Portland Community College | Portland, Oregon Portland Community College

CCOG for CIS 279L Spring 2024

View archive version »
Course Number:
CIS 279L
Course Title:
Linux Network Administration
Credit Hours:
4
Lecture Hours:
30
Lecture/Lab Hours:
0
Lab Hours:
30

Course Description

Covers skills and knowledge expected of an entry-level Linux network operating system administrator. Covers networking, TCP/IP, DNS, DHCP, NFS, and Samba. This is the second course of a two-course sequence. Prerequisites: CIS 240L or instructor permission. Audit available.

Intended Outcomes for the course

Upon completion of the course students should be able to:

  • Deploy a LAN of a Linux system.

  • Administer a LAN consisting of Linux client and server computers.

  • Install and configure Linux client/server software packages used in a small office environment.

  • Secure a small office LAN using Linux firewall.

Course Activities and Design

This course is presented by means of:

  • on-campus lectures or on-line lessons
  • exams
  • individual lab assignments
  • group lab assignments.

Students will be required to use essential tools to complete the lab assignments.

Outcome Assessment Strategies

Through exams and lab assignments students will be assessed to determine whether they are able to:

  • Select and configure fundamental system hardware
  • Design and configure hard-disk system
  • Make and install programs from source
  • Manage shared libraries
  • Use Red Hat Package Manager (rpm)
  • Manage kernel modules
  • Reconfigure, build and install a custom kernel and modules
  • Perform basic file editing operations using common editors
  • Install, configure and manage local and remote printers and queues
  • Customize and use the shell environment
  • Customize or write simple scripts
  • Install & Configure Xfree86, setup XDM, identify and terminate runaway X applications
  • Perform TCP/IP Troubleshooting & Configuration
  • Configure and manage inetd and related services
  • Properly manage the NFS, smb, and nmb daemons
  • Setup and configure basic DNS services

Course Content (Themes, Concepts, Issues and Skills)

  • Demonstrate a proper understanding of important BIOS settings
  • Design a partitioning scheme for a Linux system, depending on the hardware and system use (number of disks, partition sizes, mount points, kernel location on disk, swap space), select, install and configure a boot loader.
  • Manage archives of files, install and configure on a systems. Do simple manual customization of the and make and install the executable. Involves using the commands: gunzip, tar, ./configure , make, make install .
  • Involves editing the files: ./Makefile
  • Determine the dependencies of executable programs on shared libraries, and install these when necessary.
  • Use rpm, from the command line to manage packages.
  • Learn which functionality is available through loadable kernel modules, and manually load and unload the modules as appropriate.
  • Obtain and install approved kernel sources and headers, customize the kernel configuration, make a new Linux kernel and modules, install the new kernel and modules at the proper place, reconfigure and run lilo.
  • Edit text files using vi, pico and joe, including navigation, modes, inserting, editing and deleting text, finding text, and copying text.
  • Monitor and manage print queues and user print jobs, troubleshoot general printing problems, submit jobs to print queues, convert text files to postscript for printing install a printer daemon, install and configure a print filter, make local and remote printers accessible, including postscript, non-postscript, and Samba printers.
  • Customize your shell environment, set environment variables at login or when spawning a new shell, write bash functions for frequently used sequences of commands.
  • Customize existing scripts, or write simple new scripts. Besides use of standard syntax, be able to do things like command substitution and testing of command return values, test of file status, and conditional mailing to the superuser.
  • Demonstrate an understanding of network masks and what they mean, understand basic TCP/IP protocols, demonstrate an understanding of the purpose and use of the more common ports, demonstrate a correct understanding of the function and application of a default route. Execute basic TCP/IP tasks: FTP, anonymous FTP, telnet, host, ping, dig, traceroute, and whois.
  • List, configure and verify the operational status of network interfaces, change, view or configure the routing table, check the existing route table, correct an improperly set default route, manually add/start/stop/restart/delete/reconfigure network interfaces, and configure Linux as a DHCP client and a TCP/IP host and debug associated problems.
  • Mount remote filesystems using NFS, configure NFS for exporting local filesystems, start, stop, and restart the NFS server. Install and configure Samba using the included GUI tools or direct edit of the conf.
  • Configure hostname, understand the domain registration and DNS translation process.