ARC logo Michael L'Estrange
Computer Information Science

CISC 324: Intermediate Linux Operating Systems

Instructor: Michael L'Estrange
Instructor Email: lestram@arc.losrios.edu
Instructor Web Page: http://ic.arc.losrios.edu/~lestram
Instructor Phone: (916)-484-8147
Instructor Office: ARC main campus, CMC 405
Office hours: Mon 5-6pm
Tues 11:30am-12:30pm
Weds 5-6pm
Thur 11:30am-12:30pm
Fri 12Noon-1:00pm
Course Code #: 11390
Class Location: CMC 411
Meeting Times: TuTh 12:30pm-2:20pm
Semester: Spring 2020
Term: Second Eight Weeks, Mar 17, 2020 - May 14, 2020
First meeting: Tuesday 17 March 2020
Final Examination: Thursday, 14 May 2020, 12:30pm-2:20pm
Prerequisite: CISC 323 (Linux Operating System) with a grade of "C" or better
Advisory: CISC 300 and ability to touch type. Refer to the course catalog for a description of this course.
Accepted for credit: CSU.
Hours: 18 hours lecture; 18 hours laboratory.
Units: 1

Orientation:

N/A

Course Description

This course is a continuation of CISC 323. Topics include boot loaders, Linux devices, and command line interface (CLI) system management utilities. It covers advanced Bourne Again Shell (BASH) shell scripting, including looping and decision making logic structures. Alternates to the BASH shell and regular expressions and text stream editors are introduced.

Student Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of this course, the student will be able to:

Textbook and Supplies


Required:

This course uses digital materials that are provided free of charge to the student. A student may purchase a printed text book in the college store at her or his option.
Recommended:

Presentation of Class Materials:

The course will cover the required assignments in the texts, and some outside assignments. The information will be introduced by means of lecture, classroom demonstrations and labs. Students may be given assignments to be completed both in class as well as on their own time. Lab work with a Windows or Linux PC will be required, and can be completed on campus.

Learning Management System (LMS)

This class will be using the Cisco Netspace web site, NOT Los Rios Canvas.

Special note on contacting the instructor

The instructor is an offline resource, and he will probably not return any messages over the weekend or college vacation days.
Emails that are undecipherable will be ignored. Use standard English in all messages sent to the instructor.
Emails that do not contain a question may not be replied to. A question should be denoted with a question mark, i.e.?!
Messages with long or complex questions may take time to answer, as in several days.
The instructor will not open emails or attachments he cannot identify, i.e. use your ARC Los Rios email account.
No student emails are deleted.

Special instructions for emailing your instructor

All emails sent to the instructor should contain the following in the subject line: Course number, your name, and the subject.

Here is an outstanding example:
Subject: CISC 324 | L'Estrange | Summer class add number request

In order to properly and promptly answer emails, your instructor must be able to identify you and what class you are enrolled in. Your instructor teaches many different courses each semester, and sometimes a student may submit a question that will have different answers depending on the course, i.e. How to do things in Linux and Microsoft Windows will have very different answers.

You are required to change the subject line if you change the subject contents of an email.

Your instructor is NOT a double-click resource available 24/7. I shall not be answering emails on weekends. If you send a lengthy email not containing a single question mark, or any punctuation at all, I may never answer your email. If your email question requires research on my part, it may take 2-4 days to get to it. It would not be unusual for the email you sent on a Friday evening to not be answered until the next Wednesday.

Course Policies:

This class will adhere to as closely as possible all ARC and Los Rios guidelines set forth in the catalog and/or the schedule of classes.

A document of general course policies for all my classes can be found on the instructor's web site.

Labs

Almost all CIS classes require labs. It is the online student's responsibility to complete the lab. Students may complete lab assignments in CSIT Area Computer Labs, room CMC 412, or at another ARC computer lab facility if allowed.

Lab assignments must be completed by the assigned date. Under no circumstances will network, system, hardware, or any other problems of such nature be considered an excuse for turning in late work.

Lab hours/Assistance:


Students may utilize lab time and assistance on campus in the CSIT area computer lab room CMC 412. Check with the CSIT area lab personnel in room CMC 412 for availability. Lab assistance is not tutoring. Tutoring is available on campus; contact the instructor directly regarding tutoring.

