In this workshop you will get an introduction to the Linux environment. We'll go through the installation (using a virtual machine) and usage of basic commands on the Terminal. To finish off we will configure Cron to do a task automatically for us.

After the workshop the participants should have grasped concepts and developed skills as follows.

• Understand what are:

  • Operating systems
  • Linux systems
  • Virtual machines

• Know how to:

  • Install and use a hypervisor
  • Perform basic tasks in a Linux environment
  • Use Cron jobs

• Operating Systems

  • What is an Operating System?
    • Basic explanation
    • Exercise: What are some examples of OS? (5 min)
  • GNU/Linux
    • Open Source software
    • What are distributions?
    • Exercise: Find 2 distributions you find interesting (10-15 min)
    • Ubuntu
  • What is Linux used for?
    • All Android phones and tablets (including the ones on the plane seats)
    • Basically all web servers everywhere (including Google, Amazon, Facebook...), and any other professional network server for that matter
    • DevOps / Docker
    • Software Development
    • Robotics / Raspberry Pi / Car systems (Tesla)
    • Scientific research / Data mining / General number crunching
    • Animating, apparently
      • Real-Time Graphics in Pixar Film Production
    • Hmmm... to power the International Space Station?
    • Desktop OS

• Virtual Machines

  • What is a Virtual Machine?
  • What are Hypervisors?
  • Virtualbox
  • What are VMs used for?
  • Cloud services
    • Create an instance in AWS or DO

• Linux

  • Install Ubuntu with VirtualBox (check the Resources section below)
  • Ubuntu Overview
    • Graphical interface overview
    • System configuration tool
    • Common applications & How to install new ones
  • Linux overview
    • Folder structure overview
    • Basic command line usage
      • whoami, whatis, whereis
      • cd, pwd, mkdir, ls -l, cp, cp -R, mv, rm, rm -R
      • cat, more
      • df -h, du -sh
      • find . -name caffeine.txt
      • top, kill
      • exit
    • Use the man command:
      • man man / man ls (How to list by size?)
    • Wild cards
      • ls *.txt
    • Package manager
      • apt
        • cowsay
    • Editing files with vim
      • Modes
      • Save, quit
    • Network Operations
      • Ping
      • Nmap google.com

• Cron jobs

  • What are Cron jobs?
  • Exercise
    • Create python script to update a file
    • Make cron update it every 10 seconds
    • Extra challenge: send an email to someone every hour with a new quote (or whatever)

• Downloads

  • https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Downloads (Pick an option from “VirtualBox platform packages”)
  • https://ubuntu.com/download (Download Ubuntu Desktop)

• Sources

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operating_system
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_machine
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linux
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open-source_software
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cron
  • Best virtual machine software of 2020: virtualization for different OS
  • What virtualization technology is set up on VPS?
  • The Linux Directory Structure, Explained
  • How to find out the virtualization type of an linux VPS?
  • 37 Important Linux Commands You Should Know
  • Scheduling Tasks with Cron Jobs

• Further learning

  • LINUX Exercises, Exams, Challenges
  • 35 Linux Basic Commands Every User Should Know
  • Linux Journey
  • Start Learning Linux in Minutes
  • 9 Free Linux Training Courses For Everyone
  • Linux Foundation Learning Center
  • Create and Run Your First Bash Shell Script
  • Random stuff
    • Text-based games
    • Useless but fun terminal commands

• Multimedia

  • Explainer - What is an Operating System as Fast As Possible
  • Movie - Revolution OS, about the beginning of free Free Software Movement