CTLA study plan
CTLA · Give each week a clear focus.
8 weeks · About 7 hours per week
Linux System Administration
Install a Linux distribution in a VM and document the disk layout, bootloader, and filesystem choices you made
Navigate the filesystem hierarchy and explain the purpose of /etc, /var, /usr, /proc, and /sys
Create and manage users, groups, sudo privileges, and file permissions using chmod, chown, and umask
Use systemd journal and log files to locate the source of a failed service start
Your checkpoint
A one-page lab note listing the ten commands you used most, each with a one-line description of what it changed or revealed
Linux System Administration & Shell Scripting and Command-Line Tools
Write shell scripts that use variables, conditionals, loops, and functions with correct quoting and exit codes
Process text with grep, sed, awk, cut, sort, and uniq to extract fields from a log file
Schedule recurring jobs with cron and systemd timers and verify they actually fire
Debug a script using set -x, bash -n, and shellcheck-style reasoning about common pitfalls
Your checkpoint
A working script that parses an auth log, summarizes failed logins by source IP, and exits non-zero when the count exceeds a threshold
Linux System Administration & Shell Scripting and Command-Line Tools
Configure static IP addressing and hostname resolution using the distribution's native network manager
Manage packages and repositories, including installing, removing, pinning, and querying package metadata
Tune and inspect running processes with ps, top, nice, renice, and signals
Automate a multi-step administrative task end to end in a single idempotent script
Your checkpoint
A scripted provisioning run that sets hostname, static address, installs two packages, and creates a service account, re-runnable without errors
Networking Fundamentals and Configuration
Explain the TCP/IP model layers and map common protocols and ports onto them
Subnet IPv4 networks by hand and verify your answers with ipcalc or equivalent
Capture and read traffic with tcpdump to confirm a client-server exchange
Diagnose name resolution failures by tracing the resolver configuration path
Configure host firewalling rules and confirm which traffic is permitted
Your checkpoint
A subnetting worksheet with five worked problems plus a packet capture showing a completed TCP handshake and its teardown
Security Fundamentals and System Hardening
Harden SSH by disabling password authentication, restricting users, and verifying key-based login
Configure a host firewall default-deny policy and justify each allowed rule
Apply file permissions and ownership to protect sensitive configuration and key material
Audit the system for unnecessary listening services and disable the ones you cannot justify
Read and interpret authentication logs to identify brute-force patterns
Your checkpoint
A hardening checklist with before-and-after evidence for at least six controls you applied and verified
Storage, Filesystems, and Backup & Service Management and Process Control
Create, mount, and resize filesystems and persist mounts through fstab
Add swap or a logical volume and confirm it survives a reboot
Write and test a backup and restore procedure for a directory tree, including a restore verification
Write a custom systemd unit and control it with start, stop, enable, and status
Investigate a process that will not terminate and resolve it with the correct signal
Your checkpoint
A restore test report proving a deleted file was recovered from backup with matching checksum
Virtualization and Cloud Concepts
Compare virtual machines and containers and state when each is appropriate
Provision a cloud-style instance or local VM and connect to it over SSH with key authentication
Explain core cloud concepts including regions, availability, elasticity, and shared responsibility
Manage block storage attachment and snapshotting in a virtualized environment
Your checkpoint
A comparison table of five workloads mapped to VM or container with a one-sentence justification each
Troubleshooting and Operational Procedures & Linux System Administration & Security Fundamentals and System Hardening
Apply a structured troubleshooting method: observe, isolate, hypothesize, test, confirm
Diagnose deliberately broken scenarios covering boot, networking, permissions, and services
Review weak domains and redo the labs you scored worst on
Take a timed practice assessment and analyze every missed item by domain
Your checkpoint
A troubleshooting log of five injected faults with symptom, root cause, fix, and prevention note for each
Milestones
Week 2: You can write and debug a non-trivial shell script from a blank file without looking up basic syntax
Week 4: You can subnet a /24 into four usable networks and explain the broadcast and network addresses without tools
Week 5: Your host passes a self-audit: SSH key-only, default-deny firewall, no unexplained listening ports
Week 6: A full backup-to-restore cycle completes successfully and you can explain each fstab field
Week 8: You score at least 80 percent on the timed practice assessment and every missed item has a written correction