Week Overview
Mon – Fri · 10 hours total
What Linux is, where it comes from, and how to make it run
Week 1 sets the foundation for everything that follows. Students who know Windows networking will find some concepts immediately familiar — IP addresses, file paths, user accounts — but the Linux philosophy is different in important ways. By Friday, every student has two Ubuntu 24.04 VMs running in Hyper-V and is comfortable moving around the filesystem from the terminal.
Week at a glance
Monday
What is Linux?
OS concepts, Linux history, distributions, Hyper-V setup (Lab 0)
Tuesday
Installing Ubuntu
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS install, partitioning, dual-VM setup (Lab 1)
Wednesday
The Terminal
Shell basics, TTY, filesystem hierarchy, absolute vs. relative paths
Thursday
Files & Directories
mkdir, cd, ls, find, grep, rm — guided lab work (Lab 2 Part 1–3)
Friday
Mini-Assessment 1
Quiz: OS concepts, Linux basics, filesystem structure. Lab 2 complete.
Learning Outcomes
By end of Week 1, students can…
Explain what an OS doesDescribe the role of an operating system and give examples across different device types
Identify Linux distributionsName common distros and explain the difference between Ubuntu LTS and rolling-release versions
Configure Hyper-V VMsCreate Generation 2 VMs with correct settings, attach an ISO, and disable Secure Boot
Install Ubuntu 24.04Complete a manual partitioned installation with correct mount points and user account
Navigate the terminalSwitch between GUI terminal and TTY, use cd/ls/pwd, and explain the Linux filesystem hierarchy
Use find and grepLocate files by name, size, and modification time; search file contents with grep
Monday
Lecture + Lab 0 · 2 hrs
What is Linux? — OS concepts, distributions, and Hyper-V setup
0:00–0:30
Lecture
0:30–1:50
Lab 0
1:50–2:00
Debrief
- Lecture (30 min): What is an operating system? Resources managed (CPU, RAM, storage, I/O). Interface between user and hardware — GUI vs. CLI. Examples across devices: servers, phones, consoles, kiosks, cars. Brief Linux history: Unix → GNU → Linux kernel. Distributions explained — Ubuntu, Red Hat, CentOS, Debian, Arch. Why Ubuntu LTS for this course (stability, wide use, Hyper-V support). Windows vs. Linux philosophy: Windows hides complexity, Linux exposes it. Bridge: students know what an IP address is — Linux handles networking differently, but the concepts transfer.
- Lab 0 — Hyper-V Setup (80 min): Configure host PC (computer name, IP addressing on 172.17.10.x/16 scheme). MAC address range in Hyper-V Global Network Settings — explain why this matters for the lab network. Create External vSwitch. Create two VMs:
desktop1 and desktop2 — Gen 2, 50GB, 8192MB RAM, External vSwitch, Ubuntu 24.04 ISO attached. Settings: disable Secure Boot, set 4 virtual processors. No installation yet.
- Debrief (10 min): Verify all VMs are created and can reach the ISO. Preview Tuesday: the install process has more choices than Windows setup — students will make real decisions about partitioning.
Instructor note: Walk the MAC address range configuration as a class — students from a Windows background often haven't thought about MAC addresses at the hypervisor level. This is a good early bridge moment.
Tuesday
Lab 1 · 2 hrs
Installing Ubuntu 24.04 LTS — partitioning, accounts, and first boot
0:00–0:15
Briefing
0:15–1:50
Lab 1
1:50–2:00
Debrief
- Pre-lab briefing (15 min): Walk through the installer flow on the projector before students touch their VMs. Highlight where it differs from Windows: no product key, manual partitioning option, user account created during install. Introduce partition types — ext4, swap, vfat — and mount points:
/, /home, /var, /tmp, /opt. Students will research these during the lab.
- Lab 1 (95 min): Boot desktop1 from ISO. Follow installer: language → accessibility → keyboard → network → update (skip) → interactive install → default applications → manual partitioning. Students create partitions per the lab sheet, with ~22GB left free. Create account (student/Room225), set location to Brandon. Observe the progress console during install. On completion, restart and verify login screen. Then repeat entire process for desktop2.
- Debrief (10 min): Ask: "What did the partition types mean? What's swap for?" Collect research answers. Preview Wednesday: now that Linux is installed, we stop using the mouse and start using the terminal.
Timing note: The second VM install is often rushed. If desktop2 is still installing at 1:50, students can leave it running and verify it next day. The important thing is desktop1 is fully working.
