LinuxCBT Scripting Edition is a unique approach to teaching GNU/Linux Scripting skills.

Serious
Linux IT-professionals are expected to have a command of various scripting environments for
administrative purposes. LinuxCBT Scripting Edition consists of the following 7 Modules:

Bourne Again Shell (BASH)

Perl
Python
PHP
Regular Expressions (RegEx)
Awk & Sed field (Column) and streams (Automated Text Editing)
KornShell

LinuxCBT Scripting Edition, is unparalleled in content, depth and expertise. LinuxCBT Scripting
Edition prepares you or your organization for successfully developing and implementing businesscritical GNU/Linux-based scripting solutions. Linux automation requires a solid scripting foundation.
Recommended Prerequisites:
Open mind & determination to master Linux Scripting Solutions - BASH/Perl/Python/PHP
Access to a GNU/Linux-based PC to perform exercises in LinuxCBT Scripting Edition
Bourne Again Shell (BASH) Scripting - Module I
Introduction to BASH Command Line Interface (CLI)
Identify BASH installation & key configuration files on RedHat & Debian GNU/Linux
distros
.profile/.bash_profile/.bashrc/.bash_history
Identify & use common built-in BASH commands (pwd,cd,set,unset,export,source,etc.)
BASH Command-line Expansion
Brace Expansion
Tilde Expansion
Parameter & variable Expansion
Command Substitution
BASH Reserved words
BASH History identification & configuration
Aliases (ls,du,df,rm,cp)
Backticks - command expansion & execution
BASH Prompt configuration
Command chaining
Error level/Return code (Command Exit Status) identification
Conditional execution of subsequent commands (&&,||)
Redirection | Error Handling
Standard Input
Direct input from STDIN (Standard Input)
Redirect input from a file
Standard Output

Direct output to STDOUT (Standard Output )

Redirect output to a file
Append Standard Output to an existing file
Standard Error
Explore STDERR attributes
Redirect Standard Error
Input/Output (I/O) Redirection
Pipes
Sequential execution via pipes
Quoting & Escaping
BASH Scripting
Basic Script definition (hello world), permissions modification & execution
Internal BASH variables
Global Variable definition
Function definition
Local Variable definition - function scope
BASH Arrays
Loops
Menu creation using Select
Job control - Foreground/Background processing
Conditionals
Case - Concise Conditional Branching
Positional Parameters
BASH Script Definition
Create BASH script to move multiple files to new names defined by positional
parameters
Create script to monitor directory for file changes and report the differences via E-mail
to Administrator
Create script to monitor directory size and report threshold encroachment to
Administrator via E-mail
Define script to parse logs for keywords and notify the Administrator via E-mail
Create script to monitor network connectivity between hosts and report outages to
Admin via E-mail
Define script to monitor process, restart if fails, and E-mail Administrator at defineable
limits
Create script to backup sub-directories using Tar & Gzip, define threshold, and SSH file
to remote host
Log the output of BASH scripts to a Syslog-like format
BASH 3.x Updates
Explore BASH 3.x on multiple platforms: Linux|Solaris|MacOSX|FreeBSD
Compare and contrast to BASH 2.x
Execute BASH 2.x commands|scripts within BASH 3.x on multiple platforms
Evaluate results
top

Practical Extraction & Reporting Language (Perl) - Module II

Perl Basics
Discuss Perl's capabilities
Identify available Perl binaries on the system
Discuss Perldoc - documentation program
Discuss Perl interpreter
Define first Perl program - Hello World
Explain the application of the SHEBANG header within Perl scripts
Explain warnings options
Explain strict options
Discuss compilation of Perl scripts and compare and contrast with shell scripts
Comments
Print function
Escape sequences including (\t, \n, etc.)
Explain quoting rules and variable interpolation
Variable definition
Operators
Perl Variables
Variable scopes (Global/Local)
Scalars - single values
Discuss the properties of scalar variables
Evaluate the definition of scalars
Variable concatenation
Arrays - lists & lists of lists
Discuss the properties of array variables
Evaluate the definition of arrays
Multi-dimensional arrays
Array slices
Array functions
Ranges
Hashes - Key/Value pairs
Discuss the properties of hashes
Evaluate the definition of hashes
Control Structures
Discuss various types of Subroutines and features
Define non-returning sub-routines
Define returning sub-routine
Conditionals
If - integer and string comparisons
Else/elsif testing
Unless
For Loops
Foreach Loops - Array iteration

