Foray / Linux Systems AdministratorLinux Systems Administrator roadmap Run Linux servers well: users and permissions, packages, storage, services, networking, web servers, backups, security and troubleshooting, with automation to keep it all repeatable.
14 topics · 65 nodes · 59 covered · 1 partly · 5 planned · updated 2026-10-17
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Show Whole map Gaps only 1. Core
The command line The administrator's main tool. Fluency here makes everything else faster and safer.
6 / 6 covered
What Linux is Covered Text, pipes and redirection Covered Environment and shell startup Covered The shell and navigation Covered Getting help Covered Editing configuration safely Covered 2. Core
Users, groups and access Who can log in, what they can read and what they can run as root.
4 / 5 covered
Users and groups Covered sudo and root Covered Directory services (LDAP, Active Directory) optional Planned File permissions Covered SELinux and AppArmor Covered 3. Core
Processes and services What is running, how to control it and how to make a program a proper service.
4 / 4 covered
Processes and signals Covered systemd and systemctl Covered Watching the system Covered Cron and timers Covered 4. Core
Software and updates Install, update and trust software.
4 / 4 covered
Package managers Covered Binaries and building from source Covered Repositories, updates and trust Covered Tool version managers optional Covered 5. Core
Storage and filesystems Disks, partitions, mounts and what to do when space runs out.
2 / 4 covered
Disks, partitions and mounts Covered LVM and RAID Planned Disk I/O and disk space Covered NFS and Samba optional Planned 6. Core
Networking for administrators Configure, inspect and debug a machine's network.
6 / 6 covered
Addresses, subnets and DHCP Covered Ports and sockets Covered Network tools Covered Routing and NAT Covered DNS Covered Layered troubleshooting Covered 7. Core
Remote access with SSH Almost every administrator task happens over SSH.
4 / 4 covered
Keys and first connections Covered Hardening sshd Covered Config, copying and forwarding Covered Bastions and certificates optional Covered 8. Recommended
Web servers and TLS Serve websites and proxy applications. Learn one of nginx or Apache first.
4 / 5 covered
nginx pick one Covered Certificates with Let's Encrypt Covered Mail servers optional Planned Apache HTTP Server pick one Covered Hardening web servers Covered 9. Core
Scripting and automation Turn repeated work into scripts, and scripts into configuration management.
5 / 5 covered
Bash basics Covered Scripts in cron and systemd Covered Roles, vault and rolling updates optional Covered Writing safe scripts Covered Configuration management with Ansible Covered 10. Core
Logging and monitoring Find out about problems before users do.
4 / 4 covered
Logs with journalctl Covered Alerting Covered Metrics and dashboards Covered Monitoring web servers optional Covered 11. Core
Hardening and security Reduce what an attacker can reach and notice when they try.
4 / 5 covered
Host firewalls Covered Auditing Covered Patching and vulnerabilities Partly covered Kernel parameters Covered Network security fundamentals Covered 12. Core
Backup and recovery A backup you have not restored is a hope, not a backup.
4 / 4 covered
Why backups, RPO and RTO Covered Restore testing Covered Backing up files, servers and databases Covered Automation and recovery runbooks Covered 13. Core
Troubleshooting and performance A method for the 3 a.m. page.
5 / 5 covered
A troubleshooting method Covered Seeing what a process does Covered Linux in production Covered CPU and memory problems Covered The boot process Covered 14. Optional
Containers and virtualisation Modern servers run containers and virtual machines.
3 / 4 covered
Docker basics Covered Docker Compose Covered Namespaces and cgroups Covered KVM and libvirt Planned © 2026 Konstantinos Maglaras
