Linux+ exam prep: system management
You manage a Linux server from top to bottom, from the boot process and kernel modules to LVM and RAID, building packages and network settings.
Level 201 · 16 lessons · 12 practice labs
Lessons
Boot and kernel
- The boot process: boot loader, kernel, initramfs, systemd
- Loading, removing and persisting kernel modules
- GRUB parameters and choosing a kernel
- Devices, /sys and /proc for hardware information
- Short task: blacklist a module at boot and verify it
Storage
- Partitioning and creating file systems: GPT, ext4, XFS
- LVM: creating, growing and snapshotting volumes
- Building software RAID and replacing a failed disk
- Disk quotas and file system information
- Persistent mounts, fstab and mount options
- Short task: build a mirrored, growable data area from two disks
Software and networking
- Package management and building from source
- Adding repositories and verifying signatures
- Network configuration: NetworkManager, netplan and ip
- Name resolution: resolv.conf, hosts and nsswitch
- Capstone: get a freshly installed server ready for production
Practice labs
- Read a loaded module's parameters: With lsmod and modinfo you find a network module's version, dependencies and tunable parameters and note them.
- Make a module parameter persistent: You load a module with a specific parameter, make it persistent under modprobe.d and show the value survives a reload.
- New kernel won't boot: fall back to the old one: On a server that hangs at boot after an update you pick the previous kernel in GRUB, make it the default and fix the broken kernel parameter.
- Put a GPT partition and XFS on a new disk: You create a GPT label and a single partition on an empty disk, format it as XFS and mount it persistently by UUID.
- Rewind a bad upgrade with an LVM snapshot: You snapshot the application data, simulate a bad upgrade and roll the volume back from the snapshot.
- Enforce user quotas on a shared area: On a shared file system one user keeps filling you enable quotas, set soft and hard limits and prove that going over is blocked.
- Find which package a file came from: On both a Debian-based and an RPM-based server you query the owning package and version of three given files and tabulate them.
- Add a signed internal repo and install from it: You define the internal repository and its signing key, install a package with signature checking on and show an unsigned package is refused.
- Build from source and install under /usr/local: You build a small tool missing from the repositories from source after supplying its dependencies, install it under /usr/local and document how to remove it.
- Turn a temporary address into persistent config: You move an address set with the ip command, which is lost on reboot, into the distribution's persistent network configuration and verify by rebooting.
- hosts file or DNS: fix the lookup order: You find in the nsswitch order why a server resolves an old address from the hosts file and show with getent that it now gets the right answer.
- Rescue an interface two network managers fight over: You hand an interface whose address keeps changing, because both NetworkManager and systemd-networkd manage it, to a single manager and make it stable.
About this course
You manage a Linux server from top to bottom, from the boot process and kernel modules to LVM and RAID, building packages and network settings.
What you will learn
- Boot and kernel
- Storage
- Software and networking
Prerequisites
Finishing the level 101 courses of the same path, or knowing those topics, is enough.
Lab environment
Lessons run in your own Kali Linux terminal in the browser, connected to a private lab network. Nothing to install.
Frequently asked questions
- Is this course right for my level?
- The course is at level 201; it assumes you know the topics of the lower-level courses.
- Is there anything to install?
- No. Every lesson runs in your own lab environment that opens in the browser.
- How do lessons work?
- Each lesson has 8 to 10 steps and a short quiz. Early steps show the command to type, later steps give less help; if two attempts fail, the solution opens.
- Can I try it for free?
- Yes. The first three lessons of every course are free.