 While Loops
Until Loops
General Perl Information I
Block Definition
Use the X Functions for file system testing
Positional parameters - ARGV
Determine number of command line arguments
Record Separators
Internal Perl Variables
Modules
Explore the module path and applicable variables
Discuss various ways to install Perl modules
Install modules
File I/O
File Handles
Open Function
Discuss rules regarding file handles and use of the open function
Assign file handles to Perl arrays for iteration
Process text files using applicable file I/O functions and foreach loops
Generate data files using file I/O functions
Die function
Error handing with Perl's built-in variables
Count records from input file
Use the Split function to separate fields based on various delimiters
Use Join to assemble lists
General Perl Information II
References
Chomp - strip superfluous characters
Command substitution
Use execute function to launch external programs
Use system function to execute external commands and evaluate return status
Regular Expressions discussion
Demonstrate the many rules of Regular Expressions
Process arrays using push/pop functions
Generated data files and process them using split and field determination
Mail integration using Sendmail
Mail integration using downloaded Perl mail module
Define and execute Perl one-liners
Common Gateway Interface (CGI) - Apache 2.x integration
Process GET & POST variables
MySQL Database integration
Identify required modules for MySQL integration
Define connection object

 Execute SELECT queries

Execute INSERT queries
Execute UPDATE queries
Execute DELETE queries
Perl LFTP Integration - Error Handling
Integrate LFTP client with Perl
Automate LFTP process with Perl
Implement error-handling
Evaluate results
top
Python - Object Oriented Linux Scripting Environment - Module III
Basics
Discuss Python's capabilities & features
Identify location of pre-installed Python
Discuss Python's Interactive interface
Use the interactive interface to ouput basic expressions
Hello World
Identify reserved keywords
Escape sequences & escape character exploration
Define Python script using Linux SHEBANG header
Execute Python scripts using the Python interpreter directly
Discuss data types including strings, integers, lists, tuples, dictionaries, etc.
Define standard variable types
Use the print function to examine ouput of variables and expressions
Use the type function to resolve data type
Use the id function to expose the memory location of the stored variable
Explain and define references and integrate with the id function
Comments definition
Perform basic arithmetic to illustrate the PEMDAS order of operations and examine how
to alter it
General Python Information I
Explain and illustrate STDIN usage
Examine the input function
Examine the raw_input function
Compare and contrast between input and raw_input functions
Define small script to make use of input/raw_input and basic math functions
Python Function concepts, applications and definition
String Manipulation
Define and ascertain the length of strings
String extraction using list elements and list slicing
Discuss immutable and mutable data types
Loop through string slices using for loops

 Compare strings using string operators

Discuss Python's object-oriented nature of various modules including classes and
methods
Import strings module
Convert strings to upper and lower case using strings module methods
Split strings into lists
Join lists into strings
List Manipulation
Define lists
Discuss and Define tuples
Compare and contrast lists and tuples
Reverse lists
Append lists
Extend lists
Nest lists
Define multi-dimensional lists
Stack Lists using Last In First Out (LIFO) using the pop function
Define First In First Out (FIFO) lists to emulate queueing using the pop function
Insert values into various positions of the list
Use ranges to generate integers
Lists with Integers
Lists with Strings
Emulate standard UNIX Syslog logfile format using Lists
Parse emulated logfile format using the Split function
Recap list manipulation using integers, strings and various list methods
Explain and define Dictionaries - key/value pairs similar to Hashes in Perl
Control Structures
IF - Defintion and usage
Discuss the importance of indentation
Else/Elif - comparisons against integers and strings
Comparison negation
Write script to perform conditional testing
Import sys module to evaluate positional parameters using ARGV
Define script which requires minimum number of command-line arguments
Nest multiple if/elif statements to match logic
Explain how for loops work in Python
for loops definition and usage
Iterate through lists of strings using for loops
Integrate for loops with string manipulation functions and log file parsing
Define and use While loops
Define and examine the consequences of incorrect logic with an infinite while loop
Integrate while loop with raw_input function to obtain data from the end-user
Discuss file handle concepts and applications

