CompTIA · certification · Guided course

CompTIA Linux+

Linux administration, security, scripting, containers, and troubleshooting.

XK0-006foundationOfficial provider page ↗

Course overview and topics →

Daily study planConsideringInclude new Linux+ sections and checks in your daily goal.

Your course path

Start with the suggested objective

Open a section when you are ready to begin.

Course pace and remaining work

ApproachBuild in orderLearning; no professional IT experience yet

Core work left2549mRemaining short lesson blocks and checks · outside courses vary in length

Target paceNo deadlineSet a target below to calculate required weekly time

System ManagementNot started

1.1 · Explain basic Linux concepts.

3 short lesson blocks · next block about 11m

Block 1 · Kernel · Initial RAM filesystem · Bootloader · Filesystem Hierarchy Standard

○Study lessonRequired ITForMe lesson ○Block check

Block 2 · Trace the boot path instead of guessing

○Study lessonRequired provider lesson ○Block check

Block 3 · Distinguish UEFI firmware, Kernel command line, systemd target

○Study lessonRequired provider lesson ○Block check

○Checkpoint · 70%+ ○Spaced review 0/3

Suggested byNov 3Start section →

Full course map28 other objectivesOpen when you want to review progress or look ahead

System ManagementNot started

1.2 · Summarize Linux device management concepts and tools.

3 short lesson blocks · next block about 8m

Block 1 · modprobe · lsmod · lspci · dmesg

○Study lessonRequired ITForMe lesson ○Block check

Block 2 · Correlate hardware inventory, drivers, and kernel evidence

○Study lessonRequired ITForMe lesson ○Block check

Block 3 · Distinguish lsusb, modinfo, udev

○Study lessonRequired provider lesson ○Block check

○Checkpoint · 70%+ ○Spaced review 0/3

Suggested byNov 6Start section →

System ManagementNot started

1.3 · Given a scenario, manage storage in a Linux system.

6 short lesson blocks · next block about 8m

Block 1 · Logical Volume Manager · /etc/fstab

○Study lessonRequired ITForMe lesson ○Block check

Block 2 · Understand RAID

○Study lessonRequired provider lesson ○Block check

Block 3 · Understand fsck

○Study lessonRequired provider lesson ○Block check

Block 4 · Grow storage in the correct layer order

○Study lessonRequired ITForMe lesson ○Block check

Block 5 · Distinguish LVM physical volume, LVM logical volume

○Study lessonRequired ITForMe lesson ○Block check

Block 6 · Find where added disk capacity stops

○Study lessonRequired ITForMe lesson ○Block check

○Checkpoint · 70%+ ○Spaced review 0/3

Suggested byNov 11Start section →

System ManagementNot started

1.4 · Given a scenario, manage network services and configurations on a Linux server.

3 short lesson blocks · next block about 11m

Block 1 · ip · nmcli · dig · ss

○Study lessonRequired ITForMe lesson ○Block check

Block 2 · Separate live network state from persistent configuration

○Study lessonRequired ITForMe lesson ○Block check

Block 3 · Distinguish ip route get, Resolver configuration, NetworkManager connection profile

○Study lessonRequired provider lesson ○Block check

○Checkpoint · 70%+ ○Spaced review 0/3

Suggested byNov 14Start section →

System ManagementNot started

1.5 · Given a scenario, manage a Linux system using common shell operations.

3 short lesson blocks · next block about 11m

Block 1 · Pipe · Shell redirection · sed · grep

○Study lessonRequired ITForMe lesson ○Block check

Block 2 · Build shell pipelines that preserve evidence

○Study lessonRequired ITForMe lesson ○Block check

Block 3 · Distinguish Standard error, Command substitution, xargs

○Study lessonRequired provider lesson ○Block check

○Checkpoint · 70%+ ○Spaced review 0/3

Suggested byNov 17Start section →

System ManagementNot started

1.6 · Given a scenario, perform backup and restore operations for a Linux server.

