Hands-on Linux: Self-Hosted WordPress for Linux Beginners

A practical, project-based crash course that prepares you for real-life Linux and Cloud work

What you'll learn
Learn basic Linux system administration by setting up a WordPress hosting platform
Configure a production-grade WordPress install on Linux
Configure your hosting platform on Amazon Web Services (AWS)
Set up TLS (for free!) with letsencrypt so your users can enjoy the security of HTTPS
Tune webserver performance and set up caching for lightning-fast page loads
Set up and configure the popular MySQL database
Be comfortable working with an nginx web server
Configure monitoring for your web hosting server
Create and manage Linux system users
Manage Linux file permissions
Understand the basics of how HTTP, the Web protocol, works
Understand basic and more advanced Bash shell concepts and skills
Schedule commands to run periodically on Linux with Cron
Manage remote servers using SSH
Automate repetitive tasks with Ansible, a powerful automation and configuration management tool
Create and Restore website backups, both on the filesystem and in the MySQL database
Effectively perform security hardening on Linux servers and services

Requirements
Know what Linux is
Know what servers and web hosting are
Know what an IP address and a domain name are
Have a working Internet connection and a Windows, Macintosh, or Linux computer to follow along on
If you already have a webserver somewhere, great! If not, I'll show you how to set one up for around $5/month.

Description
Learn Linux and System Administration basics in a practical, project-based course designed to get you *using* new skills as soon as you learn them.

By the time you finish, you'll be extremely comfortable on the Linux command-line, and you'll have a self-hosted production-grade WordPress hosting platform that you can use to host any number of WordPress sites for friends, family, and clients. It also happens to cost less and be more secure than most WordPress hosting plans :-).

Other courses focus on slow memorization of theory and commands, which doesn't produce real-life skills. This course throws you into real-life Linux tasks from the very beginning. Even if you've never worked with Linux before, give me a few hours and you'll be installing and configuring software from the command line, managing system services, working with a remote server, hardening security, scheduling backups and testing your disaster recovery plan, performing basic scripting and automation, and setting up monitoring for your infrastructure.

While you're doing this, you'll get a slow drip of theory, giving you just enough background to hang your new practical knowledge on and ensuring that you know what's going on underneath the covers. I've worked in the industry for a long time and this is the only way I've seen theory really 'stick' with people.

Over the course of a few afternoons, you'll have completed a serious (and actually useful) project, understand the basics of Linux and system administration, and be comfortable on the Linux terminal; ready to take on larger and more complicated projects or build on the foundation of your WordPress hosting platform.

What we build together during this course is also a great resume project to bring up during interviews. Countless students who have taken this course are now Linux, DevOps, and Software engineers in the real world.

Who this course is for:
People with little to no knowledge of Linux - l'll teach you the basics of Linux, DevOps, and Cloud Infrastructure.
People who learn technical material best when it's presented in a practical, project-based way.
Aspiring Linux, Cloud Infrastructure, or DevOps Engineers
People who want to understand how a professional-grade WordPress hosting platform works, NOT people who just want to get a simple WordPress site set up for blogging.