Sydney Linux Users' Group

Semester 1 - 2006

The Electrical Engineering Department at Granville TAFE runs a course in Linux. The qualification is called "A Statement of Attainment in Manufacturing and Engineering (Linux)---9877".

The cost is approximately $153 for the semester.

New enrolments for the first semester of 2006 will be held on the 27th of January 2006. Those interested in applying should register at Sydney Gonzo Linux. If you have questions that are not covered at Sydney Gonzo Linux then email Geoffrey at geoffrey (at) zip (dot) com (dot) au

Further details may be found here:

• Course Web Site
• Course Documentation on Sourceforge

There are four subjects proposed for semester 1 in 2005. Most students do the Introductory course first and then optionally one or both of the certification subjects the following semester.

• Running Linux (General Overview)
• LPI Certification 101 / 102
• Creating LAMP Websites
• CCNA Study group

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1. Introduction to Linux

Duration:

18 weeks @ 4hours per week

One afternoon a week 13:30 to 17:30
Or
One evening a week 17:30 to 21:30

Prerequisites:

A level of general computer literacy and an interest in learning and using Linux. You will need a box to run Linux at home.

Subject content:

• a brief history of UNIX and Linux
• installing Linux
• login, passwords and user accounts
• command history and completion, and the gpm
• using the bash shell
• introduction to vi
• filesystem navigation
• mounting filesystems
• beginners shell scripting
• installing software: tarballs debs and rpms
• using emacs
• a brief introduction to gcc and gdb
• creating a vector drawing with xfig
• network configuration
• basic network commands: ssh, ftp, telnet, talk and mail
• setting up X
• making an image with the gimp
• creating and uploading a simple web page
• prettifying text with LaTeX
• introduction to various applications

You could have a look at some

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2. LPI Linux Certification Study Group---Part 1

This subject is intended as preparation for the Linux Professional Institute's Linux Certification - 101 General Linux, Part 1
See Linux Professional Institute for details.

Note This course does not provide LPI certification. It is a preparation study course only. Certification testing must be arranged by the student with the commercial organisations that provide it.

I will be facilitating these classes rather than teaching them. My intention is to run them as seminar / study groups, with participants and others presenting various topics. I'll do the organisation, photocopying and present many of the topics. Because we'll be teaching each other, this course will only be suitable for people with firm foundation knowledge of Linux.

Duration:

18 weeks @ 4hours per week

One evening a week 17:30 to 21:30

Prerequisites:

A good working knowledge of Linux.

Subject content:

This course will cover a wide variety of Linux workstation, server and networking topics. The exact content will depend on the interests and skill of the participants.

It is envisaged that about three quarters of the time will be spent following the objectives of the LPI Certification (summarised below). For further details see "101 General Linux, Part 1" .

• Hardware & Architecture
• Configure Fundamental BIOS Settings
• Configure Modem and Sound cards
• Setup SCSI Devices
• Setup different PC expansion cards
• Configure Communication Devices
• Configure USB devices
• Linux Installation & Package Management
• Design hard disk layout
• Install a boot manager
• Make and install programs from source
• Manage shared libraries
• Use Debian package management
• Use Red Hat Package Manager (RPM)
• GNU & Unix Commands
• Work on the command line
• Process text streams using filters
• Perform basic file management
• Use streams, pipes, and redirects
• Create, monitor, and kill processes
• Modify process execution priorities
• Search text files using regular expressions
• Perform basic file editing operations using vi
• Devices, Linux Filesystems, Filesystem Hierarchy Standard
• Create partitions and filesystems
• Maintain the integrity of filesystems
• Control mounting and unmounting filesystems
• Managing disk quota
• Use file permissions to control access to files
• Manage file ownership
• Create and change hard and symbolic links
• Find system files and place files in the correct location
• X
• Install & Configure XFree86
• Setup a display manager
• Install & Customize a Window Manager Environment

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3. LPI Linux Certification Study Group---Part 2

This subject is intended as preparation for the Linux Professional Institute's Linux Certification - 102 General Linux, Part 2
See Linux Professional Institute for details.

Note This course does not provide LPI certification. It is a preparation study course only. Certification testing must be arranged by the student with the commercial organisations that provide it.