3 short lesson blocks · next block about 11m

Block 1 · tar · gzip · rsync · dd

○Study lessonRequired ITForMe lesson ○Block check

Block 2 · Treat restore verification as part of backup

○Study lessonRequired ITForMe lesson ○Block check

Block 3 · Distinguish Backup retention, Incremental backup

○Study lessonRequired ITForMe lesson ○Block check

○Checkpoint · 70%+ ○Spaced review 0/3

Suggested byNov 20Start section →

System ManagementNot started

1.7 · Summarize virtualization on Linux systems.

4 short lesson blocks · next block about 8m

Block 1 · Hypervisor · QCOW2 · virsh

○Study lessonRequired ITForMe lesson ○Block check

Block 2 · Understand cloud-init

○Study lessonRequired provider lesson ○Block check

Block 3 · Reason about virtual machine state and dependencies

○Study lessonRequired ITForMe lesson ○Block check

Block 4 · Distinguish Virtual CPU overcommit, Thin provisioning, Virtual machine guest agent

○Study lessonRequired ITForMe lesson ○Block check

○Checkpoint · 70%+ ○Spaced review 0/3

Suggested byNov 24Start section →

Services and User ManagementNot started

2.1 · Given a scenario, manage files and directories on a Linux system.

3 short lesson blocks · next block about 11m

Block 1 · Hard link · Symbolic link · find · stat

○Study lessonRequired ITForMe lesson ○Block check

Block 2 · Use inode evidence for files and links

○Study lessonRequired provider lesson ○Block check

Block 3 · Distinguish Inode number, Inode link count, Null-delimited find output

○Study lessonRequired provider lesson ○Block check

○Checkpoint · 70%+ ○Spaced review 0/3

Suggested byNov 27Start section →

Services and User ManagementNot started

2.2 · Given a scenario, perform local account management in a Linux environment.

3 short lesson blocks · next block about 11m

Block 1 · useradd · usermod · chage · getent

○Study lessonRequired ITForMe lesson ○Block check

Block 2 · Change accounts without losing group intent

○Study lessonRequired ITForMe lesson ○Block check

Block 3 · Distinguish Supplementary groups, Account expiration, nologin shell

○Study lessonRequired provider lesson ○Block check

○Checkpoint · 70%+ ○Spaced review 0/3

Suggested byNov 30Start section →

Services and User ManagementNot started

2.3 · Given a scenario, manage processes and jobs in a Linux environment.

3 short lesson blocks · next block about 8m

Block 1 · ps · top · nice · cron

○Study lessonRequired ITForMe lesson ○Block check

Block 2 · Control processes with the least disruptive signal

○Study lessonRequired ITForMe lesson ○Block check

Block 3 · Distinguish Process signal, systemd timer, Process scheduling priority

○Study lessonRequired ITForMe lesson ○Block check

○Checkpoint · 70%+ ○Spaced review 0/3

Suggested byDec 2Start section →

Services and User ManagementNot started

2.4 · Given a scenario, configure and manage software in a Linux environment.

4 short lesson blocks · next block about 11m

Block 1 · APT · DNF · rpm · Package signature

○Study lessonRequired ITForMe lesson ○Block check

Block 2 · Preserve package origin and dependency evidence

○Study lessonRequired ITForMe lesson ○Block check

Block 3 · Distinguish Package repository, Package transaction

○Study lessonRequired provider lesson ○Block check

Block 4 · Verify that patched code is running

○Study lessonRequired ITForMe lesson ○Block check

○Checkpoint · 70%+ ○Spaced review 0/3

Suggested byDec 6Start section →

Services and User ManagementNot started

2.5 · Given a scenario, manage Linux using systemd.

3 short lesson blocks · next block about 11m

Block 1 · systemctl enable · systemctl start · systemctl status · journalctl

○Study lessonRequired ITForMe lesson ○Block check

Block 2 · Read systemd unit state before changing it

○Study lessonRequired ITForMe lesson ○Block check

Block 3 · Separate unit definitions from running services

○Study lessonRequired ITForMe lesson ○Block check

○Checkpoint · 70%+ ○Spaced review 0/3

Suggested byDec 9Start section →

Services and User ManagementNot started

2.6 · Given a scenario, manage applications in a container on a Linux server.

