Lab trackLinux Labs

Linux System Administration

Thirty-seven real Enterprise Linux servers, free. From your first shell on an AlmaLinux 10 machine to LVM, firewalld, SSH bastions and NFS — no videos, no reading, just work you do on live systems.

  • 37 labs
  • 20.1 h
  • Beginner
  • Free
Start with the first lab

Free with a free account — it runs in your browser, nothing to install.

  • A real environment in your browser
  • You run the commands yourself
  • Your result is checked automatically

Labs in this track

37 labsFree

Linux Foundations

8 labs
  1. First Login and System Discovery20 min4.6
  2. Paths and Filesystem Navigation20 min4.6
  3. Create and Organize Files Safely25 min4.8
  4. Read and Edit Configuration Files25 min4.6
  5. Search Logs and Build Pipelines30 min4.5
  6. Find Files and Understand Links30 min4.0
  7. Archive, Verify, and Restore a Release35 min4.3
  8. Shell Environment and a Repeatable Inventory35 min4.6

Identity and Access

6 labs
  1. User Account Lifecycle30 min5.0
  2. Groups and Shared Project Directories30 min
  3. Permissions, umask, and Sticky Directories30 min
  4. Access Control Lists and Inheritance35 min5.0
  5. Delegate a Narrowly Scoped sudo Action35 min5.0
  6. Repair SELinux File Contexts30 min5.0

Everyday System Operations

7 labs
  1. Install, Inspect, and Remove RPM Packages25 min5.0
  2. Repositories and Controlled Package Updates40 min
  3. Processes, Signals, and Job Control25 min
  4. Operate systemd Services25 min5.0
  5. Create and Harden a Custom systemd Service45 min
  6. Investigate Logs and Configure Rotation35 min5.0
  7. Time Zones and Reliable Time Synchronization30 min

Networking and Secure Administration

8 labs
  1. Inspect IPv4, IPv6, Routes, and Sockets30 min
  2. Persistent NetworkManager Configuration35 min
  3. DNS Client Resolution and Lookup Troubleshooting35 min
  4. firewalld Zones and Least-Privilege Access35 min
  5. Configure and Operate an SSH Server35 min
  6. SSH Keys and Access Hardening35 min
  7. SFTP and Verified File Synchronization35 min
  8. Bastion Access and Restricted SSH Forwarding40 min

Storage and Network Filesystems

8 labs
  1. Discover Disks and Create a GPT Partition30 min
  2. Filesystems and Persistent UUID Mounts35 min
  3. Build an LVM Application Volume45 min5.0
  4. Expand LVM and Grow an XFS Filesystem35 min
  5. Configure Swap and Inspect Memory Pressure30 min
  6. Enforce Per-Project XFS Storage Quotas40 min
  7. NFSv4 Server and Remote Client Access45 min
  8. On-Demand NFS Mounting with autofs30 min

About this track

A lab-only path through Linux system administration, free for everyone with a Kube-Ops Academy account.

Show more

Every item is a real AlmaLinux 10 server with SELinux enforcing that you work on in the browser — and when the ticket needs a second machine, you get one. You start with a server nobody documented and finish exporting a filesystem over NFS to a client you reached through a bastion. In between: accounts and permissions that hold, services that survive a real reboot, a firewall that admits exactly one machine, and disks you partition, grow and cap without a reinstall.

There are no video lectures and no reading-only lessons. The five sections follow the kube-labs stages in order; each assumes the habits of the one before it.

What you'll learn

  • Find your way around an unfamiliar server, edit configuration safely, and pull answers out of logs with grep, awk, sort and uniq
  • Archive and restore a release, and turn a manual inventory into a repeatable command
  • Onboard and offboard accounts properly, share a directory with groups, ACLs and umask, and delegate one action with sudo
  • Diagnose and repair SELinux file contexts while keeping the system enforcing
  • Install, verify and roll back packages with dnf and rpm, and manage a vendor repository
  • Stop the right process, write a hardened systemd unit, keep logs rotating, and keep clocks in agreement
  • Map addresses, routes and sockets; persist network configuration with nmcli; fix a broken resolver
  • Write least-privilege firewalld rules, harden sshd, move an account to keys, and jump through a bastion
  • Partition a new disk, mount by UUID, build and grow LVM under a running workload, add swap, enforce XFS quotas
  • Export over NFSv4 to a named client and mount it on demand with autofs

Prerequisites

None. This is the entry course of the path. If you are heading for the Docker and Kubernetes labs, this is where the shell habits they assume come from.

Who it's for

Anyone starting out in operations, developers who want to stop guessing on a Linux box, and anyone preparing for a hands-on Enterprise Linux certification who wants the practice rather than the slides.

FAQ

Is this really free? Yes. Register, enrol, and launch. No subscription, no card.

How many times can I launch a lab? Ten launches per lab, one at a time.

Do I need to install anything? No. The servers and the terminal are in the browser.

Do I have to go in order? No, but each section assumes the one before it. Foundations first if you are new to the shell.