Welcome to CS 312 System Administration!

The content of the course, syllabus, and assignments is still subject to improvements. Course material WILL change but last year's lectures are available for now (until they are updated).

Communication is key for success, never hesitate or wait to reach out to your fellow students or to your teacher or teaching assistants. Here are the best ways:

• Ask questions during class or labs or come find the teacher at the end of class or labs.
• Use the Canvas discussion boards, it will serve everyone.
• Email the teacher or teaching assistants and put CS312 in the email subject.
• Schedule an in-person or online appointment with the teacher or teaching assistants or come during office hours.

The teacher and TAs do not typically work on the weekends or holidays.

There will be no office hours in week 1. Office hours are by appointment only (nobody showed up last year, so we won't have scheduled slots).

• Alex: by appointment only (in person or online), book time with me or send me an email
• Wadood: email for appointments (in person or online)
• Subramanya: email for appointments (in person or online)

Introduction to system administration. Network administration and routing. Security issues. Computer, server, and network hardware. DevOps.

• Computers: hardware assembly and troubleshooting, operating system installation, booting, shutting down, user management, permissions, software troubleshooting, log files, backup methodologies, maintenance requirements and methods, registries and system files, and security.
• Networks: hardware, planning, installation, WANs & LANS, the Internet, troubleshooting, and security.
• Servers: hardware, user management, resource management, permissions, command and control, domains and groups, file systems, sharing files, system virtualization, remote management.
• Projects: Planning, estimates, client interaction and expectations, service level agreements, records management.

By the end of this course, you should be able to:

• Build a functioning general-purpose computer from scratch.
• Demonstrate how to plan, install, and troubleshoot a Local Area Network, connecting it to a Wide Area Network.
• Demonstrate how to manage a server for the purposes of providing specific services to a collection of users and devices, including manipulation of user accounts, resource management, and security.
• Demonstrate how to maintain a collection of devices using remote management tools in both centralized locations and across de-centralized organizations.
• Describe how to plan major and minor tasks and time so that services are stable and effective, and meet a Service Level Agreement.
• Produce written documentation of system problems, solutions, processes, and procedures.
• Create programs and demonstrate facility in programs and tools that automate system administration tasks.
• Participate effectively in a team environment.

• Recommended textbook: UNIX and Linux System Administration Handbook, 5th ed., by E. Nemeth, et al. (ISBN: 978-0134277554)
• You can also expect additional reading material (made available via Canvas).
• Considering a career as a sysadmin, read bootcamp - sysadmin (reddit.com) and learn - sysadmin (reddit.com) (a bit outdated but still good).
• If you want to deep-dive into more DevOps/Site Reliability Engineering topics, check out DevOps Roadmap: Learn to become a DevOps Engineer or SRE.

The course material is presented in a series of in-person lectures which often include hands-on components to do while you're in lecture, and a weekly lab.

There are no extra fees associated with this course, though you are required to bring a functioning laptop (Win10, MacOS, or Linux) to each class and lab.

The TAs will be using a written key file to compare your answer with. The number of points to be awarded or taken away by these additional tests is at the discretion of the grader. Some questions allow partial credit, some do not.

Any crashes, hangs, errors, infinite loops, etc. not covered in the assignment can still cause your submission to lose points. The amount lost depends on the severity, how much it affects the rest of what you do, and how it is recovered from, if at all, all based on the discretion of the grader.

If you believe a grade returned to you is incorrect, please submit proof to the TA within 48 hours of the grade being received by you. Your proof must consist of screenshots (not a copy/paste of the text) that clearly show it working. Your screenshots must show the places where the grading has been done incorrect, if any, and this grading must be done on the submission that you have made (i.e. redownload it yourself from Canvas to make these screenshots). If you don't provide proof, or if you ask for a regrade past 48 hours of the grade being given, a regrade won't be done.

There won't be a curve applied to the grading of this course, nor is there any rounding or weighting of assignments and/or the final. The points you see in the assignments are the points available.

