Linux troubleshooting

This course is designed to give the Linux system administrator an in-depth look at common and not so common Linux system problems. Linux system problems explored in this course are frequently encountered with the administration of Linux systems.

Schedule

No public sessions are currently scheduled. We will be pleased to set up an on-site course or to schedule an extra public session (in case of a sufficient number of candidates). Interested? Please let us know.

Intended for

Linux system administrators.

Background

Linux system administration, knowledge of TCP/IP

Main topics

  • Section 1. Troubleshooting methodology
  • Section 2. Tools
  • Common Troubleshooting Tools
  • RPM Queries and Verification
  • src Packages and spec Files
  • strace, ltrace, lsof and fuser
  • ipcs and ipcrm
  • vmstat, iostat, mpstat, and sar
  • ifconfig, ip, arp and route
  • Name Resolution
  • netstat and rpcinfo
  • nmap and nc
  • tcpdump and ethereal
  • Lab 2
  • Exploring and documenting current system configuration state
  • Troubleshooting techniques with RPM, process related tools, and, network related tools
  • Section 3. Rescue environments
  • Rescue Procedures
  • Recovery Examples
  • Lab 3
  • Using rescue disk
  • Using mount and chroot to access hard disk
  • Reinstalling the MBR with grub-install
  • Setting up networking statically
  • Mounting an NFS share
  • Installing an RPM using the root option
  • Section 4
  • Linux Boot Process
  • Booting Linux
  • Boot Process Troubleshooting
  • Process Management and Troubleshooting
  • File Systems Concepts and Troubleshooting
  • Backups Concepts and Troubleshooting
  • Lab 4
  • Troubleshooting common system and daemon errors
  • Restoring files from backup
  • Booting Scenarios: 6 exercises
  • Process Scenarios: 3 exercises
  • Backup Scenarios: 1 exercise
  • Section 5
  • Networking Commands Review and Troubleshooting
  • IP Aliases vs Virtual Interfaces
  • xinetd Concepts and Troubleshooting
  • TCP Wrappers Concepts and Troubleshooting
  • iptables Concepts and Troubleshooting
  • Lab 5
  • iptables Scenario: 2 exercises
  • Networking Scenarios: 4 exercises
  • TCP Wrappers Scenarios: 2 exercises
  • xinetd Scenarios: 4 exercises
  • Section 6
  • X11 Concepts, Troubleshooting, and Server Operation
  • X11 Concepts and Troubleshooting
  • Syslog Concepts and Troubleshooting
  • RPM Concepts and Troubleshooting
  • CUPS Troubleshooting
  • at & cron Troubleshooting
  • Lab 6
  • at & cron Scenarios: 4 exercises
  • CUPS Scenerio: 2 exercises
  • RPM Scenarios: 4 exercises
  • at/cron Scenarios: 4 exercises
  • Syslog Scenarios: 3 exercises
  • X Scenarios: 7 exercises
  • Section 7
  • Users and Groups Troubleshooting
  • PAM Concepts and Troubleshooting
  • Filesystem Quotas and Quotas Troubleshooting
  • FACL's and ACL's for users and/or groups
  • File Access Control Lists and Troubleshooting
  • Lab 7
  • Filesystem Scenarios: 6 exercises
  • PAM Scenarios: 4 exercises
  • Quota Scenarios: 5 exercises
  • User and Group Scenarios: 5 exercises
  • Section 8
  • DNS Concepts and Troubleshooting
  • Apache Concepts and Troubleshooting
  • FTP Concepts and Troubleshooting
  • Squid Concepts and Troubleshooting
  • Lab 8
  • Apache Scenarios: 5 exercises
  • DNS Scenarios: 4 exercises
  • FTP Scenarios: 2 exercises
  • Squid Scenarios: 4 exercises
  • Section 9
  • Samba Concepts and Troubleshooting
  • Sendmail Concepts and Troubleshooting
  • Postfix Concepts and Troubleshooting
  • IMAP & POP Concepts and Troubleshooting
  • Lab 9
  • IMAP/POP Scenarios: 3 exercises
  • Postfix Scenarios: 5 exercises
  • Samba Scenarios: 3 exercises
  • Sendmail Scenarios: 4 exercises
  • Section 10
  • Kernel Modules and Troubleshooting
  • Logical Volume Management and Creating Logical Volumes
  • LVM Deployment Issues and Troubleshooting
  • RAID Concepts and Troubleshooting
  • Lightweight Directory Access Protocol and LDAP Troubleshooting
  • Lab 10
  • Kernel Module Scenarios: 3 exercises
  • LDAP Scenarios: 3 exercises
  • LVM Scenario: 1 exercise
  • NIS scenarios: 2 exercises
  • RAID Scenario: 3 exercise

Training method

This course takes the approach to troubleshooting with a "break-fix" philosophy, 25% lecture, and 75% lab intensive content. Lab exercises contain a pool of over 120 simple and complex real-world troubleshooting scenarios. Lab work is flexible enough to satisfy the expectations of experienced to intermediate administrators through ranked difficulty of scenarios. Students will find the approach of this course of structure with flexibility very rewarding. Lab tasks let students choose the type of scenarios they would like to tackle, with hints, helps, and solutions to make learning very effective.

Duration

4 days.

Course leader

Linux Belgium.


SESSION INFO AND ENROLMENT