Linux Administrator Course

Lesson 1 • Navigating the Linux Filesystem

Introduces the Filesystem Hierarchy Standard and essential navigation commands. Enables confident movement and file manipulation from the command line.

Lesson 2 • Linux History and Distribution Landscape

Covers the Unix lineage, the open-source model, and major distribution families. Establishes context for choosing and managing enterprise Linux systems.

Lesson 3 • Getting Help and Using Documentation

Teaches use of man pages, info pages, and built-in help flags to resolve issues independently. Reinforces self-sufficiency as a core administrative skill.

Lesson 4 • Linux Architecture and Boot Process

Explains kernel space, user space, and the full boot sequence from firmware to login. Provides the mental model needed for troubleshooting startup failures.

Lesson 1 • Bash Shell Fundamentals

Covers shell syntax, command structure, and environment variables. Forms the operational baseline for all subsequent command-line work.

Lesson 2 • Shell Customization and Productivity

Teaches profile files, prompt customization, and terminal multiplexers for an efficient workspace. Reduces repetitive effort in daily administrative sessions.

Lesson 3 • Input, Output, and Redirection

Explains standard streams, redirection operators, and pipes for chaining commands. Enables efficient data flow control in administrative workflows.

Lesson 4 • File Management and Archiving

Covers creating, copying, moving, linking, and archiving files and directories. Builds the practical file-handling skills used daily by administrators.

Lesson 1 • Traditional Unix Permissions

Explains read, write, and execute bits for owner, group, and others. Provides the core access control model applied to every file and directory.

Lesson 2 • User and Group Account Management

Covers creating, modifying, and deleting user and group accounts via command-line tools. Establishes the identity foundation for all permission and security work.

Lesson 3 • Sudo Configuration and Privilege Escalation

Teaches sudoers file syntax, command delegation, and audit logging for controlled privilege escalation. Reduces reliance on the root account in production environments.

Lesson 1 • Monitoring Processes and System Resources

Covers ps, top, htop, and related tools for real-time and snapshot process inspection. Enables rapid identification of resource bottlenecks and runaway processes.

Lesson 2 • systemd Service Administration

Covers unit file structure, service lifecycle commands, and dependency management with systemd. Enables reliable deployment and control of daemons in modern Linux environments.

Lesson 3 • Understanding Linux Processes

Explains process creation, states, PID hierarchy, and signals. Provides the conceptual foundation for all process monitoring and control tasks.

Lesson 4 • Logging with journald and rsyslog

Explains the systemd journal, rsyslog configuration, and log rotation for centralized event tracking. Supports troubleshooting and compliance auditing on managed systems.

Lesson 1 • Logical Volume Management

Introduces LVM concepts, physical volumes, volume groups, and logical volumes for flexible storage. Enables online resizing and snapshot capabilities unavailable with raw partitions.

Lesson 2 • Disk Partitioning and Partition Tables

Covers MBR and GPT partition tables, fdisk, gdisk, and parted for disk layout management. Establishes the physical storage foundation for all higher-level configurations.

Lesson 3 • Filesystem Creation and Management

Teaches mkfs variants, mount options, and /etc/fstab for persistent filesystem configuration. Connects filesystem choices to performance and reliability requirements.

Lesson 4 • Disk Quotas and Storage Monitoring

Teaches user and group disk quotas, quota enforcement, and storage utilization reporting. Prevents runaway disk usage from impacting shared server environments.

Lesson 1 • Network Fundamentals for Linux Admins

Reviews TCP/IP addressing, subnetting, and the OSI model as applied to Linux administration. Provides the conceptual grounding required for all network configuration tasks.

Lesson 2 • Firewall Management with firewalld and iptables

Introduces firewalld zones, rich rules, and iptables chains for packet filtering. Enables enforcement of network security policies on Linux hosts.

Lesson 3 • Network Diagnostics and Troubleshooting

Covers ping, traceroute, ss, tcpdump, and netstat for diagnosing connectivity and performance issues. Builds a systematic troubleshooting methodology for network faults.

Lesson 4 • Routing and Name Resolution

Teaches static routes, default gateway configuration, and DNS resolver setup. Ensures servers can reach required network destinations and resolve hostnames correctly.

Lesson 1 • System Hardening Best Practices

Covers kernel parameter tuning via sysctl, disabling unused services, and applying security benchmarks. Reduces the attack surface of a freshly installed Linux server.

Lesson 2 • AppArmor Profile Management

Introduces AppArmor profiles, enforcement modes, and profile generation tools as an alternative MAC system. Provides path-based confinement for applications on Debian-family systems.

Lesson 3 • SELinux Policy Administration

Explains SELinux modes, contexts, booleans, and policy troubleshooting with audit2allow. Enables mandatory access control enforcement without breaking application functionality.

Lesson 4 • SSH Configuration and Key-Based Authentication

Covers sshd_config hardening, key pair generation, and certificate-based authentication. Eliminates password-based remote access vulnerabilities on managed servers.

Lesson 1 • Advanced Scripting Techniques

Introduces arrays, string manipulation, error handling, and script debugging for production-quality scripts. Enables robust automation that handles edge cases and failures gracefully.

Lesson 2 • Performance Tuning and Capacity Planning

Covers kernel tuning, I/O scheduler selection, memory management, and capacity trend analysis. Prepares administrators to proactively address performance degradation before it impacts users.

Lesson 3 • Bash Scripting Fundamentals

Covers script structure, variables, conditionals, loops, and functions for automating repetitive tasks. Transforms command-line knowledge into reusable administrative tools.

Lesson 4 • Backup and Recovery Strategies

Teaches full, incremental, and differential backup methods using tar, rsync, and dedicated tools. Ensures data recoverability and minimizes downtime after failures.