The grading scale is as follows, and will be adhered to strictly (I have already taken into account some pretty generous rounding), so please don't ask for "just a few more points":

• 91.5 ≤ A ≤ 100
• 89.5 ≤ A- < 91.5
• 87.5 ≤ B+ < 89.5
• 81.5 ≤ B < 87.5
• 79.5 ≤ B- < 81.5
• 77.5 ≤ C+ < 79.5
• 71.5 ≤ C < 77.5
• 69.5 ≤ C- < 71.5
• 67.5 ≤ D+ < 69.5
• 61.5 ≤ D < 67.5
• 59.5 ≤ D- < 61.5
• 0 ≤ F < 59.5

Submitting assignments on time is critical to academic success and demonstrating responsibility. Late submissions can hinder your progress in the course and cause you to miss out on valuable feedback.

See table above for the late submission per assignment type. Note that in-class activities or tests cannot be submitted late, nor can the final project.

What if I cannot make an assignment (on-time or not at all) or class?

• If there is a planned exculpatory reason as to why your assignment will be late (e.g., job interview with travel, etc.) or if you cannot attend class, you must contact the instructor via email at least 48 hours before the assignment due date.
• When contacting the instructor for an extension, provide your expected submission date.
• Otherwise, no extensions will be given. Unacceptable reasons for late extensions include being busy in other classes and data loss—make backups of your work.
• Emergencies, sickness, etc. are exempt from the 48-hour rule. Simply contact the instructor as soon as possible.

Assignments may be checked against Internet sources, academic journal articles, and the papers of other OSU students for common or borrowed content using Turnitin. Plagiarism software generates a report that highlights potentially unoriginal text in your paper. Some assignments may have specific originality threshold requirements.

You may work on some assignments (labs, homework) in groups. If you do, each of you must submit the assignment, and you must indicate on each submission who you have worked together with. If you don't indicate your group member names, your submission(s) may be flagged for plagiarism.

Keep your work! Not only does plagiarism go against the school’s code of conduct, submitting the work of anyone else or work generated by machine (LLMs such as ChatGPT) as your own (ghostwriting) is also unacceptable. If the work you submit at any point is incongruous with other work you have submitted, you may be asked for your source documents. Failure to provide source documentation or evidence of your independent and original draft work will result in an award of “0” points on the assignment.

It's fine to ask LLMs questions, the same way you'd use a search engine. I do it all the time! And most of the time, the answers are average at best. Given that you're considering whatever it told you with a big grain of salt, you'll then need to do some research to find peer reviewed and reliable evidence that might corroborate (or disprove) what the LLM told you. Review, compare, and investigate. Repeat this cycle, keeping in mind that what you're getting from LLM is crowdsourced information, not the reliable product of research and assessment.

You can expect me:

• To start and end class on time.
• To create assignments that adequately covers the material and meets the learning objectives of the course while adhering to the time expectations.
• To give exams that accurately reflect the material covered in class and in assignments.

I can expect you:

• To know and abide by the rules in this syllabus.
• To attend class.
• To be attentive and engaged in class.
• To spend an adequate amount of time on assignments (readings, labs, ...) each week.
• To engage with both the abstract and computational sides of the material.
• To be curious.
• To seek help when appropriate, early and often.

According to OSU Catalog, one credit is generally given for three hours per week of work in and out of class. Each hour of class lecture is therefore expected to require two hours of work outside of class. Since CS 362 is a 4-credit course, students should expect to spend on average, about 12 hours per week inclusive of in-class and out-of-class activities. It may take more than twelve hours per week to excel in this course.

###Attendance Policy Regular and punctual attendance is expected and is the student’s responsibility. A good engineer upholds professional conduct by being prompt. If this is not your habit, acquire it. It will help you in this class and in your career.