3 short lesson blocks · next block about 11m

Block 1 · Container image · Container · Container volume · Container network

○Study lessonRequired ITForMe lesson ○Block check

Block 2 · Separate container image, instance, volume, and network state

○Study lessonRequired ITForMe lesson ○Block check

Block 3 · Distinguish Container namespace, Container control group, Container registry

○Study lessonRequired ITForMe lesson ○Block check

○Checkpoint · 70%+ ○Spaced review 0/3

Suggested byDec 12Start section →

SecurityNot started

3.1 · Summarize authorization, authentication, and accounting methods.

3 short lesson blocks · next block about 11m

Block 1 · PAM · LDAP · Kerberos · auditd

○Study lessonRequired ITForMe lesson ○Block check

Block 2 · Trace identity lookup, authentication, and audit separately

○Study lessonRequired ITForMe lesson ○Block check

Block 3 · Distinguish Name Service Switch, Kerberos service ticket, PAM account phase

○Study lessonRequired ITForMe lesson ○Block check

○Checkpoint · 70%+ ○Spaced review 0/3

Suggested byDec 15Start section →

SecurityNot started

3.2 · Given a scenario, configure and implement firewalls on a Linux system.

3 short lesson blocks · next block about 8m

Block 1 · nftables · iptables · UFW · firewalld

○Study lessonRequired ITForMe lesson ○Block check

Block 2 · Prove the packet path and firewall state

○Study lessonRequired ITForMe lesson ○Block check

Block 3 · Distinguish Stateful firewall, nftables chain hook, Firewall default policy

○Study lessonRequired ITForMe lesson ○Block check

○Checkpoint · 70%+ ○Spaced review 0/3

Suggested byDec 18Start section →

SecurityNot started

3.3 · Given a scenario, apply operating system (OS) hardening techniques on a Linux system.

6 short lesson blocks · next block about 11m

Block 1 · SSH hardening · SELinux

○Study lessonRequired ITForMe lesson ○Block check

Block 2 · Understand sudo

○Study lessonRequired provider lesson ○Block check

Block 3 · Understand noexec mount option

○Study lessonRequired provider lesson ○Block check

Block 4 · Harden without disabling evidence-producing controls

○Study lessonRequired ITForMe lesson ○Block check

Block 5 · Distinguish SELinux security context

○Study lessonRequired provider lesson ○Block check

Block 6 · Authorize a nonstandard HTTP port in SELinux

○Study lessonRequired ITForMe lesson ○Block check

○Checkpoint · 70%+ ○Spaced review 0/3

Suggested byDec 23Start section →

SecurityNot started

3.4 · Explain account hardening techniques and best practices.

3 short lesson blocks · next block about 11m

Block 1 · Password aging · Multifactor authentication · Account lock · Restricted shell

○Study lessonRequired ITForMe lesson ○Block check

Block 2 · Match account controls to the actual access risk

○Study lessonRequired ITForMe lesson ○Block check

Block 3 · Distinguish Password lock, Failed-login threshold, Privileged access review

○Study lessonRequired ITForMe lesson ○Block check

○Checkpoint · 70%+ ○Spaced review 0/3

Suggested byDec 26Start section →

SecurityNot started

3.5 · Explain cryptographic concepts and technologies in a Linux environment.

4 short lesson blocks · next block about 11m

Block 1 · GPG · TLS · Cryptographic hash · LUKS

○Study lessonRequired ITForMe lesson ○Block check

Block 2 · Choose cryptography by data state and trust goal

○Study lessonRequired ITForMe lesson ○Block check

Block 3 · Distinguish Certificate chain, SSH host key

○Study lessonRequired ITForMe lesson ○Block check

Block 4 · Verify an unexpected SSH host key

○Study lessonRequired ITForMe lesson ○Block check

○Checkpoint · 70%+ ○Spaced review 0/3

Suggested byDec 29Start section →

SecurityNot started

3.6 · Explain the importance of compliance and audit procedures.

