EdCert: Systems Administration

The Unix System Administration Education Certification Program (known popularly as the Unix EdCert) is a locally developed, comprehensive, 9-day course. It is administered by the Unix Systems Support Group (USSG), of University Information Technology Services (UITS), at Indiana University.

Please note that this class is not available online. Participants must be physically present at the Indiana University Bloomington campus or the IUPUI campus for the class. Minimum class size is six students and maximum is twelve students. EdCert sessions will be canceled if fewer than six qualified students are available.

Class Schedule:

  • The Spring 2007 Class will be held January 23-25, February 20-22, and March 20-22 at IUB. Deadline for taking the pretest is 4:00pm (16:00) on Friday, January 5th. Please contact us to schedule a pretest. (0/12) Linux seats open
  • The Summer 2007 Class will be held May 22-24, June 19-21, and July 24-26 at IUPUI. Deadline for taking the pretest is 4:00pm (16:00) on Friday, April 27th. Please contact us to schedule a pretest. (6/12) Linux seats open
  • The Fall 2007 Class will be held Sept 18-20, Oct 16-18, and Nov 5-8 at IUB. Deadline for taking the pretest is 4:00pm (16:00) on Friday, August 31st. Please contact us to schedule a pretest. (10/12) Linux seats open
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Intended for:

Unix workstation users and server administrators. Staff in the Local Support Provider (LSP) program are especially encouraged to attend.

Prerequisite:

You may qualify for the EdCert course in one of two ways; take and pass the Introduction to Unix class, or take the EdCert pretest. Contact us to arrange to take the ItU class, or the EdCert pretest. The ItU class is currently offered at both the IU-Bloomington and IUPUI campuses. EdCert pretests are given at IUB as well as IUPUI.

In Bloomington, tests take place at the Wrubel Computing Center at the intersection of 10th Street and the State Road 45/46 bypass. In Indianapolis, tests take place in the ICTC building on the IUPUI campus. For those not in the local area: Pretests must be administered at either the Bloomington or Indianapolis campuses; pretests cannot be given over the telephone nor can they be faxed. We apologize for any inconvenience.

Format:

This class is taught three times a year, in three, 3-day sessions (one Tuesday-Thursday session per month), from 8:00am (08:00) until 5:00pm (17:00), during each semester, and during the summer (January-March, May-July, September-November). Each session includes lectures, structured hands-on exercises, and one-on-one time with instructors.

We have room for a total of twelve students. The standard is for the class to be taught using RedHat Enterprise Linux, in case of a large demand for another operating system, some adjustment to this may be made.

Certification Criteria:

To pass the EdCert you (the student) must complete the following requirements:
  • Attend all sessions (nine total)
  • Complete all hands-on exercises (70% average across all exercises)
  • Score at least 70% average across the three exams
Students not able to complete all the above requirements will be failed and will not receive a certificate. These students will then be able to attend the course again within one year without having to pre-test again, will receive preferred seating, and will not have to pay the fee again (if applicable and paid already)

After one year, students must pre-test again and will be required to pay the course fee (if applicable).

Class Fee:

  • LSPs: Fee Waiver
  • UITS Staff: Fee Waiver
  • IU Staff and Faculty: $30
  • Full-time Students: $30
  • Part-time Students: $30
  • Non-IU personnel: $1000
Contact us for billing information.

The EdCert enrollment fee is due in full prior to Session 1 starting. It is fully refundable up until the first day of Session 1. After the first day of Session 1, no refunds will be given for any part of the course, in whole or in part.

Class Materials:

Class materials are available for perusal via the Web. (Participants are required to read these materials before class.) Although not required reading, the Unix EdCerts instructors recommend two books: UNIX System Administration Handbook by Nemeth/Snyder/Seebass/Hein and UNIX for the Impatient by Abrams/Larson.

Class Location:

The class will be held at various locations on both the Bloomington and Indianapolis campuses.

Topics:

Series topics include:
  • Basic Unix overview
  • Installing the operating system
  • Applying patches and plugging security holes
  • Integrating your computer with the network
  • Installing and configuring mail
  • Administering users, disk space, software, and peripherals
  • Performing backups
  • Automating tasks
  • The X-window system
  • Apache, MySQL, and PHP
  • Installing GNU software
  • Basic Unix security
  • ... and more

Instructor team:

Joe Rinkovsky, Brian Haberer, David Tauriainen, Matt Standish and Rich Knepper.

The Unix Systems Support Group (aka USSG) is a subunit of the Research Computing (RC) division of University Information Technology Services (UITS).
The USSG provides software, support, and resources to faculty, staff, and students at Indiana University who use or administer Unix/Linux workstations or servers.