Stage 1 of 10 · 7 lessons · ~4 weeks
Linux and networking you need for cloud
Learn the Linux shell, SSH keys, IP addresses and CIDR blocks, ports, DNS and HTTPS: the layer every cloud service is built on and every cloud problem eventually comes down to.
Start: The Linux shell on a serverLessons· one lesson for each topic, in this order
Do this
- Set up a Linux environment: a local VM, WSL on Windows or a small cloud VM.
- Generate your own SSH key and log in to a server with it.
- Install nginx, check it with systemctl and read its logs with journalctl.
- Split 10.20.0.0/16 into four /18 subnets and write down the ranges.
- Look up the A and CNAME records of three sites you use with dig.
- Write down the ports your favourite stack uses, and who should reach each one.
Start with· follow one of these
- CourseFreeLinux Upskill Challenge
Linux Upskill Challenge · Beginner
Free, one task a day on a real cloud server: the shell skills this roadmap assumes
- VideoFreeComputer Networking: A Top-Down Approach (Video Lectures)
Jim Kurose and Keith Ross · Intermediate
Free lectures: watch the chapters on the application, transport and network layers for IP, TCP, UDP and DNS
Practise
Keep handy
Also worth your time
Before moving on: A Linux VM or local Linux environment you reach over SSH with your own key, a web server running on it that you can check from the shell, and a note splitting 10.20.0.0/16 into subnets with the address count of each.
Do not skip this stage because the cloud console looks friendlier. Every hard cloud problem I have seen, from a service that will not start to a database nobody can reach, came down to Linux or networking basics. Two weeks here saves months later.