4 short lesson blocks · next block about 11m

Block 1 · AIDE · OpenSCAP · Lynis

○Study lessonRequired provider lesson ○Block check

Block 2 · Understand Linux audit rule

○Study lessonRequired provider lesson ○Block check

Block 3 · Turn compliance requirements into testable audit evidence

○Study lessonRequired ITForMe lesson ○Block check

Block 4 · Distinguish Audit file watch, Audit syscall rule, File integrity baseline

○Study lessonRequired provider lesson ○Block check

○Checkpoint · 70%+ ○Spaced review 0/3

Suggested byJan 2Start section →

Automation, Orchestration, and ScriptingNot started

4.1 · Summarize the use cases and techniques of automation and orchestration in a Linux environment.

4 short lesson blocks · next block about 11m

Block 1 · Ansible · Puppet · Kubernetes

○Study lessonRequired ITForMe lesson ○Block check

Block 2 · Understand CI/CD pipeline

○Study lessonRequired ITForMe lesson ○Block check

Block 3 · Automate desired state with guards and verification

○Study lessonRequired ITForMe lesson ○Block check

Block 4 · Distinguish Desired-state configuration, Ansible inventory, Automation secret store

○Study lessonRequired ITForMe lesson ○Block check

○Checkpoint · 70%+ ○Spaced review 0/3

Suggested byJan 6Start section →

Automation, Orchestration, and ScriptingNot started

4.2 · Given a scenario, perform automated tasks using shell scripting.

3 short lesson blocks · next block about 14m

Block 1 · Shell variable · Shell conditional · Shell function · Exit status

○Study lessonRequired provider lesson ○Block check

Block 2 · Write shell scripts that fail predictably

○Study lessonRequired ITForMe lesson ○Block check

Block 3 · Distinguish Shell errexit behavior, Shell quoting, Shell trap handler

○Study lessonRequired provider lesson ○Block check

○Checkpoint · 70%+ ○Spaced review 0/3

Suggested byJan 9Start section →

Automation, Orchestration, and ScriptingNot started

4.3 · Summarize Python basics used for Linux system administration.

3 short lesson blocks · next block about 14m

Block 1 · Python virtual environment · pip · Python list · Python dictionary

○Study lessonRequired ITForMe lesson ○Block check

Block 2 · Make Python administration scripts validate before mutation

○Study lessonRequired ITForMe lesson ○Block check

Block 3 · Distinguish Python argument parser, Python exception handling, Python context manager

○Study lessonRequired provider lesson ○Block check

○Checkpoint · 70%+ ○Spaced review 0/3

Suggested byJan 12Start section →

Automation, Orchestration, and ScriptingNot started

4.4 · Given a scenario, implement version control using Git.

3 short lesson blocks · next block about 14m

Block 1 · git clone · Git branch · git merge · Git tag

○Study lessonRequired ITForMe lesson ○Block check

Block 2 · Use version control as reviewable change evidence

○Study lessonRequired ITForMe lesson ○Block check

Block 3 · Distinguish git status, git diff, Merge conflict

○Study lessonRequired provider lesson ○Block check

○Checkpoint · 70%+ ○Spaced review 0/3

Suggested byJan 15Start section →

Automation, Orchestration, and ScriptingNot started

4.5 · Summarize best practices and responsible uses of artificial intelligence (AI).

3 short lesson blocks · next block about 11m

Block 1 · Generated-code review · AI secret handling · AI data privacy · Prompt constraints

○Study lessonRequired ITForMe lesson ○Block check

Block 2 · Treat generated administration code as untrusted input

○Study lessonRequired ITForMe lesson ○Block check

Block 3 · Distinguish AI output validation, AI data minimization, AI-assisted change review

○Study lessonRequired ITForMe lesson ○Block check

○Checkpoint · 70%+ ○Spaced review 0/3

Suggested byJan 18Start section →

TroubleshootingNot started

5.1 · Summarize monitoring concepts and configurations in a Linux system.

4 short lesson blocks · next block about 12m

Block 1 · top · free · iostat · journalctl

○Study lessonRequired ITForMe lesson ○Block check

Block 2 · Compare resource evidence with a baseline

○Study lessonRequired provider lesson ○Block check

Block 3 · Choose how monitoring data is collected and alerted on

○Study lessonRequired ITForMe lesson ○Block check

Block 4 · Distinguish vmstat, sar, Journal boot filter

○Study lessonRequired ITForMe lesson ○Block check

○Checkpoint · 70%+ ○Spaced review 0/3

Suggested byJan 22Start section →

TroubleshootingNot started

5.2 · Given a scenario, analyze and troubleshoot hardware, storage, and Linux OS issues.

