CentOS Stream: Enterprise Linux Administration and Infrastructure Modernization Training Course

CentOS Stream Architecture and Release Philosophy

• Examining the CentOS Stream rolling-release model in comparison to point-release distributions.
• Exploring the connection between CentOS Stream and upstream Red Hat Enterprise Linux development.
• Reviewing naming conventions, stream repositories, and content versioning strategies.
• Selecting and switching between multiple streams to ensure application compatibility.

Installation and Automated Deployment

• Guided tour of the interactive Anaconda graphical and text-based installers.
• Utilising Kickstart files for fully automated, unattended installations.
• Implementing PXE network boot and TFTP-based network installation workflows.
• Provisioning via containerised methods and cloud-init for cloud deployments.
• Defining partitioning strategies and selecting filesystems, including Btrfs and XFS defaults.

Package Management and Module Streams

• Advanced DNF operations, including transaction management and dependency resolution.
• Using module streams to manage flexible software versions and language runtimes.
• Configuring repositories, verifying GPG signatures, and creating custom repositories.
• Tracking content views and errata for effective enterprise update management.

System Service Management with systemd

• Understanding systemd targets, units, and the dependency graph.
• Creating, enabling, and debugging custom service units.
• Managing journal logging, log rotation, and persistent log storage.
• Controlling resources via systemd slices and resource manager policies.
• Configuring kdump crash dumps and handling kernel panics.

Modern Network Configuration

• Essentials of NetworkManager CLI and CUI configuration.
• Configuring interface bonding, bridges, VLANs, and teaming.
• Implementing Firewalld rich rules, zones, services, and port forwarding.
• Managing IPv6 routing, firewall rules, and DNS resolution via systemd-resolved.
• Using network debugging tools and packet capture techniques.

Container and Pod Infrastructure

• Comparing Podman and Docker: fundamentals of daemonless container workflows.
• Creating container images with Buildah without requiring a Dockerfile or daemon.
• Deploying rootless containers and mapping user namespaces.
• Utilising Red Hat Universal Base Images and lightweight Alpine-based containers.
• Managing storage drivers, volume mounts, and inter-container network communication.
• Handling container lifecycle management and monitoring with skopeo and crun.

Security Hardening

• Configuring SELinux enforcing mode, managing policies, and auditing issues.
• Designing hardened zones and composing rules within Firewalld.
• Hardening SSH, implementing key-based authentication, and setting up bastion hosts.
• Defining password policies, PAM modules, and managing privilege escalation via sudo.
• Configuring and validating FIPS 140-2/140-3 compliance.
• Executing kernel live patching and CVE remediation workflows.

Storage and Filesystem Management

• Managing dynamic capacity planning with LVM2 logical volumes.
• Handling Btrfs snapshots, subvolumes, and auto-decompression.
• Configuring NFS and Samba file-sharing services.
• Implementing Multipath I/O for SAN storage redundancy and failover.
• Encrypting disks with LUKS and automating unlock via initramfs.

System Monitoring and Kernel Management

• Monitoring performance using sar, top, and perf profiling.
• Debugging system services with strace, ltrace, and GDB.
• Managing kernel updates, bootloader configuration, and GRUB2 customisation.
• Overseeing system state management and crash analysis.

Automation and Infrastructure as Code

• Designing Ansible inventories for managing CentOS Stream hosts.
• Implementing workflows for automated patching and compliance drift detection.
• Creating IaC modules for large-scale configuration management.
• Developing provisioning playbooks and deployment orchestration strategies.