Linux Track
This track takes you from never having opened a terminal to being able to navigate, manage, script, and troubleshoot a Linux system confidently — all practiced hands-on inside WSL2 (Ubuntu) on your Windows 11 machine. It's track 1 of 4: Linux → Docker → Kubernetes → AKS.
How this track works
- Go through the modules in numeric order — each one builds directly on commands and concepts taught in the ones before it. Module 8 assumes you already know module 3's permissions model; module 14 assumes you already know module 11's systemd basics; and so on.
- Every module (except this index and the capstone) follows the same shape: Why this matters, Concepts, a Command reference table, Hands-on exercises you actually run in your terminal, Common mistakes & troubleshooting, and a Checkpoint quiz with answers hidden in a collapsible block so you can self-test honestly.
- Do the exercises for real. Reading a command is not the same as typing it, watching it fail, and fixing it. Budget more time for exercises than for reading.
- The last module, the capstone, has no quiz — it's a single project that makes you combine everything, and it's deliberately the bridge into the Docker track.
Modules
| # | Module | What it covers | Rough time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 00 | Setup: WSL2 & Ubuntu | Installing WSL2 + Ubuntu, first-time setup, updating packages, Windows Terminal | 30-45 min |
| 01 | Shell Basics & Philosophy | What a shell is, the Unix philosophy, prompt anatomy, getting help | 45-60 min |
| 02 | Filesystem Navigation | The Linux filesystem hierarchy, paths, cd/ls/mkdir/cp/mv/rm/find | 60-90 min |
| 03 | File Permissions & Ownership | rwx, owner/group/other, chmod, chown, umask | 60-90 min |
| 04 | Users and Groups | whoami/id, sudo, su, creating and managing users and groups | 45-60 min |
| 05 | Package Management (APT) | Installing, updating, and removing software with apt and dpkg | 45-60 min |
| 06 | Process Management | ps/top/htop, foreground vs background, signals, kill | 60-90 min |
| 07 | I/O Redirection and Pipes | stdin/stdout/stderr, >, >>, <, pipes, tee | 45-60 min |
| 08 | Text Processing: grep, sed, awk | Searching and transforming text: grep, sed, awk, sort, uniq, cut | 90-120 min |
| 09 | Bash Scripting | Variables, conditionals, loops, functions, exit codes, writing real scripts | 120-150 min |
| 10 | Networking Basics | IP/ports, ip, ping, curl, ss, dig, WSL2 networking quirks | 60-90 min |
| 11 | systemd Services | Units, systemctl, writing and enabling your own service | 60-90 min |
| 12 | Disk, Storage, and Mounts | df/du, mounts, /mnt in WSL2, links, finding what's eating space | 45-60 min |
| 13 | SSH & Remote Access | Key pairs, ssh/scp, authorized_keys, SSH permission requirements | 60-90 min |
| 14 | Logging and journald | /var/log, journalctl in depth, log rotation | 45-60 min |
| 15 | Security Basics: sudo & Firewall | sudoers, ufw, hardening basics, checking exposure | 60-90 min |
| 16 | Capstone: Log Watchdog | One project combining everything — script, schedule, lock it down | 3-5 hours |
Start here → 00-setup-wsl2/README.md
Back to main curriculum → ../README.md