1
Advanced installation and deployment
- Installing ROOT-on LVM on RAID.
- Making the boot system secure.
- Automatic installation with kickstart (options, ks.cfg).
- Creating a recovery CD/DVD, a bootable USB key with the right utilities.
- Cloning a complete machine.
Hands-on work
Learn about and register for the AVIT® certification option. Root-on-LVM-on Raid installation with an LVM space. PXE boot and installation via Kickstart. Making the boot loader secure.
2
Becoming proficient in the system's software configuration
- Detailed structure of an RPM package.
- Executable and libraries (ld, ld.so.conf, LDPATH, etc.).
- Building an RPM package from sources (.src.rpm, .spec, rpmbuild).
- Roles of the various directories (SRPMS, SPECS, SOURCES, RPMS, BUILD).
- Setting up a local packet mirror (and synchronization).
- Managing system updates and security patches.
- Upgrade methodology.
Hands-on work
Managing system updates, implementing a Yum repository. Creating an RPM package (from sources).
3
Filesystems and storage units
- Pros and cons of various file systems (ext3, ReiserFS, JFS, XFS).
- Retrieving accidentally lost data.
- Remedying the problems (tune2fs, debugfs, etc.).
- Copying a complete system drive live.
- LVM: Linear modes, stripping, mirroring, snapshots.
Hands-on work
Installing and testing different file systems. Implementing LVM and working with the physical volume (live change). Using snapshots and live backups.
4
Kernel and devices
- Representation of devices for the kernel (/dev and udev).
- Automatic hardware detection (udev, discover, fstab).
- Creating a custom kernel.
- Important options of the .config file.
- Creating a custom Linux distribution.
- Identifying the driver needed for a component.
- Installing “exotic” drivers.
- Adding a special pilot into initrd (mkinitrd).
- Kernel settings (boot, sysctl, and dynamic parameters).
Hands-on work
Compilation, creation and implementation of a custom kernel. Installing drivers.
5
Maintenance and metrology in Linux servers
- Collecting, centralizing, and analyzing system logs (rsyslog, logcheck).
- Analyzers of Apache and Squid logs.
- Verification of system integrity.
- Tracking process and system activity (lsof, vmstat, sysstat).
- Visualizing network and server performance: Cacti.
Hands-on work
Tracking the activity of processes. Supervising the system load and the state of the server.
6
Freezing, crashes, and emergency troubleshooting
- Troubleshooting methodology.
- Detailed boot operation (grub, MBR, stage1, stage2, /boot, etc.).
- Passing arguments to boot. Reconstructing the MBR.
- Analyzing kernel traces.
- Retrieving data, a partition, or a drive.
- Accent problems (ISO-8859-?, UTF-8, LANG, LC_?, codepage, iocharset).
- Network problems (hardware, DHCP, DNS, bandwidth).
- Editing the root's “lost” password. Unblocking an account.
- Analyzing X logs. Managing your configuration (fonts, drivers, "critical" fields).
Hands-on work
Getting started with a system without the root password. Searching for network failures and defective sectors. Verifying and repairing a file system. Resizing a file system.
7
Optimizing performance
- Testing and optimizing the drive's performance.
- Detailed analysis of memory use.
- Choosing the right file system (benchmark studies).
- Tuning the file systems.
- Identifying needless, memory-consuming processes (nice, time, vmstat).
- Understanding the general vocabulary (thread, zombie, etc.).
- Respawning tasks and the benefits of Xinetd.
- Booting your system quickly.
- Testing network performance (bitrate, lag, DNS cache, etc.).
- MTU configuration, size of shipping and receiving windows.
- Standard analysis tools.
Hands-on work
Testing and optimizing performance. Tuning the file system.
8
Supervision
- Supervising systems
- Installing Nagios (engine, PHP + CGI, interface plugins).
- Object configuration principle.
- Supervising the memory, disk, and CPU load with Nagios.
- Activating plugins via NRPE.
- Online option: Schedule and take the AVIT® exam within 4 weeks.
Hands-on work
Installing Nagios and its plugins.