Stage 3 · Build
Linux Deep Dives
Kernel internals, networking stack, performance tuning, and the black magic that keeps servers alive.
10 modules60 lessons7.0h of reading60/60 live today
Prerequisite
Shell scripting basics.
What this course leaves you with
- Debug a slow or failing machine from first principles
- Trace syscalls, processes, and kernel behavior
- Understand what containers really are
LinuxKernelNetworkingPerformance
Why this stage matters — You know the OS — now learn the network that connects everything.
Progress
0 of 60 lessons complete. Progress is stored locally in your browser so you can pick the path back up later.
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course completion
01
6 lessons
Linux Kernel Internals
Understanding the heart of the OS — processes, memory, and scheduling.
- 01Process Managementtask_struct, PID namespaces, fork/exec, and the scheduler.7 min
- 02Memory ManagementVirtual memory, page tables, slab allocator, and OOM killer.8 min
- 03System Calls & VDSOThe user-kernel boundary, syscall overhead, and vDSO optimization.6 min
- 04Interrupts & SoftirqsHardware interrupts, softirqs, tasklets, and NAPI for networking.7 min
- 05Kernel Modules & eBPFWriting kernel modules and the eBPF revolution.8 min
- 06Kernel Debuggingftrace, perf, kprobes, and crash dump analysis.7 min
02
6 lessons
Networking Stack Deep Dive
From packets to sockets — the Linux network subsystem.
- 01Packet Flow Through the KernelRX/TX rings, NAPI, XDP, and the receive path.8 min
- 02TCP/IP ImplementationConnection establishment, congestion control (BBR, CUBIC), and tuning.8 min
- 03Netfilter & iptables/nftablesConnection tracking, NAT, and the packet filtering framework.7 min
- 04Socket API Internalsstruct socket, inet sockets, epoll/io_uring for high-performance I/O.7 min
- 05Network Namespaces & CNIContainer networking, veth pairs, bridges, and CNI plugins.7 min
- 06Network Performance TuningBuffer sizing, RSS/RPS/RFS, XDP, and bypassing the kernel.8 min
03
6 lessons
Storage & Filesystems
Block layer, filesystems, and making storage fast and reliable.
- 01The Block LayerRequest queues, I/O schedulers (bfq, kyber, none), and blk-mq.6 min
- 02ext4, XFS, and Modern FilesystemsJournaling, delayed allocation, and metadata checksums.7 min
- 03Btrfs & ZFSCopy-on-write, snapshots, compression, and RAID-Z.7 min
- 04NVMe & Storage PerformanceQueue depth, namespaces, and optimizing for flash media.6 min
- 05LVM & Device MapperLogical volumes, thin provisioning, dm-cache, and dm-crypt.6 min
- 06Filesystem TuningMount options, inode tuning, and benchmarking with fio.5 min
04
6 lessons
Observability, Tracing & Security
eBPF, perf, and hardening Linux for production.
- 01eBPF FundamentalsVerifier, maps, helpers, and writing your first eBPF program.8 min
- 02bpftrace & BCCOne-liners for latency, throughput, and syscall tracing.6 min
- 03perf & Profiling ToolsCPU profiling, flame graphs, and hardware performance counters.7 min
- 04Seccomp, AppArmor & SELinuxSyscall filtering, mandatory access control, and container security.7 min
- 05Linux Audit FrameworkAudit rules, ausearch, and compliance reporting.5 min
- 06Production HardeningKernel parameters, module signing, lockdown mode, and CIS benchmarks.7 min
05
6 lessons
Storage Reliability & Performance
Operating Linux storage stacks with measurable latency, durability, and recovery plans.
- 01RAID with mdadmRAID levels, rebuild behavior, write holes, and monitoring /proc/mdstat safely.7 min
- 02I/O ObservabilityUsing iostat, pidstat, blktrace, and eBPF tools to isolate storage bottlenecks.8 min
- 03I/O Scheduler SelectionChoosing none, mq-deadline, kyber, or BFQ for NVMe, SSD, and spinning disks.6 min
- 04Filesystem Repair & Recoveryfsck, xfs_repair, journal replay, and snapshot-based recovery workflows.7 min
- 05Discard, TRIM & Wearfstrim timers, discard mount options, SSD endurance, and write amplification.6 min
- 06fio Workload ModelingModeling random reads, sync writes, queue depth, and latency percentiles with fio.8 min
06
6 lessons
Namespaces, cgroups & Security
Understanding the kernel primitives that make containers isolated and enforceable.
