Assignment1 - in progress

OPS335 Assignment 1 - Draft v1 - For Comment

Assignment 1 consists of

• questions and your answers,
• a list of references, and
• a virtual machine to demonstrate one of your answers with some screen shots.

Questions - You Need to Answer All Questions

1. List the major differences between Centos 6.5 and Fedora 20
2. What is a "linux appliance" and give an example.
3. What is "Vxworks" and give an example of where it is used. In what general category would we place "Vxworks" ?
4. Document and demonstrate a linux machine (virtual machine) for either question #1 or question #2 or question #3 (if you wish to demonstrate something in that category). You do not have to build the demonstration machine from scratch - in fact you should avoid building from scratch - as long as you reference your source. The virtual machine can come from an external Internet site, but not a classmate. The virtual machine should use a linux distribution other than the one we use as our host - it doesn't need complicated functionality - a linux appliance itself is fine. Note: ideally your appliance will run on your Centos host as a virtual machine. An alternate environment is ok (e.g. VMware player under Windows) or Parallels under OSX - please discuss.

The Writeup

• You need to "write-up" the answers and the sources for your answer.
• You need a section for each answer
• Please reference your sources. Consider having a References section at the end of your report.
• Must be in your own words - do not literally cut and paste.
• Target: 1/2 page per question; if you have written 2 pages, you wrote too much !

Writeup Template

Your writeup should look like:

OPS335 ASSIGNMENT 1

Question 1: List the major differences between Centos 6.5 and Fedora 20

The major differences between Centos 6.5 and Fedora 20 are:
 1. SystemV vs Systemd - key differences
 2. Commands - a few words
 3. Kernel versions
 4. etc

Question 2:

.....

Question 4: Virtual Machine Build Notes (Summary)

            Virtual Machine Screen-Shots (at least 2)

References:

1. Chap 10, Networking, Linux Administration Handbook, 4th Edition by Evi Nemeth, Garth Snyder and Trent R. Hein, Prentice Hall, 2007
2. Centos Overview, http://mycentos.com, accessed Jan 1, 2014
3. OPS335 Class video, "How to do Research", https://scs.senecac.on.ca/~kent.poots/protected/OPS335-research-howto-v1.mp4, accessed Sep 15, 2014

What to Hand-in - Marking

You will be asked for an informal progress report, your written report, and your final vm installation instructions over the next weeks. Details:

• Progress report: 1 week from the assignment being posted; contains your "first draft" of questions/answers and your initial choice of appliance (virtual machine)
• Answers to questions 1-3: 5 marks each, total 15 marks, this is handed in before the break
• Virtual machine with writeup: 10 marks, this is handed in after the break
• Assignment total: 25 marks

please observe due-dates to get full marks

Places to Start

1. class notes
2. textbook
3. look at the video on doing research: https://scs.senecac.on.ca/~kent.poots/protected/OPS335-research-howto-v1.mp4
4. forum question: centos vs fedora: http://forums.fedoraforum.org/showthread.php?t=199520
5. general comparison of centos, fedora, other linux: http://www.threehosts.com/ratings/comparison-software/linux-vs-ubuntu-vs-centos-fedora-vs-debian-vs-red-hat-vs-open-suse-vs-mint.html#.VBcF0VfkyZQ
6. systemd service manager (focus on Fedora) & systemctl http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Systemd
7. fedora 16 - uses new kernel v3 (centos 6.5 uses v2.6) - note that we are now at fedora 20 ! #http://docs.fedoraproject.org/en-US/Fedora/16/html/Release_Notes/sect-Release_Notes-Changes_for_Sysadmin.html#id2892943
8. centos forums: https://www.centos.org/forums/
9. centos (sysv) vs fedora (systemd) cheatsheet: https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/SysVinit_to_Systemd_Cheatsheet
10. example linux appliances (not the only example !) https://solutionexchange.vmware.com/store/category_groups/19
11. more example appliances http://www.turnkeylinux.org/
12. vxworks http://www.windriver.com/announces/curiosity/