The Challenge:
The client’s Denmark business unit required advanced training on the Ubuntu Linux operating system. The team members already understood how Linux worked, and they wanted to focus on how to work Linux better in terms of system administration and programming.
After searching for potential resources in Europe, the business unit turned to its North American headquarters for assistance in finding an experienced trainer. Resources on the European continent seemed to be in short supply.
At first, the IT team in North America also had a difficult time finding a trainer with Ubuntu expertise. After an extended search, a senior project manager reached out to Pantek, knowing Pantek provides a range of experts across Linux and other open source technologies. Sure enough, the Pantek team included a resource with many years of experience supporting Ubuntu.
The Solution:
Pantek quickly designed a custom on-site Ubuntu course with advanced training condensed into two days. The course covered a range of server admin and programming tasks. These included Open SSH, Snappy, and the new features in Ubuntu version 18.04 compared to the 14.04 version used by the client’s Denmark team.
The training also covered open source virtualization, networking (iptables, firewall, nettables and interface management) and security. In addition, the Denmark team would learn how to manage performance monitoring and logging (network, kernel, system resources) and specific open source applications such as DRBD, Pacemaker, Corosync, and Bind9.
However, when Pantek arrived on site, the client’s IT team had other ideas. One of the client’s customers operated a mission-critical application that managed radio communications for a team of first responders, and it was experiencing regular performance issues. The Denmark IT team requested on-the-spot training focused on high-level debugging, including rsyslog, sosreport, and other advanced debugging options.
Based on Pantek’s mission to always be flexible in meeting client needs, the Ubuntu trainer immediately switched gears and provided a hands-on session on debugging issues. The Denmark team appreciated that the trainer was also an engineer with 25+ years of field experience. As part of the new game plan, the trainer provided an understanding of how the radio communications application interacts with the Ubuntu Linux OS.
The client’s team also learned how applications and daemons often report problems in log files when there is a problem and may also generate stdout or stderr messages. If the log files and error messages don’t reveal the problem, the trainer showed the team how they can use tools like tcpdump and wireshark, which provide a view of exactly what is going on in the network at a high level.
This high-level Linux debugging approach, using non-intrusive tools, allows the client to watch the interaction among the kernel, the application, and daemons. This is key because the kernel is the heart or engine of the operating system and communicates using system and library calls.
The training engagement enabled the Denmark team to be self-sufficient in debugging the application programming. The customer’s application has since been stabilized and is functioning consistently so that radio communications with first responders are flowing smoothly.
HIGH-LEVEL LINUX DEBUGGING CONCEPTS COVERED BY PANTEK TRAINING
- Network Management
- File Management
- Directory and File System Management
- Socket Management
- Memory Management
- Access Control
- Process Control
- Executable Programs and Shell Commands
- System Calls
- Library Calls
- Special Files
Key Technologies
- Ubuntu Linux