Develop the skills to effectively install and run a Linux system.

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Course Description:

You will be able to install Linux, set up user accounts, install and delete packages, configure the filesystem, and configure networking, Xwindows and desktop environments.
 

You will cover…

• History of Linux

• Installation and Booting

• Basic System Administration

• Setting Up Accounts

• Configuring Xwindows and Desktop Managers

• TCP/IP Networking

• NFS

• Setting up Printer, Email and Remote Access Services

• Basic Troubleshooting Techniques

Who Needs to Attend:

 

Technical personnel who have responsibility for installing, operating, and administering or managing a Linux system. Technical support staff, programmers, software developers and project managers will all benefit.

 

Prerequisites:

Experience configuring, installing, inter-networking and troubleshooting other operating systems as well as experience setting up user accounts.

Course Content:

 

INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW

• Linux components
• Comparing Linux distributions
• Obtaining free software from the Internet
• Designing a mission-critical server for use in a multi-vendor environment

INSTALLING LINUX

Designing the installation

• Evaluating automated installations, Planning custom installations
• Organizing disk layout

Performing the installation

• Selecting internationalization settings, Choosing software packages
• Monitoring the installation process, Post-installation tasks

PERFORMING SYSTEM ADMINISTRATION

Administering the server

• Correcting installation problems
• Setting up user accounts, Configuring utilities
• Connecting to the network

Maintaining the system

• Examining the boot process, Logging system events
• Managing software packages, Adding disk partitions and file systems

CONFIGURING XWINDOWS

The Xwindows System

• Configuring standalone X11
• XFree86 3.x and 4.0, X client resources
• fvwm and Gnome configuration
• XDM on a local workstation
• Modem dialup: RH PPP dialer

IMPLEMENTING FILE AND PRINT SERVICES

Sharing file systems across the network

• Linux-to-Windows shares with Samba
• Exporting with NFS, Controlling exports with graphical configuration tools

Providing print services to Windows, UNIX, Mac OS and others

• Berkeley (BSD) printing system
• Printing with Common UNIX Printing System (CUPS)
• Sharing printers to the Windows network neighborhood, Selecting printer drivers, Web-based printer and print queue administration

PROVIDING MISSION-CRITICAL INTRANET AND INTERNET SERVICES

Implementing DNS with BIND 9

• Writing zone files, Transferring zone information to secondary servers
• Caching non-authoritative information about other zones

Transferring bulk data with FTP

• Extending FTP capabilities with wu-ftpd
• Setting up anonymous FTP service

Serving Web pages with HTTP

• Installing Apache
• Supporting multiple Web sites on one Linux server with virtual hosting

Delivering mail to reliable servers using ESMTP

• Setting up a mail transfer agent
• Preventing unacceptable open relay behavior

Other information services

• POP, IMAP, NNTP

CUSTOMIZING THE LINUX KERNEL

The anatomy of the kernel

• The kernel source tree structure
• Device drivers, File systems , Loadable modules , Generic kernels

Building a new kernel

• Stable vs. experimental releases
• Selecting required kernel components, Improving kernel efficiency with loadable modules, Customizing the kernel for specific tasks

Installing the kernel

• Vital safety precautions you need to take before and during installation
• Recovering from a bad kernel
• Detecting and correcting system administration errors

IMPROVING NETWORK SECURITY

• Defining firewall rules
• Establishing secure network connections with SSH, SSL and IPsec
• Detecting unauthorized system changes with Tripwire