Com Sci 501
System Administration in Linux

Department of Computer Science
The University of Chicago

Course Schedule

The first part of the course is organized around the installation of a fully useful Linux system.
Date	Discussion	Demonstration	Project Assignment
29 September	Working in UNIX through an interactive shell (Linux and UNIX are essentially the same at this level)	Sample work session under X Windows, with a substantial subsession in the shell	Practice shell interaction by dialing in to a U. Chicago UNIX machine, or by working in a terminal window on an SGI machine in the CS Dep't. Instructional Labs. Create a precise inventory of hardware on the system that you will use for Linux projects. Make a plan to preserve your Windows system and data when you install Linux.
6 October	Continue shell discussion from 29 Sept. Levels & structure in OS	Continue shell demo from 29 Sept. Install Linux	Backup Windows Install Linux
13 October	Effective communication of technical problems. Finish shell discussion from 29 Sept. Editing & version control	Finish shell demo from 29 Sept. Install & configure XFree	Start personal sys admin diary Install & configure XFree
The remainder of the course is organized around topics and activities in system administration. The conceptual discussions are not particularly co-ordinated with the how-tos and the project work.
Date	Concept	How-to	Project Assignment
20 October	The Linux directory tree.	Programming shell scripts	Install & configure network connection with PPP
27 October	Storage media & file systems	Manage user accounts	Catch up with Debian, XFree, PPP
3 November	Finish storage media & file systems	Install & compile RasMol from source distribution	Install & compile RasMol or your choice
10 November	Virtual memory Booting & logging in Start networking	Configure mgetty for dialin	Configure mgetty for dialin
17 November	Finish networking	Configure network Configure LILO on diskette	Configure LILO on diskette
24 November	Multiprocessing	Recompile custom kernel	Recompile custom kernel
1 December	Security	System and network attacks PGP	Catch up