 Use control structures to generate output for use in File I/O exercises
Use the open function to read a file into a file handle
Iterate through the lines within the opened file using readline functions, etc.
Open file handles for writing
Open multiple file handles
Write strings to files using string formatting options and variable substitution
Parse source file by extracting columns to be stored in destination file
Regular Expressions
Discuss Regular Expressions
Import Regular Expressions module (re) for usage
Implement Regular Expressions (REs)
Regular Expressions Matching of strings and variables
REGEX Repeaters
Integrate Regular Expressions with text file processing
Exception Handling
Try & Except
Modules
Identification of default Python modules
Import modules (sys, os, etc.) for usage
Use the dir function to ascertain the classes and methods available within modules
Use the SHUTIL module for advanced, high-level File I/O (Copy, Move, etc.)
Python - Syslog integration
Define script using the Syslog module to log to syslog
Common Gateway Interface
CGI Discussion and applications
Implement Python CGI with Apache 2.x
Evaluate results of CGI integration
Globbing
Dictionaries
Further exploration of dictionaries
Parse log files into dictionary data structure
Organize results
Analyse data
Time
Review properties of various time functions
Export time with various functions
Use time functions to create log entries in process akin to Perl
Evaluate results
top
PHP - Hyper Text Pre-Processor - Dynamic Web Applications & CLI - Module IV
Installation
Identify Online PHP resources

 Download PHP
Identify Apache prerequisite packages and programs - Modular support (mod.so)
Extract, compile and install PHP with Apache modular support
Compile and install PHP with Command Line Interface (CLI) support
Identify key PHP configuration files & directories
Configure Apache httpd.conf with PHP integration to provide PHP support
Configure Apache with PHP binary and source support
PHP Basics
Explain PHP-supported long/short/ASP parse-tags & identify configuration changes in
php.ini
Hello World script output using echo to the web browser
Describe the various comments supported by PHP
Examine the ouput of PHP-maintained variables using phpinfo()
Explain supported data types via variables (integers, strings, floating points, here
documents, arrays, etc.)
Test instantiation of supported variables with default types
Explain Quoting rules and variable interpolation
Demonstrate escape sequences such as tab, new lines, spaces, etc.
Exercise the echo command
Define basic associated arrays (i.e. hashes/dictionaries)
Define nested associative arrays
General Information
Examine key CGI PHP-server variables
HTTP_USER_AGENT
PHP_SELF
REQUEST_METHOD
DOCUMENT_ROOT
REMOTE_ADDR
HTTP_REFERRER
Explore HTTP GET Request Methods via the URLString and Forms
Explore HTTP POST Request Methods via the URLString and Forms
NULL Variables
Basic Math - PEMDAS
Integer and String Comparison Operators
Examine execution operators for executing Linux Shell commands and obtaining the
ouput
Variable assignment via execution operations
Illustrate the usage of nested arrays
Control Structures
IF - comparisons against integers and strings
Else/Elseif - comparisons against integers and strings
Test whether variables are of the same type
Comparison negation

 C-stlye for loops definition and usage

Generate HTML option boxes using C-style for loops
foreach list iterator loop definition and usage
Generate HTML based on the contents of the list iterated by foreach
While loops definition and usage
Examine filesystem listings using execution operators and while loops
do While definition and usage
Break
Continue
Switch - for concise if/elseif conditional examination
General Information II
Discuss the applications of Server Side Includes (SSI)
Server Side Includes using require
Server Side Includes using include
Explain and examine the differences between require and include
Demonstrate distributed include applications by including content using HTTP
Header, leftnav, body, and footer definition and integration with require/include
HTML Form defintion using include and control structures
PHP Functions definition and sample usage
ISSET & UNSET for examining and controlling variables
Discuss the way PHP handles uploaded files
Identify key configuration files which affect uploaded files
HTTP File I/O - uploads & processing via HTML forms
Define back-end action pages to handle HTTP file uploads
Examine available file attributes of HTTP-uploaded files
PHP SMTP E-mail integration discussion
Define scripts to process forms and generate SMTP-based e-mail
Examine PHP Mail function options
Use mutt on the Linux system to examine PHP-generated SMTP-based e-mail
PHP - Dynamic Web Programming
PHP cookie concepts & usage discussion
Cookie definition and examination on server and client system (Mozilla Firefox)
Set and unset cookies on client system
Make decisions based on the existence of cookies on the client system
Session Variables concepts & usage discussion
Identify pertinent configuration options for session variables
Define session variables
Integrate cookies with session variables
Download MySQL RDBMS packages for usage with PHP
Install MySQL RDBMS for usage with PHP
Download the latest phpMyAdmin for installation
Install phpMyAdmin with Apache supportfor web-based administration of MySQL
RDBMS

