Hands-on Linux, Starting Strong

Discover Linux as an open source operating system used on servers and desktops, with flavors like Ubuntu and CentOS, and explore its kernel, system libraries, utilities, user space, and shell.

Learn how to set up a CentOS lab by choosing physical, virtualization, or cloud installation options. Download the CentOS ISO from centos.org to start 64-bit server practice.

Create a Linux guest VM in VMware workstation, select CentOS 9 (or 8), name it CentOS nine lab, allocate 2 GB RAM, bridged networking, map the ISO, and power on.

Install CentOS stream by configuring the network, hostname, and a manual IPv4 with a static IP. Set netmask 24, gateway, DNS, region, city, and NTP servers.

Perform a hands-on linux installation by configuring the destination disk, partitions (boot, swap, root, var), choosing minimal software, and setting network, root password, and user before reboot.

Build and manage your lab by deploying Linux, enabling cockpit, and logging in via console or SSH; monitor health, CPU, memory, logs, and updates, and create accounts for admin access.

Install cockpit storage to enable disk management, view partitions, and manage logical volumes; configure network with the network manager utility, set IP and hostname, and change passwords, then restart cockpit.

install and manage software on CentOS using rpm, yum, and dnf; compare old rpm with dnf's dependency and update handling; explain repositories and how yum/dnf rely on them.

Learn to locate and install software when you don't know the exact package name using dnf search, dnf info, and dnf install. See LibreOffice options, dependencies, and a gui alternative.

Install webmin from a custom, not-listed repository by adding it with the provided script, then install via dnf and configure the firewall to allow port 10000.

Learn how to update the system with dnf update, accept updates with -y, remove an application and its dependencies, and use dnf autoremove to remove unused dependencies.

Explore the Linux file system using pwd, ls, and cd to move through home and etc, and use tilde, dot, and dot dot shortcuts to navigate and list files.

Learn to create and manage directories and files in the Linux terminal, using mkdir, touch, nano, vim, cat, less, and more, and navigate with ls to view and edit contents.

Learn how to view file attributes with ls -l and ls -lh, inspect details with stat, and copy, rename, move, and delete files using cp, mv, and rm.

Learn to work with files in Linux using nano or vim, create and edit a text file, and use shortcuts to save, search, or exit.

Learn vim basics for editing files in linux, including insert mode and command mode, saving, quitting, and basic shortcuts.

Learn to locate files on Linux using find and locate, search by name, size, and permissions, use sudo to access all locations, and update the locate database with updatedb.

Search directories with grep -r to locate words, using pipe to refine results. Create and extract archives with tar and gzip, using -czvf for creation and -xzf for extraction.

Learn to manage Linux users and permissions by inspecting identity with who, id, and groups, and create users with useradd options for home directory, shell, and expiration, then set passwords.

Learn to modify users and delete them with the delete command, manage home directories with -r, rename users, lock and unlock accounts, and adjust groups with user mode and -a.

Verify system users using /etc/passwd and /etc/shadow, examine password hashes, manage user and group creation and deletion, reset passwords, and configure password policy in login.defs.