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Project — Production Linux Operations Platform

Capstone for Linux for Cloud & DevOps Engineers — integrate administration, security, and reliability into one coherent platform (scripts + docs + schedule), not a SaaS product.

Project Overview

Goal: Build a Production Linux Operations Platform you can demonstrate end-to-end on one or two Ubuntu VMs: identity hygiene, observability basics, hardening, backup drills, dashboards, alerts, and reporting on a schedule.

Deliverable for your portfolio:

  • Repository with modules mapped to the feature list below
  • Installable toolkit (install.sh / Ansible optional)
  • Runbook (docs/RUNBOOK.md) and architecture note
  • Demo recording or screenshots of dashboard + alert + restore
  • Threat model and limitations section

Estimated cost: £0–£10 if using two small cloud VMs for a week.

Required features

Feature Minimum bar
User management Scripted create/disable user + group + SSH key install; audit list
Monitoring Periodic CPU/mem/disk/load collection to var/metrics/
Logging Journal export or file logs for platform actions; retention note
Security hardening SSH + UFW baseline as code (idempotent, dry-run default)
Backup automation Scheduled tar/rsync of a data dir + checksum; restore drill doc
System health dashboard Latest HTML/text dashboard from metrics
Performance monitoring Capture vmstat/iostat samples into history
Alerting Non-zero exit + local alert file / webhook stub on threshold breach
Reporting Weekly summary report (failures, disk trend, backup status)
Scheduling cron and/or systemd timers for collect, backup, report

Stack

Piece Choice
OS Ubuntu 22.04/24.04
Language Bash + optional Python
Web (optional) Static HTML only — no public internet required
Config /etc/rebash-platform/ or ./config for lab mode
State ./var or /var/lib/rebash-platform

Prerequisites

  • Complete the Linux track through production modules
  • Projects: Sysinfo → Health Dashboard → Ops Toolkit
  • Labs: firewall, ops toolkit, performance, services/logs, storage, users

Milestones

Milestone 1 — Platform skeleton

Directories, config schema, logging helper, version, dry-run global flag.

Milestone 2 — Identity + hardening

User module + SSH/UFW hardening module with rollback notes.

Milestone 3 — Observe

Metrics collectors, dashboard, performance history, failed-unit watch.

Milestone 4 — Protect data

Backup job, checksum, restore drill script, retention.

Milestone 5 — Alert + report + schedule

Alert stub, weekly report, timers/cron, full demo script scripts/demo.sh.

Milestone 6 — Hardening review

Document blast radius, secrets handling (no passwords in git), and cleanup.

Success criteria

  • Fresh Ubuntu VM: install → demo → show dashboard, one alert, one backup restore
  • Dry-run never changes SSH/UFW until --apply
  • RUNBOOK covers install, operate, incident, uninstall
  • You can explain each feature in an interview in under two minutes

Stretch

  • Ansible playbook wrapping the same modules
  • Multi-host inventory file
  • Integration with cloud-init for first boot