Linux Administration Training Syllabus (RH124 +
RH134)
Trainer Version: Includes teaching tips, common commands, and troubleshooting notes
for each module.
Module 1: Introduction to Linux and RHEL
• Understanding Open Source & Linux distributions
• Introduction to Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)
• Accessing Linux using console and remote tools (SSH)
• Basic commands: pwd, ls, cd, cat, man
• Getting help with man, info, --help
Trainer Notes:
■ Demo: Show RHEL vs CentOS vs Ubuntu (explain why enterprise uses RHEL)
■ Tip: Emphasize importance of SSH keys for secure access
Module 2: Working with Files & Directories
• File system hierarchy (/bin, /etc, /var, /home)
• Creating, copying, moving, deleting files and directories
• File viewing tools: cat, less, head, tail
• Using wildcards and pathnames
• Understanding file types: regular, directory, symbolic link
Module 3: Users and Groups Management
• Understanding user types (root, normal, system users)
• Adding, modifying, deleting users (useradd, usermod, userdel)
• Managing groups and group membership
• File ownership (chown, chgrp)
• File permissions (rwx, numeric vs symbolic)
• umask and default permissions
Trainer Notes:
■ Commands: useradd, passwd, groups, id
■ Troubleshooting: 'Permission denied' errors are usually ownership or chmod issues
Module 4: File Editing & Shell Basics
• Introduction to text editors: vim, nano
• Understanding and using the Bash shell
• Command history and tab completion
• Input/output redirection (> , >> , < , 2>)
• Pipes and command chaining
Module 5: Managing Processes & Tasks
• Understanding processes (ps, top, htop)
• Foreground, background jobs (&, jobs, fg, bg)
• Killing processes (kill, killall, pkill)
• Scheduling jobs with cron and at
• System load and monitoring
Module 6: Storage Management & File Systems
• Understanding disks, partitions, filesystems
• Mounting/unmounting filesystems (mount, umount)
• Managing swap space
• Creating partitions with fdisk/parted
• Introduction to LVM (Logical Volume Manager)
• Creating, resizing, and removing logical volumes
Trainer Notes:
■ Demo: Create a partition, format with ext4, mount manually
■ Tip: Always back up /etc/fstab before making changes
Module 7: Package Management (YUM / DNF)
• RPM vs YUM vs DNF
• Installing, upgrading, removing software packages
• Querying package databases
• Configuring local repositories
Module 8: Boot Process & Systemd
• Linux boot process overview
• Managing services with systemctl
• Enabling/disabling services at boot
• Understanding targets (runlevels replacement)
• Troubleshooting boot issues (basic GRUB usage)
Trainer Notes:
■ Command: systemctl get-default, systemctl isolate [Link]
■ Troubleshooting: Boot into rescue mode if system fails to start
Module 9: Networking Essentials
• Configuring network interfaces (static/DHCP)
• Viewing network configuration (ip, nmcli)
• Testing connectivity (ping, ss, netstat, curl)
• Configuring hostname and DNS resolution
• Firewall management with firewalld
Module 10: Security & SELinux
• Understanding SELinux modes (Enforcing, Permissive, Disabled)
• Viewing and managing SELinux contexts
• File labeling and troubleshooting access issues
• Using setenforce, semanage, restorecon
Trainer Notes:
■ Command: getenforce, setenforce 0
■ Tip: Show students how to read [Link] for SELinux denials
Module 11: Advanced Storage (RH134)
• Automounting with /etc/fstab
• Stratis and VDO (if required)
• Advanced LVM: snapshots, resizing
• Creating and managing swap files
Module 12: Advanced User & Security Management
• Configuring sudo access (/etc/sudoers)
• Managing password aging & security policies
• Understanding PAM (Pluggable Authentication Modules) basics
Module 13: System Monitoring & Logging
• Understanding journalctl and system logs
• Rotating logs (logrotate)
• Performance monitoring with vmstat, iostat, sar
Module 14: Networking & Troubleshooting
• Configuring network teaming/bonding
• Troubleshooting connectivity issues
• Controlling access with firewall-cmd and tcp_wrappers
Module 15: Bash Scripting & Automation
• Writing simple shell scripts
• Using variables, loops, and conditions
• Automating admin tasks with scripts
Trainer Notes:
■ Demo: Write a script to monitor disk usage and send email alerts
■ Tip: Teach 'set -x' and 'set -e' for debugging scripts
Capstone Project / Final Lab
• Create a Linux server from scratch (VM or Cloud instance)
• Configure users, permissions, networking
• Install and configure a service (Apache/NGINX)
• Automate a task with a bash script
• Present the working setup to instructor/team
Trainer Notes:
■ Advice: Encourage students to use a cloud VM (AWS free tier) to mimic real-world
scenarios
■ Evaluation: Review security (permissions, firewall) as part of grading