specified TryHackMe room, logs in using session files or prompts for manual login if the session is expired, and deploys the VM.
2. Directory Isolation: Creates a dedicated subdirectory for each room to organize scanning results and CTF notes.
3. Automatic OpenVPN Management: Interacts with vpn.sh to start/stop the OpenVPN client automatically.
4. IP & DNS Resolution: Polls the room page until the VM's IP address is assigned, displays it, and writes an entry in /etc/hosts mapping <room_name>.thm to the IP.
5. Autostart Scan: Invokes scan.sh to run nmap against the target VM and saves the results directly inside the room directory.
6. Daemon Life-cycle Extender: Runs in the background and extends the VM lease every 30 minutes to prevent the machine from timing out during long sessions.
7. Clean Termination: Shuts down the VM on TryHackMe, cleans up /etc/hosts entries, and stops the local OpenVPN client.

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File Structure

/Users/j0rdan0/ctf/tryhackme/
├── init-vm/            # Go source code for the CLI tool
│   ├── cmd/            # Command-line interface definitions (Cobra)
│   ├── pkg/
│   │   ├── browser/    # Browser automation controls
│   │   ├── hosts/      # Local /etc/hosts modification utility
│   │   └── vm/         # VM orchestration logic
│   └── main.go         # Go entry point
├── vpn.sh              # OpenVPN helper script (start/stop/restart)
├── scan.sh             # Nmap port scanning script
└── *.ovpn              # TryHackMe OpenVPN configuration file(s)

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Usage

1. Build the program

To compile the init-vm tool, navigate to the init-vm directory and build:

cd init-vm
go build -o init-vm

2. Start a Room VM

Deploys the room VM, creates the room directory, starts the VPN, registers the hostname, and triggers the port scan:

./init-vm/init-vm cheesectfv10 start

Alternatively, the program supports the standard command-first syntax:

./init-vm/init-vm start cheesectfv10

3. Extend VM Lease

Adds 1 hour to the active machine's duration:

./init-vm/init-vm cheesectfv10 extend
# OR
./init-vm/init-vm extend cheesectfv10

4. Keep-Alive Daemon (Auto-Extend)

Keeps the VM running continuously by extending it automatically every 30 minutes:

./init-vm/init-vm cheesectfv10 loop
# OR
./init-vm/init-vm loop cheesectfv10

5. Terminate VM

Stops the local OpenVPN connection, terminates the TryHackMe VM, and cleans up the /etc/hosts entry:

./init-vm/init-vm cheesectfv10 terminate
# OR
./init-vm/init-vm terminate cheesectfv10

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Script Integrations

VPN Script (vpn.sh)

Manages OpenVPN client processes.

• Start: sudo vpn.sh start
  • Scans the root directory for .ovpn or .conf configuration files.
  • Launches OpenVPN as a daemon and saves the process PID to /tmp/openvpn_tryhackme.pid.
• Stop: sudo vpn.sh stop
  • Safely stops the active OpenVPN daemon process.

Scan Script (scan.sh)

Automates host discovery and vulnerability scanning using nmap.

• Runs a fast service/script scan by default:

  sudo ./scan.sh <target-ip>

• Optional flags:
  • -a : Scans all 65,535 ports (-p-).
  • -u : Conducts a UDP port scan (-sU).