###Sick Policy Students should not attend class or any public gatherings while ill with COVID-19, influenza, or any other contagion. Students with symptoms will be asked to leave the classroom or instructor’s office and return home for recovery. If you have COVID-19, influenza, or another virus or contagion, the illness and self-isolation period may be two weeks or longer. Most students should be able to complete a successful term despite such an absence. Students who are absent because of illness will be provided with a reasonable opportunity to make up missed work. Ordinarily, it is inappropriate to substitute for the missed assignment the weighting of a term's work that does not include the missed assignment or exam. Completion of all assignments and exams assures the greatest chance for students to develop heightened understanding and content mastery that is unavailable through the weighting process. The opportunity to complete all assignments and exams is intended to enable students to make responsible situational decisions, including the decision to avoid spreading a contagion to other students, staff, and faculty, without in any way endangering their academic opportunities and work. Students with a contagion do not need to provide a physician's certification of illness. Ill students should inform the teaching staff via email or through Canvas (but not through personal contact) as soon as possible that they will be absent because of an illness. The teaching staff will work with them to arrange to make up missed assignments or exams. The above considerations also apply if students are caring for someone that is ill. The Office of the Dean of Students can assist students if they are navigating a range of extenuating life circumstances including but not limited to prolonged illness, hospitalization, and financial concerns. They can be reached Monday through Friday from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM by calling 541-737-8748 or emailing [email protected].

In the event of a major campus emergency, course requirements, deadlines, and grading percentages are subject to change as may be necessitated by a revised term calendar or other circumstances. Email and Canvas will be used to provide information about changes in this course. Please review posted guides on emergency responses and emergency alert communication, and sign up for emergency alerts, at http://emergency.oregonstate.edu/.

The Student Conduct Code establishes community standards and procedures necessary to maintain and protect an environment conducive to learning, in keeping with the educational objectives of Oregon State University. This code is based on the assumption that all persons must treat one another with dignity and respect in order for scholarship to thrive. Students are expected to abide by OSU’s Code of Student Conduct, which they are encouraged to read at https://beav.es/codeofconduct.

Professionalism in this course is as important as in the workplace and included such traits as preparation, productivity, and promptness. Cell phones, email, texting, and all other potential distractions will not be tolerated during regularly scheduled class meetings or during office hours.

All students are subject to the registration and refund deadlines as stated in the Academic Calendar: https://registrar.oregonstate.edu/osu-academic-calendar.

Accommodations for students with disabilities are determined and approved by Disability Access Services (DAS). If you, as a student, believe you are eligible for accommodations but have not obtained approval please contact DAS immediately at 541-737-4098 or at http://ds.oregonstate.edu. DAS notifies students and faculty members of approved academic accommodations and coordinates implementation of those accommodations. While not required, students and faculty members are encouraged to discuss details of the implementation of individual accommodations."

OSU has twelve established student rights. They include due process in all university disciplinary processes, an equal opportunity to learn, and grading in accordance with the course syllabus: https://asosu.oregonstate.edu/advocacy/rights.

University students encounter setbacks from time to time. If you encounter difficulties and need assistance, it’s important to reach out. Consider discussing the situation with an instructor or academic advisor. Learn about resources that assist with wellness and academic success at oregonstate.edu/ReachOut. If you are in immediate crisis, please contact the Crisis Text Line by texting OREGON to 741-741 or call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255)

During Fall, Winter, and Spring term the online Student Learning Experience surveys open to students the Wednesday of week 9 and close the Sunday before Finals Week. Students will receive notification, instructions and the link through their ONID email. They may also log into the system via MyOregonState or directly at beaves.es/Student-Learning-Survey. Survey results are extremely important and are used to help improve courses and the learning experience of future students. Responses are anonymous (unless a student chooses to “sign” their comments, agreeing to relinquish anonymity of written comments) and are not available to instructors until after grades have been posted. The results of scaled questions and signed comments go to both the instructor and their unit head/supervisor. Anonymous (unsigned) comments go to the instructor only.