Special Note on Cheating

Independent Work Policy: Labs, Projects, Task, Assignments and Exams are designed to measure the progress of individual students. Collaborative work in groups of two or more is prohibited unless the instructions specifically state otherwise.

A student must not copy another student’s work or import work from another student. Do not allow another student to copy your work. Your work must be independent - Failure to work independently will result in all violators’ grades being reduced to zero for that lab, project, task, assignment or exam. Second offence of this policy will be referred to the Area Dean for administrative action.

Online Testing Privilege: Participation in online examinations is a privilege. When a student submits a lab, project, task, assignment, or exam that appears to violate the independent work policy the instructor retains the right to revoke the online exam privilege and direct the student to the American River College Computer Science Lab CMC 411 for on-site testing.

Accommodations

It is critical that every student be provided an environment which is conducive to learning. Please contact the professor if you have any physical or learning disability or other need which might require a special accommodation.

Special Software:

VMware Player, Linux, Packet Tracer, etc.

Completion of the exercises and projects required for this class requires access to a computer loaded with special software, such as the Linux operating system, virtual machine software, packet tracer, or other special software. To complete lab assignments, students may use the ARC CSIT Area Computer Lab, Room CMC411. It is not necessary to purchase special software, as most of the software is free, open source, or provided at no cost to the student.

Online Discussions

During the semester you will have access to a course website. These websites allow for intraclass communication with other students through messages, online discussions or forums, etc. Since this course is an in person course, the instructor in general will not monitor these communications. However, abusive remarks or attacks against others will not be tolerated and will result in disciplinary actions taken by the instructor and/or college.

Attendance Policy

Attendance will be monitored.
As stated in LRCCD Regulation R-2222, a student may be dropped from any class when that student's absences exceed six percent (6%) of the total hours of class time.

Once a student has been dropped from the class (for whatever reason), he or she will not be reinstated.

Drops: Students unable to complete the course are responsible for notifying the Records Office of their withdrawal. Failure to formally drop the course will result in a final grade of 'F'.

If you have extenuating circumstances which prevent you from participating in the class or submitting your assignments, CONTACT THE PROFESSOR IMMEDIATELY!

Course Lesson Plan / Schedule of Topics

This course will follow the book essentially in chapter order. The schedule of topics, chapters to be covered, and assignments due each week shall be listed in the LMS. Students may certainly read ahead, but completion of assignments early will not be allowed or even be possible. Changes to the details of this course schedule most likely will not be reflected on this web page. For online classes, please refer to the Learning Management System for all current updates. For in person classes, the instructor will also make announcements during lecture.

