Linux System Administration course: 3 months, RHCSA-level skills
This is a 3 month Linux course at Techcake's Kannur campus that follows the skill areas of the RHCSA syllabus: command line, file system, users and permissions, storage and LVM, networking, SSH, systemd, security and shell scripting. It is not Red Hat exam preparation, Techcake does not coordinate Red Hat exams, and you do not receive an RHCSA or RHCE credential at the end. What you do get is the Linux foundation that every DevOps and cloud role in Kerala assumes you already have.
Who it is for
This course is for people who need to be comfortable on a Linux server before they can go further. It is the first step for three kinds of students.
The first is the beginner who wants a DevOps career but has never opened a terminal. Three months here means you arrive at the DevOps Engineer course already fluent, instead of learning Linux and Docker at the same time.
The second is the support or desktop engineer who is asked to look after Linux servers at work and has been managing by copying commands from forums. The course gives you the model behind the commands: what a process is, how permissions really resolve, why a disk fills up.
The third is the student who wants to move into cybersecurity later. Our Cybersecurity project-based training expects basic Linux on day one, and this course covers that expectation with room to spare.
You do not need any prior Linux knowledge. Basic computer use and the patience to type are enough.
Syllabus by week
The course runs 12 weeks. Every week has lab time on your own Linux virtual machine, and every topic is assessed by doing, not by a written test.
Week 1: The command line. Shell basics, navigating the file system, reading manual pages, getting help, redirection and pipes, editing files with vi.
Week 2: Files and the file system. Linux directory layout, links, finding files, archiving and compression, file ownership and the standard permission model.
Week 3: Users, groups and permissions. Creating and managing users and groups, password policy, sudo, special permissions, access control lists, umask and file attributes.
Week 4: Processes and services. Process management, signals, job control, scheduling with cron and at, systemd units, targets, and reading journal logs.
Week 5: Software and the boot process. Package management, repositories, the boot sequence, GRUB, kernel parameters and recovering a system that will not boot.
Week 6: Storage, part one. Disks and partitions, file system creation, mounting and fstab, swap, and what to check when a server runs out of space.
Week 7: Storage, part two: LVM. Physical volumes, volume groups and logical volumes, extending and reducing volumes online, snapshots, and a lab where you migrate data between disks without downtime.
Week 8: Networking. IP addressing, interfaces, hostname resolution, static and DHCP configuration, routing basics, and troubleshooting tools like ping, ss and traceroute.
Week 9: SSH and remote administration. Key-based authentication, hardening the SSH daemon, port forwarding, copying files securely, and managing several servers from one workstation.
Week 10: Security. Firewall configuration, SELinux modes and contexts, file integrity basics, log review, and applying updates safely.
Week 11: Shell scripting. Variables, conditionals, loops, functions, exit codes, and writing scripts that automate the tasks from weeks 3 to 10.
Week 12: Bringing it together. A full server build from a blank virtual machine to a hardened, documented, scripted system. You present your runbook to the class and answer questions on it.
Lab environment
Each student gets their own Linux virtual machine environment for the length of the course, with the freedom to break it and rebuild it. The lab is deliberately plain: a standard enterprise-style Linux distribution, root access, and snapshots you can roll back to. We do not hide the hard parts behind a web console, because the roles you are preparing for will not either.
Labs are done in class and repeated at home. If you attend online live, the same environment is reachable from your own laptop. If you attend at the Taliparamba campus, the lab machines are there and you can stay after class.
The path from Linux to DevOps
Linux is the floor, not the ceiling. Every task in DevOps, from writing a Dockerfile to debugging a Kubernetes pod, ends up being a Linux task underneath, and employers in Kochi, Calicut and Trivandrum test for it in the first ten minutes of an interview.
After this course, the natural next step is the 4 month DevOps Engineer course, which starts with a fast revision of Linux and networking and then moves into Docker, CI/CD and AWS. If you already know that DevOps is the goal, the 10 month DevOps Engineer Career Program includes that syllabus as its first phase and then adds six months of mentored production projects on campus. Students with Linux and DevOps fundamentals already in place can go directly to the DevOps project-based training.
The counsellor will tell you honestly which path fits. Some students who arrive asking for the Career Program are advised to do this Linux course first, and that advice saves them money and frustration.
Formerly offered RHCSA and RHCE training
Techcake used to list separate "RHCSA training" and "RHCE training" courses. Both have been folded into this Linux System Administration course. The syllabus keeps the RHCSA-level skill areas, but we no longer describe it as exam preparation and we do not arrange Red Hat exams. An RHCE-level track is not currently offered. See the courses hub for everything that is currently open.
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Frequently asked questions
Do I get RHCSA or RHCE?
Is an RHCE track coming?
Which Linux distribution do you use?
Can I do this course online?
Is this an internship?
How is it assessed?
Talk to a counsellor
Want to start with Linux and go from there? Talk to a counsellor on WhatsApp or call +91 9544 95 7747. Fees and EMI options are shared on the free call, along with the next start date for the Linux batch.
Talk to a counsellorOr call us directly: +91 9544 95 7747