Wednesday
Lecture + Lab intro · 2 hrs
The Terminal — shell basics, TTY, and the Linux filesystem hierarchy
0:00–0:10
Recap
0:10–0:40
Lecture
0:40–1:50
Lab 2 Pt 1
1:50–2:00
Debrief
- Recap (10 min): Quick check — everyone has desktop1 working. Confirm desktop2 either complete or note it needs finishing. Ask: "What's the difference between a file system and a partition?"
- Lecture (30 min): Terminal vs. shell — terminal is the window, shell is where commands run. Why use CLI? Chaining commands, text-only systems, speed. TTY explained: Ctrl+Alt+F1–F6, TTY1/2 reserved for GUI (X Windows). Virtual terminal vs. real TTY. Linux filesystem hierarchy:
/bin, /dev, /etc, /home, /lib, /proc, /var, /opt — every directory has a purpose, consistent across all distros. Bridge from Windows: C: drive = /, additional drives mount as subdirectories rather than new drive letters.
- Lab 2, Part 1 (70 min): Log in as student. Open terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T). Switch to TTY3 — note how many real terminals exist. Run
who. Navigate: pwd, cd, absolute vs. relative paths hands-on. Create/remove directories with spaces in names. Practice ls, ls -l — compare output to Windows dir.
Thursday
Lab 2 (continued) · 2 hrs
Files & directories — find, grep, and working with the filesystem
0:00–0:10
Recap
0:10–1:45
Lab 2 Pt 2–3
1:45–1:55
Bonus
1:55–2:00
Wrap
- Recap (10 min): Quick path quiz — given a current directory, ask for absolute and relative paths to a target. Reinforce: absolute always starts with
/.
- Lab 2, Parts 2–3 (95 min): Part 2 — Filesystem search with
find: by name (-name), by size (-size), by modification time (-mmin). Students locate the beh file, find files ≥500MB, find recent .log files. Part 3 — grep: search /etc/passwd for "student". Introduce sudo for elevated commands — bridge to Windows UAC/Run As Administrator.
- Bonus (10 min): Pipe commands together:
find / -name "*.log" | grep "var". Introduce man pages — the built-in manual. Challenge: find the largest file on the system without using a file manager.
- Wrap (5 min): Preview Friday: mini-assessment covers this week's content. Lab 2 should be complete — any outstanding questions tonight.
⭐ Thursday Bonus — Piping and man pages
- Demonstrate piping output of one command into another:
ls -l /etc | grep "conf"
- Show
man ls — navigate with arrow keys, search with /, quit with q
- Challenge: use
find and wc -l together to count how many .conf files are in /etc
Friday
Mini-Assessment 1 + Lab completion · 2 hrs
Mini-Assessment 1 — OS concepts, Linux basics, filesystem navigation
0:00–0:30
Assessment
0:30–1:45
Lab 2 finish / catch-up
1:45–2:00
Review + Preview W2
- Mini-Assessment (30 min): Written/terminal quiz. Covers: what an OS manages, Linux distribution examples, filesystem hierarchy directory purposes, absolute vs. relative paths (given scenarios), basic commands (
pwd, ls, cd, find, grep), and TTY vs. virtual terminal.
- Lab 2 completion / catch-up (75 min): Students finish any outstanding Lab 2 sections. Early finishers start exploring:
cat, less, head, tail on system files like /etc/passwd and /var/log/syslog.
- Review + Week 2 Preview (15 min): Go over common assessment mistakes. Preview Week 2: users, groups, and permissions — the Linux security model. Ask: "In Windows, how do you give someone access to a folder? In Linux, it works differently…"
Mini-Assessment 1 — Topic Coverage
| Topic | Weight | Source |
|---|
| OS role and examples (devices, resource management) | 20% | Monday lecture |
| Linux distributions and version types | 10% | Monday lecture |
| Hyper-V VM configuration (key settings) | 10% | Lab 0 |
| Partition types and mount points | 20% | Tuesday lab + research |
| Filesystem hierarchy — directory purposes | 15% | Wednesday lecture |
| Absolute vs. relative paths (scenario-based) | 15% | Lab 2 |
| find and grep command syntax | 10% | Thursday lab |
What you need ready before Monday
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS ISO downloaded to each host
Hyper-V enabled on all host machines
Lab 0 and Lab 1 handouts printed
Network IP scheme confirmed (172.17.10.x)
MAC address ranges per desk documented
Mini-Assessment 1 printed (Friday)