root@routes:~#

Root Routes ▊

Your guided path from whoami to sysadmin.

Eight hands-on phases of Linux system administration. Check off tasks, clear the exit gates, jot reflections — everything saves right in your browser. Break things safely and level up.

Overall progress0%
0/40 tasks · boot sector empty — let's fix that
⌕

The Study Loop

Run this loop on every single phase. It's the difference between reading about Linux and knowing it.

1
Read
Skim the handbook chapter. Grab the vocabulary.
→
2
Try
Type every command yourself. No copy-paste.
→
3
Break
Poke it. Pass bad input. Remove a file.
→
4
Fix
Diagnose with logs & docs. Understand the why.
→
5
Reflect
Write a note. Teaching yourself locks it in.

Set Up Your Lab

Ubuntu Server 24.04 LTS

Spin it up in a VM (VirtualBox, UTM, or a cheap cloud droplet). LTS means 5 years of support and rock-solid docs. Take a snapshot before every experiment so you can break things fearlessly and roll back in seconds.

  • 🖥️ 1 vCPU, 1GB RAM, 10GB disk is plenty to start
  • 📸 Snapshot after install — that's your clean baseline
  • 🔑 Set up SSH so you practice the way pros work
lab-setup.sh
# after first boot
sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y
sudo apt install -y htop tree ufw fail2ban
# then: snapshot this VM as 'clean-base'
whoami   # you, the future sysadmin

Troubleshooting Compass

Lost? Point yourself in one of four directions. Nine times out of ten the answer is here.

🧭
N
Logs
journalctl -xe
What is the system actually complaining about?
E
Services
systemctl status <svc>
Is it even running? When did it last fail?
S
Permissions
ls -l • id
Who owns it, and are you allowed to touch it?
W
Network
ss -tulpn • ping
Is the port open? Can you reach the host?

Mentor's Office Hours

The questions everyone's too shy to ask.