7 short lesson blocks · next block about 10m

Block 1 · Understand Filesystem check

○Study lessonRequired provider lesson ○Block check

Block 2 · Understand SMART data

○Study lessonRequired provider lesson ○Block check

Block 3 · Understand Out-of-memory killer

○Study lessonRequired provider lesson ○Block check

Block 4 · Understand Initramfs rebuild

○Study lessonRequired provider lesson ○Block check

Block 5 · Preserve evidence across hardware, storage, and boot recovery

○Study lessonRequired ITForMe lesson ○Block check

Block 6 · Distinguish Emergency target

○Study lessonRequired provider lesson ○Block check

Block 7 · Locate a failure below the guest disk

○Study lessonRequired ITForMe lesson ○Block check

○Checkpoint · 70%+ ○Spaced review 0/3

Suggested byJan 28Start section →

TroubleshootingNot started

5.3 · Given a scenario, analyze and troubleshoot networking issues on a Linux system.

3 short lesson blocks · next block about 11m

Block 1 · DNS resolution failure · Routing failure · Firewall rule failure · Service port failure

○Study lessonRequired ITForMe lesson ○Block check

Block 2 · Troubleshoot Linux networking one layer at a time

○Study lessonRequired provider lesson ○Block check

Block 3 · Distinguish IP neighbor table, Socket bind address, DNS server selection

○Study lessonRequired ITForMe lesson ○Block check

○Checkpoint · 70%+ ○Spaced review 0/3

Suggested byJan 31Start section →

TroubleshootingNot started

5.4 · Given a scenario, analyze and troubleshoot security issues on a Linux system.

4 short lesson blocks · next block about 11m

Block 1 · SELinux denial · Unix permission failure · Unpatched vulnerability

○Study lessonRequired ITForMe lesson ○Block check

Block 2 · Understand Expired account

○Study lessonRequired provider lesson ○Block check

Block 3 · Attribute security failures to the enforcing layer

○Study lessonRequired ITForMe lesson ○Block check

Block 4 · Explain access denied by SELinux

○Study lessonRequired ITForMe lesson ○Block check

○Checkpoint · 70%+ ○Spaced review 0/3

Suggested byFeb 3Start section →

TroubleshootingNot started

5.5 · Given a scenario, analyze and troubleshoot performance issues.

5 short lesson blocks · next block about 11m

Block 1 · Load average · I/O wait · Swap pressure

○Study lessonRequired ITForMe lesson ○Block check

Block 2 · Understand Thermal throttling

○Study lessonRequired provider lesson ○Block check

Block 3 · Test performance theories with correlated metrics

○Study lessonRequired provider lesson ○Block check

Block 4 · Distinguish Storage await time, Available memory estimate

○Study lessonRequired provider lesson ○Block check

Block 5 · Distinguish application and system memory failures

○Study lessonRequired ITForMe lesson ○Block check

○Checkpoint · 70%+ ○Spaced review 0/3

Suggested byFeb 8Start section →

★

Course progression checks

Complete these quizzes and labs to finish the guided course. The readiness checklist below has additional requirements. Course completion does not predict your exam result.

○Pass both current-profile 90-question final forms at 85%+ within 180 days○Pass 5 distinct current in-browser scenarios whose mapped content spans 5 exam domains at 70%+ within 180 days

Open practice →

Optional learning resources1 choiceOpen for another teacher, format, or question review

Optional

Another explanation or review

The current theory course complements ITForMe's objective briefs and in-browser checks. No disposable environment is required. These resources do not change course progress or readiness.

Paul BrowningExam-Aligned Theory Course · Free

CompTIA Linux+ XK0-006 complete guide

The full video is free; ITForMe must assign chapter or timestamp slices rather than the entire recording.

Chaptered video course · Free on YouTube

Open video on YouTube ↗

Checked 2026-08-18 · review due 2027-02-14