About

Course Description
Administrivia
FAQ
After this Course

Course Description

This course covers the basics of setting up and administering a production-quality Linux server environment. By the end of this course, we expect that you will…

be comfortable using GNU/Linux
understand how different parts of the OS work together, e.g. init, processes, daemons, filesystems, etc.
understand basic networking on Linux
have a good sense about maintaining system security
understand system administration essentials
get a practical taste of what sysadmins do in industry.

The course will be taught in two sections: a “Beginner” section for students with minimal background in GNU/Linux or system administration, and an “Advanced” section for students with more experience.

While we expect many students will have a CS background, the only real prerequisite is a desire to learn about new and unfamiliar technologies, which is a critical skill for sysadmins. The Beginner section has been designed to introduce new users to Linux, and the Advanced section has been designed to give more experienced users a taste of what Linux is capable of.

Administrivia

Enrollment

This is a 2 unit DeCal. Since it is a DeCal, the course is P/NP. You must attend an infosession and complete Lab 0 to apply. If you are selected for the course, we will send you a course enrollment code by September 5.

Communication

Official course communications will primarily be sent via email, and mirrored on the front page of the course website.

There are several ways you can get in contact with course facilitators:

Send a message on the course Piazza. (best for conceptual/debugging/content help)
Send a message to #decal-general (or as a private message to a facilitator) either on Slack or Discord. (best for realtime communications)
Send an email to decal@ocf.berkeley.edu. (best for prospective students and matters that need to go on official record)

Lecture

Lectures for this course are asynchronous, and videos will be released at the beginning of each week. There will be 10 total lectures for each track, as well as one optional guest lecture (details TBD).

Since all lectures will be online this semester, we will not track attendance. Nonetheless, all lab assignments will assume that you have already viewed the lecture in its entirety, and may be difficult to complete without watching lecture first.

Lab Assignments

The primary assignment in this course will be weekly lab work. Labs are designed to be be significantly hands-on. You will be working on real systems, configuring and fixing things, setting up services, and so on.

Each lecture corresponds with a lab, labeled by a “b” or “a” (for Beginner or Advanced) and the week number. Labs will be released at the same time as the lectures on Sundays.

Each lab will be due by the Saturday, 11:59pm PST after the lab section unless otherwise stated. Labs (and lectures) will be released the prior Sunday, so you will have a week to complete them.

You must complete 10 labs to receive credit for taking the course. However, we will allow two unexcused late labs to be turned in before the semester ends.

If you need to request an excused lab extension, please fill out this form. Doing so will not affect your two unexcused late labs.

You are highly encouraged to look over the lab, and try to start it, before coming to live lab sections each week. This will allow you to better utilize the help of the facilitators.

Live Labs

During the scheduled Tuesday and Thursday class times from 8-9pm, we will host live lab sections, where facilitators will give additional information and demos related to the lab, and hold office hours to answer any questions that may arise. As conditions allow, we currently plan on offering hybrid labs, where you may either join via Zoom or visit the OCF lab (171 MLK) to attend in person. While attendance is not required, you are highly encouraged to attend since the information covered will make completing labs a shorter and more enjoyable experience.

FAQ

Will the DeCal be offered next semester?

The DeCal has been approved for Fall 2021 and will be happening! There will be more information on how to enroll closer to the start of the semester; in the meantime, please fill out our interest form to stay updated.

As for Spring 2022 and beyond, we currently have no information about the availability for this course in future semesters.

How do I know which track is best for me?

Beginner Track is intended for those who have little to no prior experience of using Linux-based systems. We will be providing an overview to several important concepts in systems administration, such as networking, shell scripting, version control, and security. It’s perfectly OK if you’ve never worked with or heard of these concepts before- but if you’re familiar with them, we recommend you opt for the advanced track. Overall, we welcome everyone to this track!

Advanced Track is intended for those who have used Linux-based systems before and are at least somewhat familiar with some of the concepts mentioned in the beginner track description above. While there are no hard/enforced prerequisites, we do recommend that you have experience with one or more of the following:

Using Linux as a primary/secondary OS
Using a package manager such as apt or pacman
Writing scripts to automate basic tasks
Basic networking (such as working with IP addresses)

If you are still unsure about which track to choose, you can email us at decal@ocf.berkeley.edu.

I don’t want units / wasn’t accepted / am not a student. Can I audit this course?

We are working hard to get all of our materials online this semester for everyone to access! Since we are no longer bound by physical constraints, feel free to attend any of our scheduled lectures or complete any of the labs on your own. (You will need your own Linux VM though- you can install one locally or get one from a provider such as DigitalOcean.)

I’m stuck on a lab/concept! Where can I find help?

The best way to get support with course content is to ask during scheduled lab times. If you need help at another time, feel free to ask on Piazza, on our Slack channel at #decal-general, or on our Discord channel. Logistics questions are best suited for email (decal@ocf.berkeley.edu).

I have another question!

Email us at decal@ocf.berkeley.edu.

After this Course

There’s no substitute for real-world experience. If you’d like to get experience in a low-risk but real-world setting, consider joining the OCF as a volunteer staff member. There, you’ll be able to put the things you learn in this course to use, and help other students while you’re at it. Best of all- there’s no application process! Just drop by and say hi :)