 Recompile PHP for MySQL RDBMS support

Update PHP configuration information to support MySQL
Define basic database structure for usage
Structured Query Language (SQL) integration with PHP
Explain steps for connecting PHP scripts to MySQL
Define and execute SELECT queries
Define and execute INSERT queries
Define and execute UPDATE queries
Define and execute DELETE queries
Forms Processing with MySQL integration
Forms with Cookies
Forms with Session Variables
PHP - Command Line Interface (CLI)
Discuss concepts and applications
Identify CLI binary
Discuss the possible ways of executing PHP scripts from the CLI
Define and execute PHP one-liners
Execute scripts using PHP binary as a prefix
Explore executing PHP via the Interpreter mode
PHP-Linux SHEBANG definition and usage
Execute basic commands
CLI - File I/O usage - Stat files
Examine file attributes
Determine access and modification times and make decisions using control structures
PHP - Input Validation
Define form and action script to process form fields
Submit form-fields for processing
Examine results
Define input validation masks with regular expressions
Evaluate results
Extend validation masks to command line interface (CLI)
Supply PHP CLI with input
Confirm validation masks
top
LinuxCBT Scripting Editon - RegEx - Module V
Introduction - Features
Discuss course outline
Explore system configuration
Identify key systems to be used
Install the Bluefish graphical editor - Supports POSIX and PERL-compatible RegExes
List key Regular Expressions applications
Enumerate and discuss key Regular Expressions features

 Metacharacters
Enumerate important metacharacters
Provide examples of asterisk '*' usage
Apply simple character classes to searches
Perform searches in the Bluefish editor using literals and metacharacters
Explain and apply anchors: '^', '$'
Character Classes
Discuss features and applications
Perform searches in the Bluefish editor using character classes
Search for case-insensitive characters
Negate character class values using the circumflex character: '^'
Specify ranges and inclusions
Search for string boundaries
Alternate between POSIX and Perl-compatible Regular Expressions in Bluefish Editor
RegExes with GREP & EGREP
Discuss features and applications
Perform simple GREP searches
Use EGREP to find strings based on RegExes
Parse installed applications using EGREP
Extract 'su' attempts from the system log file: /var/log/messages
Parse log file entries based on specific dates
Parenthetical Expressions
Discuss features and applications
Compare and contrast with character classes
Search for strings using the Bluefish Editor
Combine anchors with parenthesis and evaluate results
Search for multiple groups of strings using alternation
Use parenthetical expressions with EGREP
Nest expressions using parenthesis
Quantifiers
Discuss features and benefits
Define RegEx tokens
Enumerate and discuss RegEx quantifiers
Test '?' using the Bluefish Editor and EGREP
Test '*' using the Bluefish Editor and EGREP
Test '+' using the Bluefish Editor and EGREP
Test '*' using the Bluefish Editor and EGREP
Test '{ }' - arbitrary quantifiers with the Bluefish Editor and EGREP
Combine anchors, parenthesis and various quantifiers
Shortcut Sequences - POSIX & Perl
Discuss features and benefits
Enumerate and discuss key shortcut sequences
Test shortcut sequences using the Bluefish Editor

