Business & ICT Training
Linux Administration
Ubuntu / RHEL Server Administration, Shell Scripting & DevOps Foundations
12 Weeks
Intermediate to Advanced
GHS 1,350
Course Overview
Linux powers the servers behind the majority of websites, cloud platforms, and enterprise systems in Africa and globally. This programme takes students from command-line basics through to administering production Ubuntu/RHEL servers — covering user management, file systems, networking, web server configuration, automation with Bash, and a solid introduction to Docker and DevOps tooling.
The curriculum aligns with the Linux Foundation LFCS (Linux Foundation Certified System Administrator) and CompTIA Linux+ examination objectives, providing a professional certification pathway.
Learning Outcomes
- Navigate the Linux filesystem and use essential command-line tools confidently
- Manage users, groups, file permissions, and sudo access
- Install, update, and manage packages with apt and dnf
- Configure and troubleshoot networking: IP, DNS, SSH, firewalld/ufw
- Write Bash shell scripts to automate system administration tasks
- Manage services with systemd, schedule tasks with cron, and monitor processes
Curriculum
Linux history, distributions, file system hierarchy. Essential commands: ls, cd, cp, mv, rm, find, grep, less, man. Exercise: Navigate a production-style file structure.
User and group management, passwd/shadow, file permissions (chmod, chown, umask), ACLs, sudo. Exercise: Set up a multi-user development environment. Assignment 1: User and permission audit.
apt/dpkg (Ubuntu), dnf/rpm (RHEL), repositories, software installation, updates, system logs (journalctl, /var/log). Exercise: Install a LAMP stack from scratch.
Partitioning (fdisk/gdisk), filesystems (ext4, xfs), mounting, /etc/fstab, LVM basics, disk usage (df, du). Exercise: Add and format a new disk; configure LVM. Assignment 2: Storage configuration exercise.
Network configuration (ip, nmcli, netplan), DNS resolution, SSH key authentication, firewall (ufw/firewalld), fail2ban. Exercise: Harden an SSH server and configure a firewall. Quiz: Network security.
Apache and Nginx: virtual hosts, SSL/TLS with Let's Encrypt, reverse proxy. Deploy a PHP application. Exercise: Deploy the Pinuno Academy demo app on a local Ubuntu server.
Variables, conditionals, loops, functions, input/output, error handling. Automating backups, log rotation, system health checks. Exercise: Write a server monitoring script. Assignment 3: Automated backup solution.
systemd units and services, cron and crontab, process monitoring (ps, top, htop), killing processes, service management. Exercise: Create a custom systemd service.
Container concepts, Docker install, images, containers, volumes, networks. docker-compose basics. Exercise: Containerise a PHP app with Docker Compose.
LFCS/Linux+ exam objectives review, practice scenarios. Final Project: Deploy a complete 3-tier web application on a Linux server with automation scripts. Practical exam.
Assessments & Grading
| Assessment | Type | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| Weekly Quiz Module 5 | Online quiz | 10% |
| Assignment 1 — User Audit Module 2 | Shell commands + report | 15% |
| Assignment 2 — Storage Config Module 4 | Practical exercise | 15% |
| Assignment 3 — Backup Script Module 7 | Bash script | 20% |
| Final Project Module 10 | 3-tier app deployment + practical exam | 40% |
Prerequisites
- Comfortable using a computer and navigating files
- Basic understanding of networking (IP addresses, Wi-Fi)
- No prior Linux experience required — starts from the command line
Tools & Environment
- Ubuntu 24.04 LTS (free)
- VirtualBox or VMware (free)
- Docker Desktop (free)
- VS Code + Remote-SSH extension
- SSH access to a practice server (provided)
Before You Begin
Free Practice Environment
Three free options — all zero cost, no credit card required for the first two.
Who Should Attend
- IT support technicians ready to move into server administration
- Web developers wanting to deploy and manage their own servers
- Students targeting LFCS or CompTIA Linux+ certification
- DevOps and cloud engineers at the start of their career