Red Hat Enterprise Linux Diagnostics and Troubleshooting (RH342)

Troubleshooting is both an art and a science. It is both an instinct and a technique. In this lab-intensive course, system administrators will learn techniques for troubleshooting a Linux system and how to use the troubleshooting tools available on Red Hat Enterprise Linux. Through hands-on labs, you will learn or improve your troubleshooting skills and gain additional experience by debugging live, virtualized systems.

1. Being Proactive, Part 1

• Monitor log files, hardware, and file systems
• Monitor system and network performance

2. Being Proactive, Part 2

• Approaches to managing configuration changes and developing a recovery plan

3. Basic Troubleshooting Techniques and Procedures

• Recovery runlevels and rescue mode
• Work with advanced GRUB features

4. Hardware Issues

• Preempting hardware failures (looking for the signs)
• Protecting against hardware failures
• Redundant configurations
• Tools to help identify hardware failures and intermittent problems

5. File System Issues

• Locate unauthorized changes
• Audit software
• File system tuning and repair
• File recovery

6. Disk Issues

• Rescuing LVM volumes
• Maintenance of LUKS-encrypted volumes

7. Networking Issues

• Manual configuration of network cards
• Connectivity issues
• Network diagnostic tools
• Monitor packets
• Tune kernel parameters
• Troubleshoot SAN communication

8. Application Issues

• Tools and techniques for troubleshooting applications
• Common application problems and how to solve them

9. Security Issues

• Working effectively with (and not against) security tools
  • SELinux
  • Authentication
  • Firewall

10. Red Hat Resources

• Support options
• Knowledgebase
• Certified training
• Initiating support calls
• Technical account manager support
• Developer support
• Bugzilla
• Support workflow
• Diagnostic and information-gathering tools

• Red Hat System Administration I and Red Hat System Administration II
• RHCSA Rapid Track Course
• RHCSA certification or equivalent experience
• System administration knowledge under Red Hat Enterprise Linux, including:
  • Installation
  • Service management (using service and chkconfig, for example)
  • Basic system monitoring (using ps and top and perhaps meminfo and the /proc file system)
  • File system management (using fdisk and mkfs)
  • Basic troubleshooting (including managing log files and perhaps using hardware probing tools, such as ethtool and lspci)

Linux system administrators who understand installation and configuration of a Red Hat Enterprise Linux system and wish to deepen their understanding of troubleshooting on Linux