Fall 2008 SYA710 Weekly Schedule

The tentative weekly schedule shown here is subject to change.

Week 1 (Sept 1) - Intro to SYA710 / Installing Linux

• Course introduction
• Introduction to Open Source and Linux
• Introduction to our labs
  • Lab T2107 - data recovery cards
• Activities for this week
  • Set up your accounts as described on the LUX Communication page.
  • Complete the SYA710 Lab #0 and blog about the experience.
  • Lab #0 is due before midnight Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Week 2 (Sept 8) - File Systems and Logical Volume Management

• Activities for this week
  • Complete the SYA710 Lab01 and blog about the experience.
  • Lab01 is due before midnight Wednesday, September 17, 2008
• Concepts/Commands learned/used in this week's lecture
  • File System: A way to organize data for efficient and easy access
  • Containers: Objects (partitions, files, volumes) that hold file systems
  • Virtual File System: Allows transparent access to files on different file systems
  • Commands: mkfs, fsck, fdisk, mount, umount, e2label, resize2fs
• Using UUIDs (universally unique identifiers)
  • 128-bit numbers make hard disk management easier
  • add UUID= entry in /etc/fstab
  • Linux file systems support UUIDs, Windows not so much
  • Commands: blkid, vol_id, uuidgen, tune2fs, findfs
• Working with Logical Volumes (LVM)
  • Physical Volumes (eg partitions) are joined into Volume Groups
  • Logical Volumes are drawn from Volume Groups
  • Commands: pvcreate, vgcreate, lvcreate

Week 3 (Sept 15) - Linux Startup

• Activities for this week
  • Complete the SYA710 Lab02 and blog about the experience.
  • Lab02 is due before midnight Wednesday, September 24, 2008
• Concepts/Commands learned/used in this week's lecture
  • Linux Boot Process
    • Power on - Code in ROM BIOS finds and loads 1st stage loader from boot device (MBR)
    • 1st stage loader finds and loads 2nd stage loader (GRUB)
    • 2nd stage loader finds and loads Linux kernel and initial ram disk
    • kernel checks the system hardware, mounts the root device and loads the needed kernel modules
    • kernel runs init program (PID=1)
  • Init Process (System V)
    • init reads /etc/inittab to get default run level
    • init runs rc
    • rc runs runlevel scripts
  • Init Process (Upstart)
    • init gets jobs/tasks from /etc/events.d/
    • init emits startup event to start system
    • init waits for more events
    • fully compatible with System V

Week 4 (Sept 22) - Linux Package Management

• Activity for this week

Each student should add one correct item to the table below and email your teacher detailing your contribution. Don't forget your Seneca ID in the email. This will count as SYA710 Lab 03.

Task	Ubuntu - apt	Opensuse - zypp	Fedora - yum/pkcon
Install  a package	apt-get install <pkg>	zypper install <pkg>	yum install <pkg> pkcon install <pkg>
Remove a package	apt-get remove <pkg>	zypper remove <pkg>	yum erase <pkg> pkcon remove <pkg>
Update package list	apt-get update	zypper refresh	yum check-update pkcon get-updates
Update system	apt-get upgrade	zypper update	yum update pkcon update-system
List all repositories	cat /etc/apt/sources.list	zypper repos	yum repolist
Add a repository	(edit /etc/apt/sources.list)	zypper addrepo <path> <name>	(add <repo> to /etc/yum.repos.d/)
Assuming "yes" in all prompt	atp-get -y	zypper assumeyes	yum -y
Remove a repository	(edit /etc/apt/sources.list)	zypper removerepo <name>	(remove <repo> from /etc/yum.repos.d/)
Search for a package	apt-cache search <pkg>	zypper search <pkg>	yum search <pkg> pkcon search details <pkg>
List all installed packages	dpkg -l	zypper search i *	rpm -qa pkcon get-packages yum list installed
Display dependency information	pkcon get depends <packagename>	-	yum deplist <packagename>
Look up for a specific package information	-	-	yum info <packagename> pkcon get description <package_id>
Display Details about the package	-	-	pkcon get-details <pkg name>
Print a picture of a cow	apt-get moo	-	-

Week 5 (Sept 29) - Building a New Kernel

• Activity for this week
  • Please do SYA710 Lab04
  • Here's some notes on SYA710 Building a New Kernel
  • Also some notes on SYA710 Booting with GRUB
• Concepts/Commands learned/used in this week's lecture
  • ar command - usually used to archive object files
    • ar t /usr/lib/libz.a
  • cpio command to copy files to/from archives
    • cat initrd-uncompressed-file | cpio -i
  • ldd command to print shared library dependencies
    • ldd /usr/bin/ssh

Week 6 (Oct 6) - Automated Installations

• Activity for this week
  • Complete SYA710 Lab05
• Automating Linux Installations
  • [Debian Fully Automatic Installation]
  • [Fedora Kickstart]
  • [Opensuse AutoYaST]
  • [SUN Solaris Jumpstart]
  • HD Cloning
    • Using ssh
    • [UDPCast]
    • [Clonezilla]
    • [Partimage]

Week 7 (Oct 13) - Midterm Test

• The second half of our midterm test is scheduled for Tuesday, November 25, 2008. This test is worth 20% of your final mark. You will be allowed to bring in one letter-sized, hand-written original reference sheet. No electronic aids are allowed. The test will take place in room S2149 starting at 11:45am. Test will end at 1:15pm.
• Test topics will include all material covered up to end of lab 5.
• Here is one example question - feel free to add more.
• Here's our 2nd test held on Nov 25, 2008
• Now it's your turn to add test questions.

Week 8 (Oct 27) - Virtual Machines

• Activities for this week
  • Please complete SYA710 Lab06
• Virtual Machines
  • [Wikipedia Article]

Week 9 (Nov 3) - VM Management

• [VMware]
• [Virtual Box]
• [Virtual Machine Manager]

Week 10 (Nov 10) - Creating Custom Spins

• Making your own custom (spin) Fedora CD
  • Please complete SYA710 Lab07

Week 12 (Nov 24) - Making Live CDs

• Making your own Fedora Live CD
  • Please do Lab08

REFERENCE: Fedora LiveCD How TO