Linux System Administration Syllabus

Unit	Details
I	Introduction to Red Hat Enterprise Linux: Linux, Open Source and Red Hat, Origins of Linux, Distributions, Duties of Linux System Administrator. Command Line: Working with the Bash Shell, Getting the Best of Bash, Useful Bash Key Sequences, Working with Bash History, Performing Basic File System Management Tasks, Working with Directories, Piping and Redirection, Finding Files System Administration Tasks: Performing Job Management Tasks, System and Process Monitoring and Management, Managing Processes with ps, Sending Signals to Processes with the kill Command, Using top to Show Current System Activity, Managing Process Niceness, Scheduling Jobs, Mounting Devices, Working with Links, Creating Backups, Managing Printers, Setting Up System Logging, Setting Up Rsyslog, Common Log Files, Setting Up Logrotate Managing Software: Understanding RPM, Understanding Meta Package Handlers, Creating Your Own Repositories, Managing Repositories, Installing Software with Yum, Querying Software, Extracting Files from RPM Packages
II	Configuring and Managing Storage: Understanding Partitions and Logical Volumes, Creating Partitions, Creating File Systems, File Systems Overview, Creating File Systems, Changing File System Properties, Checking the File System Integrity, Mounting File Systems Automatically Through fstab, Working with Logical Volumes, Creating Logical Volumes, Resizing Logical Volumes, Working with Snapshots, Replacing Failing Storage Devices, Creating Swap Space, Working with Encrypted Volumes Connecting to the Network: Understanding NetworkManager, Working with Services and Runlevels, Configuring the Network with NetworkManager, Working with system-config-network, NetworkManager Configuration Files, Network Service Scripts, Networking from the Command Line, Troubleshooting Networking, Setting Up IPv6, Configuring SSH, Enabling the SSH Server, Using the SSH Client, Using PuTTY on Windows Machines, Configuring Key- Based SSH Authentication, Using Graphical Applications with SSH, Using SSH Port Forwarding, Configuring VNC Server Access Working with Users, Groups, and Permissions: Managing Users and Groups, Commands for User Management, Managing Passwords, Modifying and Deleting User Accounts, Configuration Files, Creating Groups, Using Graphical Tools for User, and Group Management, Using External Authentication Sources, the Authentication Process, sssd, nsswitch, Pluggable Authentication Modules, Managing Permissions, the Role of Ownership, Basic Permissions: Read, Write, and Execute, Advanced Permissions, Working with Access Control Lists, Setting Default Permissions with umask, Working with Attributes
III	Securing Server with iptables: Understanding Firewalls, Setting Up a Firewall with system-config-firewall, Allowing Services, Trusted Interfaces, Masquerading, Configuration Files, Setting Up a Firewall with iptables, Tables, Chains, and Rules, Composition of Rule, Configuration Example, Advanced iptables Configuration, Configuring Logging, The Limit Module, Configuring NAT Setting Up Cryptographic Services: Introducing SSL, Proof of Authenticity: the Certificate Authority, Managing Certificates with openssl, Creating a Signing Request, Working with GNU Privacy Guard, Creating GPG Keys, Key Transfer, Managing GPG Keys, Encrypting Files with GPG, GPG Signing, Signing RPM Files Configuring Server for File Sharing: What is NFS? Advantages and Disadvantages of NFS, Configuring NFS4, Setting Up NFSv4, Mounting an NFS Share, Making NFS Mounts Persistent, Configuring Automount, Configuring Samba, Setting Up a Samba File Server, Samba Advanced Authentication Options, Accessing Samba Shares, Offering FTP Services.
IV	Configuring DNS and DHCP: Introduction to DNS, The DNS Hierarchy, DNS Server Types, The DNS Lookup Process, DNS Zone Types, Setting Up a DNS Server, Setting Up a Cache-Only Name Server, Setting Up a Primary Name Server, Setting Up a Secondary Name Server, Understanding DHCP, Setting Up a DHCP Server Setting Up a Mail Server: Using the Message Transfer Agent, the Mail Delivery Agent, the Mail User Agent, Setting Up Postfix as an SMTP Server, Working with Mutt, Basic Configuration, Internet Configuration, Configuring Dovecot for POP and IMAP Configuring Apache on Red Hat Enterprise Linux: Configuring the Apache Web Server, Creating a Basic Website, Understanding the Apache Configuration Files, Apache Log Files, Working with Virtual Hosts, Securing the Web Server with TLS Certificates, Configuring Authentication, Setting Up Authentication with .htpasswd, Configuring LDAP Authentication, Setting Up MySQL
V	Introducing Bash Shell Scripting: Introduction, Elements of a Good Shell Script, Executing the Script, Working with Variables and Input, Understanding Variables, Variables, Subshells, and Sourcing, Working with Script Arguments, Asking for Input, Using Command Substitution, Substitution Operators, Changing Variable Content with Pattern Matching, Performing Calculations, Using Control Structures, Using if...then...else, Using case, Using while, Using until, Using for, Configuring booting with GRUB. High-Availability Clustering: High-Availability Clustering, The Workings of High Availability, High-Availability Requirements, Red Hat High-Availability Add-on Software, Components, Configuring Cluster-Based Services, Setting Up Bonding, Setting Up Shared Storage, Installing the Red Hat High Availability Add-On, Building the Initial State of the Cluster, Configuring Additional Cluster Properties, Configuring a Quorum Disk, Setting Up Fencing, Creating Resources and Services, Troubleshooting a Nonoperational Cluster, Configuring GFS2 File Systems Setting Up an Installation Server: Configuring a Network Server as an Installation Server, Setting Up a TFTP and DHCP Server for PXE Boot, Installing the TFTP Server, Configuring DHCP for PXE Boot, Creating the TFTP PXE Server Content, Creating a Kickstart File, Using a Kickstart File to Perform an Automated, Installation, Modifying the Kickstart File with, system-config-kickstart, Making Manual Modifications to the Kickstart File

Linux System Administration Practicals

Practical No	Details
0	Installation of RHEL 6.X
1	Graphical User Interface and Command Line Interface and Processes
a	Exploring the Graphical Desktop
b	The Command Line Interface
c	Managing Processes
2	Storage Devices and Links, Backup and Repository
a	Working with Storage Devices and Links
b	Making a Backup
c	Creating a Repository
3	Working with RPMsm Storage and Networking
a	Using Query Options
b	Extracting Files From RPMs
c	Configuring and Managing Storage
d	Connecting to the Network
4	Working with Users, Groups, and Permissions
5	Firewall and Cryptographic services
a	Securing Server with iptables
b	Setting Up Cryptographic Services
6	Configuring Server for File Sharing
a	Configuring NFS Server and Client
b	Configuring Samba
c	Configuring FTP
7	DNS, DHCP and Mail Server
a	Configuring DNS
b	Configuring DHCP
c	Setting Up a Mail Server
8	Web Server
a	Configuring Apache on Red Hat Enterprise Linux
b	Writing a Script to Monitor Activity on the Apache Web Server
c	Using the select Command
9	Shell Scripts and High-Availability Clustering
a	Writing Shell Scripts
b	Configuring Booting with GRUB
c	Configuring High Availability Clustering
10	Setting Up an Installation Server
a	Configuring Network Server as an Installation Server
b	Setting Up a TFTP and DHCP Server for PXE Boot

Linux System Administration Reference Books