CentOS Stream: Enterprise Linux Administration and Infrastructure Modernization Training Course

CentOS Stream Architecture and Release Philosophy

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

Installation and Automated Deployment

• Detailed walkthrough of the interactive Anaconda graphical and text-based installer.
• Utilizing Kickstart files for fully automated, unattended installations.
• Implementing PXE network boot and TFTP-based network-install workflows.
• Provisioning for cloud deployments using containerized and cloud-init-based methods.
• Partitioning strategies and filesystem selection, including Btrfs and XFS defaults.

Package Management and Module Streams

• Advanced DNF operations, transaction management, and dependency resolution techniques.
• Using module streams to manage flexible software versions and language runtimes.
• Configuring repositories, verifying GPG signatures, and creating custom repositories.
• Enterprise update management through content views and errata tracking.

System Service Management with systemd

• Analyzing systemd targets, units, and the dependency graph.
• Developing, enabling, and troubleshooting custom service units.
• Managing journal logging, log rotation, and persistent log storage.
• Implementing resource control via systemd slices and resource manager policies.
• Configuring Kdump crash dumps and handling kernel panics.

Modern Network Configuration

• Essential NetworkManager CLI and CUI configuration tasks.
• Setting up interface bonding, bridges, VLANs, and teaming configurations.
• Managing Firewalld rich rules, zones, services, and port forwarding.
• IPv6 routing, firewall rules, and DNS resolution via systemd-resolved.
• Network debugging techniques and packet capture methods.

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 managing user namespace mappings.
• Using Red Hat Universal Base Images and Alpine-based lightweight containers.
• Configuring storage drivers, volume mounts, and inter-container network communication.
• Managing container lifecycle and monitoring using skopeo and crun.

Security Hardening

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

Storage and Filesystem Management

• Using LVM2 logical volume management for dynamic capacity planning.
• Managing 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

• Performance monitoring using sar, top, and perf profiling.
• Debugging system services with strace, ltrace, and GDB.
• Managing kernel updates, bootloader configuration, and GRUB2 customization.
• Handling system state management and crash analysis.

Automation and Infrastructure as Code

• Designing Ansible inventories for CentOS Stream host management.
• Creating workflows for automated patching and compliance drift detection.
• Deploying IaC modules for scalable configuration management.
• Strategies for provisioning playbooks and deployment orchestration.