 Awk - Field Parser

Discuss features and applications
Use awk to extract fields from the process listing
Apply RegEx literal strings to awk search and evaluate results
Apply RegEx character classes to awk search and evaluate results
Apply RegEx parenthetical expressions to awk search and evaluate results
Apply RegEx quantifiers to awk search and evaluate results
Incorporate conditional RegEx matching with awk search and evaluate results
Extract fields, based on RegExes, from system log file: /var/log/messages
SED - Stream Editor
Discuss features and applications
Perform text transformation of text file using string literals
Perform text transformation of text file using string literals and character classes
Perform text transformation of text file using string literals and anchors
Perform text transformation of text file using string literals and character classes
Evaluate results
GNU Utilities (GREP|Awk|SED) for Windows
Discuss features and benefits
Identify and connect to Windows Server target system
Download and install GNU utilities for Windows: GREP, Awk, SED
Perform EGREP searches and evaluate results
Perform gawk searches and evaluate results
Perform SED substitutions and evaluate results
Perl Regular Expressions
Discuss features and applications
Write simple Perl script to compare command line argument to RegEx and evaluate
results
Alter Perl script to read text file and perform RegEx comparisons and evaluate results
Incorporate character classes, parenthetical expressions, case-insensitivity and
quantifiers
Evaluate results
Substitute matched text using Perl RegExes
Substitute matched text using Perl RegExes from the command line
Update system log using text substitution from the command line
PHP Regular Expressions
Discuss features and applications
Perform POSIX and Perl-compatible RegExes from the command line
Substitute text using RegExes
Evaluate results
Design HTML form to collect fields via the browser
Design back-end, action script to process the POST fields using RegExes
Halt processing if POST fields do NOT meed criteria based on RegExes
Evaluate results

 Apache Regular Expressions

Discuss features and benefits
Identify key configuration files
Explore key RegEx-supporting Apache directives
Match a range of directories using RegExes with <DirectoryMatch> directive
Restrict access to files using RegExes with <FilesMatch> directive
Match URL directory values using RegExes with <AliasMatch> directive
Redirect users to alternate content using RegExes with <RedirectMatch> directive
Date | Time Extractions | Regular Expressions | Logs
Identify log entries to filter
Filter date | time ranges using regular expressions
Substitute extracted columns with replacement data
Evaluate results
HTML Updates
Select HTML | PHP files to update
Identify key strings
Replace key strings with substitutes
Perform widespread changes across HTML | PHP documents
Evaluate results
top
LinuxCBT Scripting Edition - Awk & Sed - Module VI
Introduction - Features
Discuss course outline
Explore system configuration
Identify key systems to be used
Install the Bluefish graphical editor - Supports POSIX and PERL-compatible RegExes
Discuss features common and distinct to: Awk and Sed
Regular Expressions Review
Enumerate important metacharacters
Provide examples of quatinfier usage
Apply simple character classes to searches
Perform searches in the Bluefish editor using literals and metacharacters
Explain and apply anchors: '^', '$'
Intro to Sed - Stream Editor
Discuss features and applications
Explain general usage syntax
Print specific lines from input
Delete specific lines from input
Match streams using RegExes
Search for ranges of text using line numbers and text ranges
Save transformed output
Sed - Search & Replace

Discuss features and applications

Discuss Left-hand and Righ-hand side (LHS | RHS) sections in search & replace actions
Acquire input from: STDIN, PIPES and Files and transform according to criteria
Backup and overwrite source files using Sed one-liners
Perform substitutions based on matched addresses
Reuse matched strings in replacement output
Perform text substitutions across multiple files
Perform multiple replacements in one command
Apply substitutions globally across all matches
Sed - Scripts
Discuss features and applications
Explain general usage syntax
Create script to remove blank lines from input stream
Create script to make general substitutions
Perform case-insensitive replacements via Sed script
Insert strings into desried location in the input stream via Sed script
Strip trailing numeric values from input stream via Sed script
Apply changes to multiple files
Save scripts for reuse
Intro to Awk - Field Processor & Reporter
Discuss features and benefits
Explain general usage syntax
Print full lines from input
Print desired fields from input
Match patterns using RegExes
Control the input field | column delimiters
Save output
Awk - Scripts
Discuss features and benefits
Explain structure of Awk scripts
Implement BEGIN and END blocks
Parse system files using Awk script
Awk - Variables
Discuss features and applications
Enumerate and discuss key Awk system variables
Increment counters based on matched patterns using Awk
Explain variable concatenation
Explore arrays (lists of values)
Create arrays using the split function
Awk - Operators
Discuss features and applications
Explore Boolean and Relational operators
Discuss looping strategies

