Linux Fundamentals

This course gives an introduction to Linux and Unix, versatile and stable operating systems used in business and on many of the servers on the internet. The course is suitable as preparation for the RHCSA and CompTIA Linux+ examinations.

We concentrate on the command line rather than the graphical interface with the most commonly used commands and utilities described in detail as are the use of piping, redirection, wildcards and the vim editor.

The system is fairly easy to learn and use and we expect this course to be a fun and interesting way to master it.

Although based on CentOS (Red Hat) or Ubuntu Linux the commands and principles learnt may be applied to all other versions of Linux, including SUSE and to all versions of Unix including Solaris and AIX.

The course takes the format of a workshop, with a mix of lecture, working examples and practical exercises. Although the content may be customised, at least 2 days are normally needed to cover the core elements.

Full course notes are provided along with sample script files and free software tools for use in accessing a Linux or Unix server.

Pre-requisites

This course is suitable for those who have some knowledge of Linux or Unix as well as those who are using the operating system for the first time.

Follow-up

A natural follow-up to this introductory course would be Shell Script Programming.

On-site Requirements

The course can be run in a class room or in a virtual environment.

There should be no more than 12 delegates on the course and all delegates should meet the above pre-requisites.

Each delegate should have access to a machine running Windows, IOS (Mac) or Linux with at least 2GB of memory and 20GB of free disc space.

The course uses the free software Oracle Virtual Box, which may be installed before the course starts if preferred, and a supplied image file.

If in the class room, an overhead projector that can link to the trainer’s laptop would be a great help.

Content

Overview

Aims and Objectives, Schedule, Introductions, Pre-requisites, Responsibilities,

Accessing the System

Objectives, What are Linux and Unix?, Logging On, Command Syntax, Command Alone, Command With Options, Command With Filename, uname – Where Am I?, id – Who Am I?, who – Who is Logged On?, date – What is the Date/Time?, cal – Days and Months, echo – Display a Message, Escape Character \, figlet – Display a Message, Arrow Keys, man – Getting Help, Important Keys, Control Keys, passwd – Changing the Password, exit – Leaving the System, Advantages & Disadvantages, Basic Structure, ps – Which Shell Am I Using, Bourne Shell, C Shell, Korn Shell, Bash Shell, Which Shell to Use?, Handouts, Self Study, History of Unix, History of Linux

Commands and Concepts

Objectives, Processes and Files, root Directory, Listing Directories, Listing Options, Directory Entry, Directory Structure, cat, less – Displaying Files, wc – Counting lines in Files, nl – Numbering Files, file – Displaying File Types, Piping – using | symbol, Redirection – using > symbol, Redirection – using >> symbol, cat – Concatenating Output, tail – End of File Display, head – Start of File Display, tee – Combining Redirection and Piping, Two Commands at Once – ;, su – Switching Users, sudo – Commands as Root, Piping and Redirection, Self Study, Process Execution, File Types, Part of File Display, Script – Saving the Session, Protecting Files – noclobber

Directory Commands

Objectives, Home Directory – HOME, Working Directory – pwd, cd – Changing Directories, Command Prompt – PS1, Secondary Prompt – >, Files or Directories?, Aliases, Using Aliases, Customising the Shell, . – dot Command, Command History, Command Completion, mkdir – Make Directory, rmdir – Remove Directory, Special Files – . and .., Self Study, type – Type of command, Using Path Names

File Commands

Objectives, cp – Copying Files, Interactive Copy – cp -i, mv – Moving Files, Interactive Move – mv -i, Moving Directories, Copying Directories, touch – Creating Files, rm – Removing Files, Interactive Remove – rm -i, Removing Unusual Files, Read Only Files – rm -f, Removing Directories – rm -r, Wildcards – File Name Generation, Wildcards – using *, Wildcards – using ?, Wildcards – using [ ], Wildcards with cp, Wildcards with rm, Wildcards with ls, Word count – wc, Combining Commands, Workshop – optional, Workshop Answers

The vim Editor

Objectives, What is vi?, What is vim?, Using vim, Command Mode – Moving the Cursor, Setting Options, Input/Replace Mode – Inserting/Changing Text, Deleting Text, Other commands, Command-line Mode – Saving/Exiting, Mapping Keys, Saving Settings, Cut and Paste Text – delete and put, Copying Text – yank and put, Comparing Files – cmp, diff, sdiff, vimdiff, Regular Expressions, Global Search Commands, Line Addresses, Global Substitution, Global Printing and Deleting, Why use vim?, Vim Review, Self Study, Features of vim, Highlighting, Advanced Commands

Finding Files and Job Control

Objectives, find – Finding Files, More on Redirection, Redirecting Errors, Finding Multiple Files, Find and Execute Command, xargs – Passing Filenames, Foreground Jobs, Background Jobs – &, kill – Stopping Jobs, cut – Cropping Text, jobs – Job Control, Scheduling Jobs, Crontab Command, mail – Reading Mail, Understanding Inodes, ln – Linking Files, ln – Linking Directories, write – Sending a Message, mesg – Setting Permissions, Redirecting Input – using < symbol, Piping into Commands, Self Study, find – Examples, locate – Finding Files, Brace Expansion – { }, at – Scheduling a Job, Remote Server – Logon & File Transfer, Print System, pr – Format Files, lpstat, lp, cancel – Printing Files, lpq, lpr, lprm – Printing Files, nohup Command, nice Command, Redirecting Input – using << symbol

Finding Text and Sorting

Objectives, grep – Finding Text in Files, grep – Using Regular Expressions, egrep – Expression grep, Using Filters, sort – Sorting Files, sort – Redirection, Sort – Using Fields, Sort – Field Separator, uniq – Removing Duplicates, cut – Cropping Text, cut – Using Delimiters, Self Study, tr – Translate File, Sort – Using Characters, expand and unexpand, join and paste, split, fmt – reformat, od, grep – Searching Sub-directories, xargs – Editing Multiple Files, More Regular Expressions, Regular Expression Examples

Backup Commands

Objectives, tar – Backing Up Files, tar – Viewing the Archive, tar – Restoring a File, tar – Restoring a File using Wildcards, gzip – Compress an Archive, gunzip – Uncompress an Archive, Self Study, tar – Restoring a File using Wildcards, Backup Script, cpio – Backing Up Files, cpio – Viewing the Archive, cpio – Restoring a File, Backing Up Files – dd

File Permissions

Objectives, Permissions – File and Directory, Permissions – Evaluating, chmod – Changing Permissions, chmod – Octal Numbers, Self Study, SUID Bit, umask – Default File Permissions, umask – Changing Default Permissions

Appendices

sed Utility

Objectives, sed – Batch Stream Editor, sed – Delete, -d, sed – Regular Expressions, sed – Print, -p, sed – Suppress, -n, sed – Replacing Text, awk Programming Tool, awk – Examples

Shell Scripts

Objectives, Creating Shell Scripts, Testing the Command, Creating the Script File, Testing the Script, Adding Execute Permissions, The PATH Variable, Login Files, . – dot Command, Passing Parameters, read Command, read in Scripts, Tidying The Output, Choosing the Shell

Duration: 2 Day

Cost: £595 + Vat

Linux Training Scotland, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Inverness, Aberdeen and onsite course available throughout the UK.