Check your Linux foundations

New to Ansible? You need a little Linux first. Use these five checks to find what to practise before your first real lab.

Five useful skills

Skill	Try it	What you should understand
SSH	`ssh devops@servera.lab.example.com hostname`	The command runs on the remote host.
Permissions	`ls -l /etc/passwd`	Who owns the file and who can read it.
Privilege escalation	`sudo id`	A permitted user can run a command as root.
Services	`systemctl is-active sshd`	A running service and an enabled service are different states.
Networking	`ip -br address` and `getent hosts servera.lab.example.com`	An address belongs to an interface; a name resolves to an address.

Run these only after building the lab. Until then, answer the questions below. You can begin the browser activities immediately and return to the VM setup before a hands-on exercise.

A service is enabled but inactive. What does that tell you?
What does chmod 0600 secrets.yml allow?
SSH by address works but SSH by hostname fails. Where do you look first?
Ansible connects as devops and a task needs root. Which concept do you need?

Choose your next step

If these ideas are familiar, continue with inventory. If they are new, try each check in the practice lab, explain its output, and repeat without notes. You do not need to memorise every command before learning Ansible.