- 01PID, Mount & User Namespacesunshare, setns, bind mounts, UID maps, and rootless isolation mechanics.8 min
- 02cgroups v2 Resource ControlCPU, memory, pids, io controllers, pressure stall information, and systemd slices.8 min
- 03Linux CapabilitiesBounding, permitted, effective, inheritable, and ambient sets with capsh and getpcaps.7 min
- 04seccomp-BPF ProfilesDefault Docker profiles, syscall allowlists, audit mode, and libseccomp filters.7 min
- 05LSM Policy ModelsSELinux labels, AppArmor profiles, Landlock, and enforcing least privilege.8 min
- 06Container Escape AnalysisPrivileged pods, hostPath mounts, /proc exposure, and namespace breakout mitigations.7 min
07
6 lessons
Boot & Init Systems
Tracing Linux startup from firmware handoff through systemd readiness.
- 01BIOS & UEFI FirmwarePOST, EFI system partitions, boot entries, Secure Boot, and efibootmgr troubleshooting.7 min
- 02GRUB Bootloadergrub.cfg, kernel command lines, rescue shells, and regenerating menus with grub-mkconfig.7 min
- 03initramfs Early UserspaceDracut, initramfs-tools, root device discovery, cryptsetup, and emergency shell recovery.8 min
- 04systemd Units & TargetsServices, sockets, mounts, targets, ordering, and dependency inspection with systemctl.8 min
- 05systemd TimersOnCalendar, monotonic timers, persistent runs, and replacing cron with systemctl list-timers.6 min
- 06journald Boot Logsjournalctl -b, priorities, persistent journals, rate limits, and forwarding logs to syslog.6 min
08
6 lessons
Shell Scripting & Automation
Writing reliable Bash automation for repeatable production operations.
- 01Bash Script StructureFunctions, traps, exit codes, arrays, and argument parsing with getopts.7 min
- 02Pipes & Redirectionstdin, stdout, stderr, tee, process substitution, and pipefail behavior.6 min
- 03awk, sed & grepField extraction, regex filtering, stream editing, and safe log slicing with awk, sed, and grep.8 min
- 04Robust Bash Optionsset -euo pipefail, IFS handling, shellcheck, and defensive quoting patterns.8 min
- 05find, xargs & Parallelismfind predicates, null-delimited paths, xargs -P, and avoiding unsafe filename handling.7 min
- 06cron & at Jobscrontab syntax, environment pitfalls, flock locking, and one-shot scheduling with at.6 min
09
6 lessons
Users, Permissions & Processes
Operating Linux identity, access control, and foreground process behavior.
- 01UID, GID & Accounts/etc/passwd, /etc/group, shadow passwords, useradd, usermod, and account locking.7 min
- 02sudo & PAM Basicssudoers rules, visudo validation, PAM stacks, and authentication module ordering.8 min
- 03File Modes & ACLschmod, chown, umask, setuid, setgid, sticky bits, and getfacl/setfacl usage.8 min
- 04Signals & Job ControlSIGTERM, SIGKILL, SIGHUP, fg, bg, jobs, nohup, and terminal session lifecycles.7 min
- 05Process Prioritynice, renice, ionice, CPU scheduling classes, and identifying priority inversions.6 min
- 06Process Inspection Toolsps, pgrep, pstree, lsof, strace, and reading /proc for live process state.7 min
10
6 lessons
systemd Service Management & Resource Control
Packaging services with systemd dependencies, isolation, and cgroup limits.
- 01Writing Service UnitsExecStart, Type, Restart, EnvironmentFile, drop-ins, and validating units with systemd-analyze.8 min
- 02Unit Dependencies & OrderingWants, Requires, After, Before, PartOf, and failure propagation across targets.7 min
- 03systemd SandboxingNoNewPrivileges, ProtectSystem, PrivateTmp, DynamicUser, and capability bounding sets.8 min
- 04Resource Limits & cgroupsCPUQuota, MemoryMax, IOWeight, TasksMax, slices, and inspecting placement with systemd-cgls.8 min
- 05Reloads, Restarts & WatchdogsExecReload, RestartSec, WatchdogSec, sd_notify, and zero-downtime restart patterns.7 min
- 06Transient Unitssystemd-run, scopes, timers, user services, and isolating ad hoc administrative commands.6 min