OPS345 Prep

THIS PAGE IS A DRAFT, NOT A REAL COURSE PAGE

The current schedule for OPS345 is here: OPS335_Weekly_Schedule

Course overview

Learning Outcomes

Completing this course successfully should mean that you can:

• Find your way around the AWS interface.
• Understand that most resources on AWS aren't free and how you can manage those costs.
• Create AWS security groups and subnets, and configure VMs to work together on your setup.
• Set up iptables to provide port forwarding.
• Secure your resources against the most common internet attacks.
• Set up a basic web server and explain what PHP is.
• Set up a MariaDB instance and use basic SQL commands to manage databases and users.
• Install a modern web application that uses both a web server and a database server.
• Set up and run some basic commands on the AWS console.
• Work with a typical DNS registrar interface to create DNS records.
• Obtain and use a certificate from Let's Encrypt.
• Set up a basic email server including SMTP/STARTTLS with Postfix and IMAPS with Dovecot.
• Choose the most appropriate storage solution of those available on AWS.

Of course you'll probably be able to half-ass your work and complete the course without learning any of the above, but that would be a big learning opportunity lost for you. The skills you can learn in this course are very transferable to many other systems and platforms. They're not limited to AWS and not even to Linux.

Delivery Mode

The most effective way to learn in this course is a combination of attending labs in person and doing your homework outside of class to solidify what you've learned.

Unfortunately this option is not automatically available these days, so we might have to make due with online learning. Each professor does this differently, they will tell you how labs and lectures will work in their sections.

Prerequisite skills

There's much to learn in OPS345, and it's the third course in the OPS stream, so we're assuming you learned some basics in ULI101/OPS245. As a minimum, you should be comfortable with:

• Using a Linux desktop as a workstation
• Using the terminal for various tasks, including:
  • Using an ssh client
  • Editing text files (ideally with vi)
  • File and permission management
  • Managing users
  • Managing storage devices including LVM, and filesystems
  • Managing services using systemctl
  • Reading and monitoring log files
  • Using and writing simple shell scripts
• Basic networking concepts, including:
  • Public IPs and private subnets
  • Simple iptables configurations
• Reading, writing, and oral communication.

That last bullet is so important that many people can BS their way past the fact that they have no useful technical skills at all. But people who are both technically competent and can communicate well are rare, incredibly useful, and therefore expensive. Strive for that no matter what your natural inclination is.

Every skill requires practice. Many short applications of a small skill are more valuable than one heavy application. Run as many commands as you can, just because you can. Read as many explanations as your patience will allow. Put some effort into writing well-formed questions in your emails. Question everything you read and everything you write.

AWS account requirements and account setup

• AWS vs AWS Educate vs AWS Academy
• You should automatically get an email from notifications@instructure.com once the course begins. That has a link for yu to click to create an account and join the course in AWS Academy.
• Why things cost money in the cloud
• Students are responsible for their AWS usage, including paying for it

Workstation setup

• Install Linux Mint either on bare metal or in VMware.