I will be facilitating these classes rather than teaching them. My intention is to run them as seminar / study groups, with participants and others presenting various topics. I'll do the organisation, photocopying and present many of the topics. Because we'll be teaching each other, this course will only be suitable for people with firm foundation knowledge of Linux.

Duration:

18 weeks @ 4hours per week

This course will be run in Semester 2 2004

Prerequisites:

A good working knowledge of Linux.

Subject content:

This course will cover a wide variety of Linux workstation, server and networking topics. The exact content will depend on the interests and skill of the participants.

It is envisaged that more than half the time will be spent following the objectives of the LPI Certification (summarised below). For further details see "102 General Linux, Part 2" .

• Kernel
• Manage/Query kernel and kernel modules at runtime
• Reconfigure, build, and install a custom kernel and kernel modules
• Boot, Initialisation, Shutdown and Runlevels
• Boot the system
• Change runlevels and shutdown or reboot system
• Printing
• Manage printers and print queues
• Print files
• Install and configure local and remote printers
• Documentation
• Use and manage local system documentation
• Find Linux documentation on the Internet
• Notify users on system-related issues
• Shells, Scripting, Programming and Compiling
• Customise and use the shell environment
• Customise or write simple scripts
• Administrative Tasks
• Manage users and group accounts and related system files
• Tune the user environment and system environment variables
• Configure and use system log files to meet administrative and security needs
• Automate system administration tasks by scheduling jobs to run in the future
• Maintain an effective data backup strategy
• Maintain system time
• Networking Fundamentals
• Fundamentals of TCP/IP
• TCP/IP configuration and troubleshooting
• Configure Linux as a PPP client
• Networking Services
• Configure and manage inetd, xinetd, and related services
• Operate and perform basic configuration of sendmail
• Operate and perform basic configuration of Apache
• Properly manage the NFS, smb, and nmb daemons
• Setup and configure basic DNS services
• Set up secure shell (OpenSSH)
• Security
• Perform security administration tasks
• Setup host security
• Setup user level security

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4. CCNA Study Group on Linux

CCNA? What's that got to do with Linux? Cisco claim that their teaching materials are gender neutral i.e. they run on Windows OR Mac! Reminds me of the Blues Brothers line "We have both kinds of music, Country and Western". So, the Cisco teaching materials consist of shockwaves, PowerPoint presentations, router simulators with names like eSim.exe, and lots of files like "My Lesson Plan .doc". But the plan here is to do the entire course on Linux, translating materials from propriety formats to open formats wherever possible.

There are many issues with establishing this course, it may not run to completion. So for people just wanting a CCNA, don't do this course, it will be better taught on MSWindows elsewhere. But for penguinisters who wish to give this a shot, join up.

Note This course does not provide CCNA certification. It is a preparation study course only. Certification testing must be arranged by the student with the commercial organisations that provide it.

I will be facilitating these classes rather than teaching them. My intention is to run them as seminar / study groups, with participants and others presenting various topics. I'll do the organisation, photocopying and present a selection of the topics. Because we'll be teaching each other, this course will only be suitable for people with firm foundation knowledge of Linux.

Duration:

2 x 18 weeks @ 4hours per week

Monday 13:30 to 17:30

Prerequisites:

A good working knowledge of Linux.

Subject content:

The exact content will depend on the interests and skill of the participants but will follow the Cisco program.
See Cisco Net Acadamy for details.

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5. Linux Scripting and Programming

Open format programming mystery tour for beginner programmers. This subject provides an introduction to a variety of programming languages and programming tools running on Linux.

Duration:

18 weeks @ 4hours per week

Will not be run in Semester 1 2004

Prerequisites:

• A good working knowledge of Linux.

• Some knowledge of shell scripting and some programming language (say C) will help but is not essential.
• Preference may be given to those who have achieved a B pass or better in the subjects the Introduction to Linux course.

Subject content:

In past semesters this subject has attracted students with a variety of interests and backgrounds, from professional programmers to beginners. It is taught by an amateur programmer with a wide (but shallow) knowledge of programming on Linux. This semester the course will probably concentrate on scripting in bash, Perl or Python. However, there could be major or minor deviations into Perl, assembler, Fortran, C, C++, ipchains, m4, whatever.

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course contact

If you have questions that are not covered at Sydney Gonzo Linux then email Geoffrey at geoffrey (at) zip (dot) com (dot) au

Updated: Tue Jan 18 15:52:14 EST 2005