Evaluate conditional testing using system variables

Evaluate results
Awk - Process Records
Discuss features and benefits
Define and evaluate multiple input field separators with files with mixed delimiters
Normalize output by controlling the Output Field Separator (OFS)
Extract records from system file and evaluated
Account for number of processed and matched records in END block
Awk - Print Formatting
Discuss features and applications
Compare and contrast 'print' and 'printf' output formatting
Discuss 'printf' supported data types
Evaluate 'printf' application in reporting
Awk & Sed - Various Examples
Discuss features and applications
Parse and cleanup HTML and PHP files with Sed & Awk
Replace values in system file with Awk
Evaluate results
Awk & Sed - Win32
Discuss features and benefits
Download and install Awk & Sed for Win32
Transfer Linux files to Windows
Test various parsing and substitution on Linux files
Evaluate results
Sed - File Name Transformations - Batch
Enumerate poorly-named files for transformation
Identify key replacement strings for regular expressions match
Define and apply regular expressions for transformations
Transform prefixes and suffixes
Evaluate results
Awk - E-Mail Address Parsing
Generate sample data set
Define regular expressions patterns for transformation
Transform sample data
Evaluate results
top

LinuxCBT feat. KornSHell Edition - Module VII

Introduction - Features
Discuss KornShell history
Explore system configuration
Identify key systems to be used
Discuss key features

 Shell Basics
Create KornShell users on various systems
Identify key KornShell binaries and configuration files
Explore key KornShell variables
Discuss shell redirection and piping
Command Chaining | Substitution
Discuss features and applications
Explain general usage of 'test' command
Evaluate sequential execution of processes
Invoke commands contingently using logical AND and OR
Implement command substitution
Evaluate defined variables using command substitution
Variables
Discuss features and applications
Discuss and reference positional parameters
Explore standard command exit status variable
Learn how to define variables
Define persistent variables
Unset variables and evaluate
The Prompt - $PS{1..4}
Discuss various prompt shell variables
Setup vi-style command history access
Customize primary prompt with useful KornShell variables
Define a persistent prompt
Evaluate results
Functions
Discuss features and benefits
Explore POSIX and KornShell functions
Define useful functions in a script
Reference functions from a script
Discuss how positional parameters are supported with funcitons
Evaluate results
Loops
Discuss features and benefits
Identify the supported iteration mechanisms
Implement for | while | until loops
Create finite and infinite loops
Evaluate results
Conditions
Discuss features and applications
Explore comparison testing
Perform numeric comparisons
Perform string comparisons

Branch out using if | elif | else

Evaluate results
Error Handling
Discuss features and applications
Create script which requires a positional parameter
Error handle as necessary
Confirm the existence of the file referenced by the positional parameter
Compartmentalize error handling into a function
Evaluate results
Backup Script
Discuss features and benefits
Write a script to backup various files and directories
Ensure that script is executed with appropriate number of positional parameters
Auto-create backup file name using a unique date identifier
Tar and compress (using gzip) backup items
Incorporate error handling
Evaluate results
Arrays
Discuss features and applications
Explain supported arrays
Define indexed array with various items
Reference individual and total array elements
Evaluate results
Build indexed array using command substitution
Loop through array elements
Define associative array with various items
Expose total array elements
Regular Expressions
Discuss features and applications
Highlight key metacharacters
Use character-classes
Implement RegExes with shell commands: ls|grep|awk|sed
Evaluate results
Kornshell on Solaris
Compare & contrast Linux and Solaris Korn implementation
Create Kornshell user on Solaris
Identify key files
Explore Solaris Kornshell as the user
Customize Solaris Kornshell environment
Run scripts created on Linux
Evaluate results
Case
Discuss features and benefits

 Explain usage
Create cases based on simple RegExes
Write script to identify file types using case
Explore case usage in system scripts
Evaluate results
Job Control
Discuss features and benefits
Background and foreground jobs
Interact with running jobs
Isolate jobs from TTY
Evaluate results
Typeset
Discuss features and benefits
Define variables of disparate types
Justfiy variables
Transform positional parameters and variables
Enumerate system variables
Scope variables in and out of functions
Evaluate results
Input Validation
Discuss features and benefits
Ensure the requisite number of positional parameters
Confirm input prior to execution
Evaluate results