RHD236 Red Hat Kernel Internals

Overview:

RHD236 Red Hat Linux Kernel Internals is an intensive hands-on course designed to provide a detailed examination of the Linux kernel architecture, including process scheduling, memory management, filesystems, and driving peripheral devices. RHD236 is taught in a classroom with computers equipped with the current Linux distribution. This 5-day course provides hands-on training, concepts, and demonstrations, with emphasis on realistic labs and programming exercises.

Description:

Goal:
Upon completing the class, students should feel comfortable modifying the Linux kernel to fit the needs of their hardware or applications, and developing device drivers. They will also have the tools necessary to port existing applications and device drivers to Linux, primarily from Unix-like systems.

Audience:
This class is intended for experienced developers who want to gain a thorough understanding of the Linux architecture, including the newest kernels.

Students will get a detailed examination of the Linux kernel architecture, including process scheduling, memory management, filesystems, and driving peripheral devices. Upon completing the class, students will feel comfortable modifying the Linux kernel to fit the needs of their hardware or applications, and developing device drivers. They will also have the tools necessary to port existing applications and device drivers to Linux, primarily from Unix-like systems.

Prerequisites:
Completion of RHD221 (Linux Device Drivers) or equivalent experience, including:

Familiarity with basic tools such as vi, emacs, and file utilties.
Knowledge of systems programming in a Unix or Linux environment is a requirement; register-level hardware programming knowledge is recommended.
Understanding of basic Operating System concepts.
Some previous experience running Linux, compiling and installing kernels, etc.
Experience writing device drivers and kernel modules is not essential, but very helpful. 

What you will learn:

• Kernel Architecture
• Kernel Layout and Configuration
• Kernel Style and General Considerations
• Modules
• Synchronization Methods
• Kernel Initialization
• Timing Measurements
• Dynamic Kernel Timers
• Wait Queues
• Work Queues
• Tasklets
• Debugging Techniques
• The /proc Filesystem
• The seq_file Interface
• Processes
• Process Limits and Capabilities
• Process Scheduling
• Interrupts and Exceptions
• System Calls
• Signals
• Device Drivers
• User Kernel Space
• Character Drivers
• Memory Addressing
• Memory Management
• Process Address Space
• Disk Caches
• Swapping
• Memory Mapping
• Multiplexed and Asynchronous I/O
• Networking internals
• In Kernel Web Server Acceleration

Important Note:

For system administrators interested in learning how to monitor and optimize system performance and who are interested in obtaining Red Hat Certified Architect status we offer RH442 Red Hat Enterprise Systems Monitoring and Performance Tuning. This course involves high level discussions of the Linux kernel and kernel mechanisms with a focus on understanding how those mechanisms can affect system performance and understanding what can be done to alter system behavior from the command line level. Extensive programming knowledge is not required, but course attendees should have RHCE-level systems administration experience.