Now the exploit module has been launched.
How do we know what's happening?
We can't directly observe the target system.
We have to rely on feedback and messages provided by the Metasploit framework.
As the attack progresses, the console will generate some messages.
We will look at how to interpret that output to see if we were successful.
The Metasploit framework console generates a few
types of messages when we use it.
The messages have a color‑coded prefix to highlight the
message type for quick recognition.
It could be a success message or an indication that something good has
happened, we like to see those, a status message indicating that
something has happened, a not‑so‑good warning that a problem has
occurred, or the dreaded error message,
meaning something has failed and progress has stopped.
A good message or success message is shown with a green prefix consisting
of two square brackets and a plus symbol like this one.
It is an indication that an activity was successful or
that the right message was received.
Some examples include these types of messages.
A status message is shown with a blue prefix consisting of two
square brackets and an asterisk symbol shown here.
It's an informational message showing a progression of steps or activities.
Here are some examples. A warning message is shown with an
orange or yellow prefix consisting of two square brackets
and an exclamation point.
It's also an informative message,
but we may have trouble soon because of the issue.
Progress will continue, but we may not be successful in the end.
Here are some examples of warning messages.
An error message is shown with a red prefix consisting of
two square brackets and a minus sign.
This type of message means we encountered a failure during
execution and that it cannot continue.
Execution is generally stopped at this point.
Here are some examples of failure. If we encounter
issues when running our exploits, we need to recover in some way.
First, we need to review the messages that were generated.
We need to understand what caused the error.
We can determine most of this from the message types and the message itself.
We may find that the issues are related to our module configuration.
We should review our option values, the target selected, or the payload.
If we find that we made an error, let's fix it.
Change the module we use or the option values if needed, and then try it again.
Review those messages if there's another issue.