Linux Fundamentals

Course Description

Designed to provide the essential skills needed to be proficient at the Unix or Linux command line. This challenging course focuses on the fundamental concepts and tools which make Unix and Linux so powerful. Students in this course commonly span a variety of skill levels, from beginners desiring a solid foundation in Unix to experienced users seeking to fill in gaps in their knowledge. The curriculum is designed to provide hands-on experience. Subjects focused on during this class include the Linux filesystem and how to manipulate it; the basic Unix and Linux notions of pipes, redirection, regular expressions, and other tools for performing complex tasks; the management of processes and jobs; vi, the standard Unix editor; and the ability to construct shell scripts to automate routine or difficult operations.

This course supports latest versions of Red Hat Enterprise Linux, Fedora Core, SUSE LINUX Professional, and SUSE LINUX Enterprise Server.

Who Should Attend

This course is designed for a variety of skill levels, from beginners desiring a solid foundation in Linux to experienced users seeking to fill in gaps in their knowledge.

Prerequisites

Students are expected to have a solid understanding of computing functions. No familiarity with Linux or other Unix operating systems is expected or required.

Course Contents

What is Linux?

• UNIX Origins, Design Principles and Timeline
• FSF, GNU, and GPL - General Public License
• The Linux Kernel and Linux Features
• Popular uses of Linux
• What is a Distribution?
• Components of Distributions
• SLS, Slackware, Mandriva, and Debian
• Red Hat Linux Products
• SUSE Linux Products
• Architecture Specific Distros
• Role Specific Distros
• Unusual Features
• Standardization

Multi-User Concepts

• Multi-User Concepts
• got root?
• Logging In
• Switching User Contexts
• Gathering Login Session Info
• Gathering System Info
• Getting Help
• Lab - Login and Discovery

The Linux Filesystem

• LINUX Filesystem Features
• Filesystem Hierarchy Standard
• Navigating the Filesystem
• Displaying Directory Contents
• Determining Disk Usage
• Disk Usage with Quotas
• File Ownership
• File and Directory Permissions
• File Creation Permissions
• Changing File Permissions
• SUID and SGID on files
• SGID and Sticky Bit - Directories
• User Private Group Scheme
• Lab - Files and Directories

Manipulating Files

• Directory Manipulation
• File Manipulation
• File Creation and Removal
• Physical Unix File Structure
• Filesystem Links
• File extensions and content
• Displaying Files
• Previewing Files
• Searching the filesystem
• Alternate Search Method
• Producing File Statistics
• Lab - File Management

Text Processing

• Searching Inside Files
• The Streaming Editor
• Text Processing with Awk
• Replacing Text characters
• Text Sorting
• Duplicate Removal Utility
• Extracting Columns of Text
• Merging Multiple Files
• Lab - Text Processing

Shell Basics

• Role of Command Shell
• Communication Channels
• File Redirection
• Piping Commands Together
• Filename Matching
• Wildcard Patterns/Globbing
• Brace Expansion
• Shell/Environment Variables
• Environment Variables
• General Quoting Rules
• Nesting Commands
• Lab - Shell Basics

Regular Expressions

• Regular Expression Overview
• Regular Expressions
• Lab - Regular Expressions

Archiving and Compression

• Directory Archive with tar and cpio
• The compress utility
• The gzip and bzip2 compression utilities
• Lab - Archiving and Compression

Text Editing

• Text editing
• Pico/GNU Nano
• Pico/Nano Interface and Commands
• Vi: Basic and Advanced Vi
• Advanced Vi Commands
• Emacs and Emacs Interface
• Basic and Advanced Emacs Commands
• Lab - Text Editing

Command Shells

• Shells
• Identifying and Changing the Shell
• sh: Configuration Files
• sh: Script Execution
• sh: Prompts
• bash: Bourne Again Shell
• bash: Configuration Files
• bash: Command Line History, Editing and Completion
• Bash: "shortcuts"
• bash: prompt
• Lab - Unix Shells

Shell Scripting

• Shell Scripting
• Example Shell Script
• Positional Parameters
• Input & Output
• Doing Math
• Comparisons with test
• Conditional Statements
• The for Loop
• The while Loop
• Lab - Shell Scripting

Process Management and Job Control

• What is a Process?
• Process Creation and States
• Viewing Processes
• Signals
• Tools to Send Signals
• Job Control Basics
• Jobs
• Screen
• Using screen
• Advanced Screen
• Lab - Job Control

Messaging

• Command Line Messaging
• write, talk, and ytalk
• The mesg utility
• Internet Relay Chat
• Instant Messenger Clients
• Electronic Mail
• Sending Mail with sendmail
• Sending Email with mail
• Overview of PINE
• Sending Email with Pine
• Evolution
• Lab - Messaging

The Secure Shell (SSH)

• Secure Shell
• Accessing Remote Shells
• Transferring Files
• Alternative sftp Clients
• SSH Key Management
• ssh-agent
• Lab - SSH

Managing Software

• Downloading Software
• FTP, NcFTP, and lftp
• wget, lynx, and links
• Installing Software
• Installing Binary Packages - rpm
• Querying and Verifying with rpm
• Installing Debian Packages
• Compiling / Installing from Source
• Installing Source RPM Packages
• Lab - Managing Software

Printing

• Linux printer sub-systems
• lpd and LPRng
• Common UNIX Printing System
• Standard Print Commands
• Format Conversion Utilities
• Ghostscript
• enscript
• mpage
• Lab - Printing

Mounting Filesystems & Managing Removable Media

• Filesystems Concept Review
• Mounting Filesystems
• NFS
• SMB
• File System Table
• Automating Mounts
• Removable media
• Preparing Floppy Diskettes
• mtools Package
• mtools Commands
• Lab - Using Removable Media and NFS Shares

X Window System

• The X Window System
• X Modularity
• Xfree86/X.org
• Starting X
• Display Manager Concepts
• XDMCP and X Security
• Using Unix Remotely
• Customizing X Sessions
• Starting X Apps Automatically
• Window Manager Concepts
• Desktop Environments
• GNOME: Preferences, Panel, and Applications
• KDE: KDE Control Center, Panel, and Applications
• Lab - Using X

Student feedback

"Good class pace and knowledgeable instructor"

If you have any questions about this or any other class, ask us and we'll be happy to help.