136.  Linux System Administration

Rev. 3.1.3

 

Learn and practice essential Linux system administration tasks. This course is not specific to a particular Linux distribution and presents information about using Linux in a commercial environment.

 

The course begins with an overview of system administration and surveys the Linux documentation. Basic user administration tasks are covered. The structure of the Linux file system is covered in detail, and advanced file system concepts are discussed. Disk management is covered, and Linux archiving utilities are surveyed. Processes are covered in detail. Job scheduling and system startup/shutdown are discussed. Linux system security is covered in detail. Tips are presented for performance tuning of Linux systems. Networking is covered, including TCP/IP configuration. The print system is covered. Software installation is discussed, including the use of packages. The use of Linux as a server is covered, including using the Apache web server.

 

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

 

·         Learn the basic principles of Linux system administration

·         Gain an understanding Linux security

·         Learn how to configure networks in Linux

·         Learn how to employ Linux as a server

 

Course Duration:  4 days

 

Prerequisites:  The course Fundamentals of Linux or the equivalent, and some system administration experience recommended.

 

Audience:  System Administrators who want to gain practical, hands-on Linux administration training.

 

1.      Course Introduction

Course Objectives

Course Overview

Suggested References

 

2.      Overview of System Administration

A Brief History of UNIX

Linux

Linux Distributions

Online Documentation - The man Pages

Online Documentation - The info Pages

 

3.      User Administration

What is a "user" in Linux?

The /etc/passwd File

Passwords

The /etc/shadow File

Groups

The /etc/group File

Adding Users

Deleting Users

Modifying User Attributes

The Login Process

/etc/profile and .profile

The su Command

 

4.      File System and Files

Files and Inodes

Files

Directories

Symbolic Links

Named Pipes and Sockets

Device Files

Character and Block Devices

A File System Tour

The find Command

 

5.      Advanced File System Concepts

File System Concepts

Traditional UNIX File Systems

UNIX File System Advances

The Virtual File System

ext2 File System Design

The Superblock

Extended File Attributes

Recovery and Journaling

Third-Generation File Systems

 

6.      Disk Management

Partitions and File Systems

Making a File System

The fdisk Command

The mkfs Command

The mount Command

The fstab File

The fsck Command

The df Command

The du Command

 

7.      Archiving Files

Backup Strategies

Archiving Tools

The tar Command

The cpio Command

The dump Command

The zip Utility

The dd Utility

Compressing Files

 

8.      Linux Processes

Overview of Processes

Process Space

The fork/exec Mechanism

Process Table

The ps Command

The /proc File System

Background Processes

The kill Command

 

9.      Job Scheduling

Scheduling Jobs

The crond and atd Daemons

The at Command

The crontab Command

Format of cron Files

System crontab Files

 

10. System Startup and Shutdown

Overview of the Bootup Sequence

LILO

GRUB

Kernel Startup

The init Daemon

/etc/inittab

The init Command

The rc Scripts

The chkconfig Command

Single-User Mode

The shutdown Command

Communicating with Users: The wall Command

 

11. Performance Monitoring and Tuning

Swapping and Paging

Managing Swap Space

Managing Kernel Resources

The vmstat Command

The top Command

The strace Command

 

12. Networking Fundamentals

IP Addresses and Netmasks

Name Resolution

The /etc/hosts File

DNS Configuration

DNS Tools

Default Route

 

13. Configuring TCP/IP

Network Interfaces

The ifconfig Command

Network Scripts

The netstat Command

The route Command

The traceroute Command

Ping

Using Telnet

 

14. Network Services

TCP/IP and Ports

The /etc/services File

The xinetd Daemon

The /etc/xinetd.conf File

Host-Based Access Control

 

15. Sharing Filesystems

File and Print Sharing

Sharing Filesystems with NFS

NFS Mounts

Samba Server Overview

The smb.conf File

The smbclient Utility

Mounting smb Shares

 

16. Linux System Security

Security Overview

Security Basics

PAM - Pluggable Authentication Modules

Configuring PAM

The Linux Firewall

Configuring the Firewall with iptables

Secure networking with ssh

System Logs

Security Resources

 

17. Package Management

Software Installation and Management

The rpm Command

Installing and Upgrading Software with rpm

Removing Packages

The rpm Database

Building Software from Source

 

18. Server Configuration and Management

Standard Network Services

File and Print Sharing

Samba

The Apache Web Server

Managing FTP

Internet Mail Service

Managing a DNS Server

 

Appendix A. Linux Installation

 

Appendix B. The lpd Printing System

 

Printing Overview

Adding a Printer

The lpd Daemon

The /etc/printcap File

The lpr, lpq, and lprm Commands

The lpc Command

Network Printers

Interfaces and Filters

 

System Requirements

 

Software:

 

·         A Linux distribution comparable to Red Hat 8.0 or later.

 

Hardware:

 

·         A Linux workstation such as a PC running Linux or a terminal to access a Linux server.