Course number: CIS 420-190
Credit/Contact hours: 3
Term: Spring, January 14 - May 3, 2002
Course title: Linux Systems Administration
College website: www.mansfield.edu
Instructor name: John Phillips
Instructor office location: Elliott 205 A
Instructor office hours: to be announced
Instructor telephone: 570-662-4704
Instructor e-mail address: jphillip@mnsfld.edu
Instructor website: www.programbetter.com
This course will discuss administering a Linux system, including managing users and groups, managing system resources, scripts and procedures, managing printing, and backing up data. Prerequisite: CIS 206 recommended or permission of the instructor.
Guide to Linux Installation and Administration, Nicholas Wells, 2000, Course Technology, ISBN: 0-619-00097-X.
www.programbetter.com for the syllabus and course information.
www.coursenotebook.com for the class discussion board.
This is an on-line course. However, the final exam will need to be taken in a proctored environment.
Access to the Internet is required either using your own computer or by using a computer in the school's computer lab. You should keep a backup copy of all work you do on one or more diskettes.
Work that meets the stated requirements will in general earn a C grade. Work that goes beyond the basic requirements will in general earn anywhere from a C+ to a B- grade. Work that is very good and exceeds the instructor's expectations will in general earn a B grade. Only the most outstanding work will earn an A grade.
(Refer to the Mansfield University Catalog for grades that can be awarded.)
A >= 90%
B >= 80%
C >= 70%
D >= 60%
F < 60%
In addition, the instructor may choose to further differentiate grades with plus and minus subdivisions as outlined in the catalog.
| Course Grade |
% of Grade
|
| Quizzes |
30
|
| Assignments and Projects |
10
|
| On-line Participation |
10
|
| Final Exam |
50
|
The quizzes will be on-line open book and open notes.
The final exam will be closed book, closed notes. You may take the final during any of the instructor's other final exam periods. These times will be announced later in the semester. If this is inconvenient for you then other arrangements can be made.
Any work that is late will lose one letter grade for each day late. No excuses. Computer, server, ftp, and Internet problems will happen, therefore, make it a point to complete your work at least one day before the deadline.
This is an on-line course. Each week or so you will be given a detailed assignment to complete. This assignment will be posted on coursenotebook.com. The assignment will typically involve reading a chapter and then doing some hands-on exercises. Some of the exercises can be done by Telneting into our class Linux server. However, other exercises may require you to work on a Linux computer either in the MU computer lab or on your own Linux computer (an older 486 or better PC should work well for this purpose).
It may be tempting to cheat in this class. Do not do it! You will be posting some of your work for all to view. Feel free to browse other students' posted work, on-line web sites, and other books for ideas. However, if you copy that work and you do not give credit for it, that is plagiarism. Likewise, if you discuss an exam you have taken with another student before they take it, that is cheating. You may not do anything that gives you or another student an unfair advantage. If you are in doubt then discuss the situation with your instructor.
The last day to withdraw from a College course with a "W" grade is published in the Academic Calendar. It is the responsibility of the student to complete and submit the necessary forms to the Registrar's Office. An official withdrawal would entitle the student to a grade of "W" in the course.
The instructor reserves the right to make changes to this syllabus as the course progresses.
| Week | Week Of | Topics |
| 1 | 01/14 | Ch 1 - Introducing Linux |
| 2 | 01/21 | Ch 2 - Planning your system |
| 3 | 01/28 | Ch 3 - Installing Linux |
| 4 | 02/04 | Ch 4 - Running a Linux system |
| 5 | 02/11 | Ch 5 - Using graphical systems with Linux |
| 6 | 02/18 | Ch 6 - The shell and text files |
| 7 | 02/25 | Ch 7 - The role of the system administrator |
| 8 | 03/04 | Spring Break |
| 9 | 03/11 | Ch 8 - Basic administration tasks |
| 10 | 03/18 | Ch 9 - Hardware redundancy and fault tolerance |
| 11 | 03/25 | Ch 10 - Managing system resources |
| 12 | 04/01 | Ch 11 - System logging |
| 13 | 04/08 | Ch 12 - Creating scripts and automated procedures |
| 14 | 04/15 | Ch 13 - The printing system |
| 15 | 04/22 | Ch 14 - Backing up system data |
| 16 | 04/29 | Final Exam is to be scheduled with the instructor |