Linux administrator Course

An intensive course on professional Linux administration

• practical, marketable skills,
• a lot of working examples, practical exercises and hands-on activities,
• small groups (5-12 people),
• Linux Professional Institute (LPI) certified,
• 1190 EUR
• instalment payment plans available for private persons
  more information here

Our course is intended for those who:

• would like to become Linux administrators
• want to increase their knowledge of both computers and TCP/IP networks
• already work as computer specialists but want to raise their qualifications

We don't expect our students to have any prior experience with Linux - a general familiarity with Windows is sufficient (basic computer, office software and Internet skills).

Valuable knowledge and skills

download detailed course programme >>

Theoretical knowledge is important but practice matters most. That is why, during each class, the students first learn and later practice themselves skills such as managing a Linux server and configuring network services (e-mail, WWW, DHCP, SAMBA and many others). Course materials - both electronic and printed - enable the participants to expand their knowledge easily and with pleasure, not only during classes, but also at home.

Our course programme is also compatible with LPIC-1 certification requirements.

In case you have any questions about the course programme, e-mail or call us.

Certification

Students who finished our course have learned all that is necessary to start working as a network administrator. They are ready to begin gaining their own experience in the field. After the course we issue a certificate of course completion that contains a detailed list of acquired skills.

We are a Linux Professional Institute (LPI) Authorized Partner, and this course is authorized by Linux Professional Institute. After finishing the course, a participant is fully prepared to obtain the Junior Level Linux Professional (LPIC-1) certification. The two exams necessary to obtain the certification - LPI 101 and LPI 102 - can be taken at any Pearson VUE authorized test centre. The cost of one exam is 125 GBP.

Additionally, as a result of an agreement between LPI and Novell, LPIC-1 certificate holders may also obtain the Novell CLA (Novell Certified Linux Administrator) status (certificate) free of charge and without taking any further exams. All you need for this is to fill in the appropriate form on the Novell company website.

For more information on external certification please contact our office.

Course programme

Part I – Quick Introduction to Linux

1. Linux console: the basics
   • the most important commands
   • basic administration tools at a glance: mc and vim
2. The file system – where and what to look for
3. General principles of the system
   • users, groups and access rights (basics)
   • processes
   • boot procedure
   • how system components are connected:
     • pseudo-files
     • network ports
     • configuration files and logs
     • signals
     • static and dynamic links
   • names, functions and characteristics of each part of the system
   • how to setup the system (configuration via GUI, text and scripts)
4. Working in the shell:
   • shell scripts
   • core-utils
   • sed
5. Regular Expressions
6. Vim

Part II – Anatomy of the system

1. The boot process
   • differences between the distributions
   • lilo and grub
   • kernel parameters
   • init and inittab, upstart
   • startup scripts
   • launch services
2. Controlled installation
   • installing the example distribution in expert mode
   • nuances: authentication, partitioning
3. Software installation
   • configure, make, make install
   • rpm and deb
   • apt and yum
4. Processes
   • outline of the operating systems theory
   • system monitoring
   • signals
   • loading libraries, tracking execution
5. Operating System vs Hardware:
   • device files, logging
   • lspci, lsusb, hotplug
6. Administrator’s view on system architecture
   • kernel, modules, libraries
   • providing context for the rest of the course
7. Administrator’s view on the filesystem
   • where to find binaries, libraries, configuration files, logs, data, documentation etc.
   • /proc file system
8. The file system
   • file types
   • permissions (suid etc.)
   • creating a file system (mkfs. *, mkisofs)
   • mount – practical aspects: fat and other file systems, -o loop, choosing a file system

Part III – Linux Administration

1. Automating work: shell scripts
   • operations on text, variables
   • conditions
   • loops
   • functions
2. Users
   • users, groups – adding, deleting, configuring
   • pam
   • administrators – sudo
3. Finding files
4. SQL fundamentals – topics important for a future administrator
   • databases (tables, data types)
   • SQL basics (SELECT, INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE)
5. X-window
   • basic configuration (support tools)
   • architecture (incl. networking) with examples
   • basic tools and smart features
6. System customization
   • language, regional settings
   • graphical environment settings
   • accessibility
7. Encryption
8. Fundamental services
   • logs
   • cron and at
   • printing
   • NTP
9. Basic network configuration
10. Kernel compilation
    • why and when to compile the kernel
    • example compilation

Part IV – Networks and security

1. Computer networks – an overview
   • topologies
   • network hardware and technologies
2. TCP/IP and ISO/OSI model
   • local area networks and the problem of connecting networks
   • addresses, ARP and RARP
   • IP protocol (IPV4 and IPV6) and routing
   • ICMP
   • TCP and UDP
3. Configuring network interfaces
   • scripts
   • manual setting up interfaces (ip command)
   • tools such as ping, traceroute, mtr, whois
   • resolving names. DNS.
4. DHCP
   • how the protocol and the services work
   • basic configuration of the server and the client
5. Remote working
   • ssh (keys, X forwarding, ports, scp and sftp)
6. Security fundamentals
   • identifying devices (nmap, server version identification)
   • basic intrusion techniques (buffer overflow, string format)
   • critical rules
7. Identifying and solving problems
   • prevention: backup strategies and methods
   • what to do in case of a catastrophe

Part V – Some network services

1. IPTables – a firewall
   • configuring a firewall
   • a simple NAT
   • typical settings
2. Apache
   • Apache configuration (including virtual servers, some interesting modules)
3. Samba – MS Windows integration
   • the theory
   • server configuration (including PDC basics)
   • clients
4. Secure file transfer
   • SSH and SFTP servers