CSC 586: System Administration and Security
Summer I 2009

Instructor Dr. Robert Kline
office: 25 Univ. Ave. (UNA), #146
phone: 610-436-2181
email:
Hours MoTh 4–6pm
Website http://www.cs.wcupa.edu/~rkline/gradlinux
Textbooks Learning The Bash Shell (3rd Edition),
Newham & Rosenblatt, O'Reilly,
ISBN-10: 0-596-00965-8
ISBN-13: 978-0-13-700388-4
Programming Perl (3rd Edition),
L. Wall et. al., O'Reilly
ISBN-10: 0-596-00027-8
ISBN-13: 9780596000271
A Practical Guide to Ubuntu Linux (2nd Edition),
Mark G. Sobell, Prentice Hall
ISBN-10: 0-13-700388-9
ISBN-13: 978-0-13-700388-4
Catalogue Description This course is a hands-on study of the essentials of operating system administration with a strong focus on systems security. Approximately half of the class time is spent working in the lab as adminstrators on projects devised to illustrate basic system and security adminstrative features. Additionally, various script languages are taught to provide the basis for understanding and extending the system capabilities.
Content The course uses the instructor's notes available through the course website. Ubuntu Linux is the operating system choice. Topics include:
  • Basics of a Linux system and environment.
  • System installation and configuration
  • Scripting with Bash and Perl.
  • Command-line linux software usage.
  • Configuration of standard services: http, ldap, samba, ftp, etc.
  • Security and authentication Apache Web services.
  • Database setup and security issues.
  • Virtualization.
  • Firewall setup and intrusion monitoring.
  • Perl Packages: CGI, DBI, etc.
  • Perl/CGI web programming.
Grading Your grade will be based on these factors:
  • A program written using Bash (40%)
  • A program written using Perl (40%)
  • Class/Lab participation (20%)