Linux Fundamentals – Level Two Course Outline

1. Advanced File System Management

• Understanding partitions, disks, and file systems (ext4, xfs, btrfs)
• Mounting and unmounting file systems: mount, umount, fstab
• Disk usage monitoring: df, du, lsblk, blkid
• Managing swap space

2. Advanced Linux Commands & Utilities

• File and text manipulation: awk, sed, cut, sort, uniq
• Advanced searching: grep -r, find with complex conditions
• Command chaining, piping, and redirection (|, >, >>, 2>)
• Archiving and compression: tar, gzip, bzip2, zip, unzip

3. Process & Job Management

• Advanced process management: ps aux, top, htop, pgrep, pkill
• Background jobs and scheduling with cron and at
• Process priorities and nice/renice usage
• Managing daemons and services with systemd (systemctl)

4. User, Group, and Permission Management

• Advanced user/group management and ACLs (setfacl, getfacl)
• Managing sudo privileges effectively
• Sticky bit, SUID, SGID applications
• Security best practices for multi-user environments

5. Networking in Linux

• Network configuration with ip, ifconfig, nmcli
• Troubleshooting network issues: ping, traceroute, netstat, ss
• SSH advanced usage: key-based authentication, port forwarding
• Basic firewall configuration: ufw, iptables, firewalld

6. Linux Package & Repository Management

• Advanced package management: dependency resolution, repo management
• Compiling and installing software from source (./configure, make, make install)
• Managing updates, upgrades, and system rollback

7. Shell Scripting & Automation

• Advanced bash scripting techniques
• Functions, arrays, and input validation
• Automating system administration tasks
• Logging and debugging scripts

8. System Monitoring & Performance Tuning

• CPU, memory, disk, and I/O monitoring: top, vmstat, iostat, sar
• Analyzing system logs: /var/log/, journalctl, logrotate
• Basic performance tuning and resource optimization

9. Storage & Backup Management

• Disk partitioning and LVM (Logical Volume Manager) basics
• Creating snapshots and managing volumes
• Backup strategies using rsync, tar, dd, and cron automation

10. Security & Access Control

• File and directory security: advanced permissions, ACLs
• Securing SSH, user accounts, and sudo access
• Basic intrusion detection and log auditing
• Introduction to SELinux and AppArmor

11. Virtualization & Containers (Introductory)

• Basics of virtualization concepts
• Managing virtual machines with VirtualBox or KVM
• Introduction to Linux containers and Docker basics

12. Troubleshooting & Best Practices

• Diagnosing boot and system startup issues
• Handling common Linux errors and kernel messages
• Best practices for system maintenance and updates
• Documentation and reporting system issues

13. Practical Labs & Exercises

• Multi-user environment configuration and management
• Automating tasks using cron and scripts
• Network troubleshooting and secure SSH setup
• Backup and restore simulations
• Monitoring and performance tuning exercises

💡 Pro Tip: Level Two emphasizes automation, monitoring, security, and advanced administration. Hands-on labs, virtual machines, and scenario-based exercises are critical to reinforce learning.