Linux & Command Line Foundations

Make the Linux command line the engineer's default working environment — the shell, the filesystem, processes, permissions, and Bash.

Duration: 7 weeks
Tier: Tier 1 · Foundations
Certificate: WIATech Certificate in Linux & Command Line Foundations

A seven-week, terminal-centred intensive that makes the command line natural rather than a last resort. Students learn Linux as a system — the shell, the filesystem, the everyday text-processing toolkit, processes, permissions, services, and the Bash scripting that turns one-off commands into reusable automation. By the end a graduate can sit down at an unfamiliar Linux server, navigate without a GUI, investigate what is running, read the logs, fix a permission problem, and script a repetitive task.

§ What you'll be able to do

Operate confidently on the Linux command line without reaching for a GUI
Navigate, inspect and modify any filesystem hierarchy fluently
Compose Unix tools through pipes to answer real questions about real data
Manage processes and services on a running Linux system
Set up permissions correctly for multi-user environments
Install software and connect to remote machines with confidence
Write Bash scripts of 50–150 lines that automate real work with proper error handling
Investigate what a server is doing using logs, process tools and system observation

§ What you'll cover

The Shell, the Filesystem, and the Unix Way

Connecting the operating-system floor to Linux as a working environment — the Unix philosophy, the shell, the filesystem hierarchy, navigation and reading the manual.

Working with Files and Directories

The everyday verbs of the command line — creating, copying, moving and deleting files, wildcards and globbing, reading files, metadata, links, search and editing.

Text Processing — grep, awk, sed, the Pipeline

Composing small text-processing tools through pipes — standard streams, redirection, grep and regex, the data-shaping verbs, awk and sed, and building pipelines.

Permissions, Users, and the Security Floor

The Linux permission model — the user/group model, reading and changing permissions and ownership, special bits, sudo and least privilege.

Processes, Services, and the Living System

Observing and managing a running system — the process tree, signals, process management, resource observation, systemd and the journal.

Software, Connectivity, and the Remote Server

Getting software onto a system and connecting to remote machines — apt package management, SSH and key-based authentication, file transfer, and networking commands.

Bash Scripting — Commands into Programs

The leap from running commands to writing scripts — variables, command substitution, control flow, input and arguments, functions and exit codes, and strict mode.

Capstone

The Working Automation Suite

Choosing one of three Sierra Leone scenarios, the student delivers a working set of 3–5 Bash scripts with documentation, a meaningful Git history, and an oral defence.

§ Tools you'll use

Ubuntu 24.04 LTS
Bash
nano (vim optional)
The standard Linux toolkit (grep, awk, sed, find, sort, uniq, process and service tools)
SSH and ssh-keygen
apt
Git

§ Where it leads

A gated foundation required by all four software-building diplomas, where the terminal is the daily working environment — from SWE 200's Semester 01 labs to AIE 300's GPU boxes, CLD 200's Linux-at-scale, and SEC 200's host security and response work.

Required by

SWE 200 AIE 300 CLD 200 SEC 200 NET 200