CISC 324 Linux Course Lesson Plan
Week of Topics Assignment
March 16
  • Syllabus Overview
  • Logging on to ARC student lab accounts
  • Using ARC student Gmail email
  • Proper shutdown of the PC
  • Logging into Cisco Netacad website
  • Logging into Power Server
  • Selection of Linux Distro: Ubuntu Vs Fedora
  • Dual Booting Linux with Microsoft Windows
  • boot managers: GRUB vs LILO, NTLDR
  • Assignment in Netacad: Chapter 10 and 11 Reading
  • Netacad: Chapter 10 and 11 quiz and Chapter 10 and 11 lab
  • In class lab assignment(s) may be assigned
  • Optional Book: Chapter 1, 2 and Appendix A
  • SPECIAL Assignment: Complete Netacad Linux Unhatched Course.
March 23
  • Editors: vi, emacs, gedit, nano
  • Review of CLI utilities
  • Perform basic file management
  • Devices, Linux Files systems, File system Hierarchy Standard
  • Introduction to Scripting
  • BASH Shell
  • Processes
  • Assignment in Netacad: Chapter 12 Reading
  • Netacad: Chapter 12 quiz and Chapter 12 lab
  • In class lab assignment(s) may be assigned
  • Optional Book: Chapter 3 and 4
March 30
  • Scripting: Decision making logic
  • If Statements
  • Basic File Processing
  • Looping: Do, While, Until
  • Redirection and Piping
  • Shell Scripts: nesting, looping, case
  • Find system files and place files in the correct location
  • documentation and help
  • Assignment in Netacad: Chapter 13 Reading
  • Netacad: Chapter 13 quiz and Chapter 13 lab
  • In class lab assignment(s) may be assigned
  • Optional Book: Chapter 14
Week of
April 6 - April 12
April 6 - April 12: Spring recess (no classes, offices closed)
 April 6 - April 12: Spring recess (no classes, offices closed)
April 13
  • Scripting: Decision making logic
  • If Statements
  • Basic File Processing
  • Looping: Do, While, Until
  • Redirection and Piping
  • Shell Scripts: nesting, looping, case
  • Process text streams using filters
  • Linux utilities awk and sed
  • File system integrity, disk quota
  • Use file permissions to control access to files
  • Create and change hard and symbolic links
  • Assignment in Netacad: Chapter 14 Reading
  • Netacad: Chapter 14 quiz and Chapter 14 lab
  • In class lab assignment(s) may be assigned
  • Optional Book: Chapter 5 and 13
  • Script #1 due
April 20
  • Exploring Other shells
  • C Shell, K shell
  • Regular Expressions: Search text files using regular expressions
  • Devices
  • Assignment in Netacad: Chapter 15 Reading
  • Netacad: Chapter 15 quiz and Chapter 15 lab
  • In class lab assignment(s) may be assigned
  • Optional Book: Chapter 9
  • Script #2 due
April 27
  • Manage Users and Group Accounts
  • Tune the User Environment
  • Maintain an Effective Data Backup Strategy
  • Networking With TCP/IP
  • Samba 3.0
  • NFS
  • Linux Networking continued
  • Assignment in Netacad: Chapter 16 Reading
  • Netacad: Chapter 16 quiz and Chapter 16 lab
  • In class lab assignment(s) may be assigned
  • Optional Book: Chapter 6, 7, 11 and 12
  • Script #3 due
May 4
  • Kernel Recompile
  • Installing an alternate desktop/window manager
  • Make and install programs from source
  • Use Debian package management
  • Use Red Hat Package Manager (RPM)
  • Assignment in Netacad: Chapter 17 Reading
  • Netacad: Chapter 17 quiz and Chapter 17 lab
  • In class lab assignment(s) may be assigned
  • Optional Book: Chapter 8 and 10
May 11
  • Advanced Linux topics
  • Final Topics
  • Final Review
  • Assignment in Netacad: Chapter 18 Reading
  • Netacad: Chapter 18 quiz and Chapter 18 lab
  • In class lab assignment(s) may be assigned
  • Optional Book: Chapter 16
  • Script #4 due
Thursday,
13 May 2020,
12:30noon-2:20pm
  • Final Exam
  • Lab Final Exam
  • No assignments accepted after Final Exam


After the start of class, use only the schedule in the learning managment system. Current Homework/Projects/Lab Assignments and Discussion assignments and due dates will be specified in the learning management system.
Documents turned-in:
When turning in work in hard copy or electronic form, please include a header on the top of the page with the following information:

Your Name Assignment #
CISC 324 Page # of #

Also, when contacting the instructor via email, be sure to include the class number in the subject line, i.e. CISC 324.

Evaluation and Grading

The grade in this course will be determined by student performance in each of the following areas, and weighted as described in the following charts.
Grade Assessment Weighting
Quizzes
 (100 points) 20%
Lab Assignments
 (150 points) 30%
Script Project(s) (100 points) 20%
Final Examination/Lab Final (150 points) 30%
Grade Assignment by Total Points
Points Obtained Total % Grade
Assigned
451+ 90% A
401+ 80% B
351+ 70% C
301+ 60% D
less than 300 below 60% F

Extra Credit Work

There will be no extra credit work given in this class. Your grade is based solely upon the regularly assigned work in the class: attendance, participation, lab assignments, projects, quizzes, and examinations.

Grades Available Online

Grades will never be sent out by email.
Most grades for individual assignments will be available during the semester through the learning management system used for the class.
At the end of the semester, final grades will only be accessible through the ARC eServices system.

Policy on Late Work and Make-up Exams

No late work will be accepted.
No make up quizzes or exams will be given.
NO Assignments accepted after the final

Caveat

The professor reserves the right to change any of the details of this course syllabus or the course schedule with a minimum of advance notice.

Passing the Course

Last Updated: 17 December 2020