Reliability & Operations 90 days 2-3 hours/day updated 2026-06-01

SysOps 90-Day Learning Path

Master SysOps in 90 days — system administration, configuration management, patching, performance tuning, and automation. Keep servers healthy, secure, and scalable.

What SysOps means

Systems Operations (SysOps) is the practice of administering, configuring, and maintaining server infrastructure. SysOps engineers handle OS provisioning, patching, performance tuning, user management, and service reliability. Modern SysOps leverages configuration management, immutable infrastructure, and cloud-native tooling to manage systems declaratively at scale.

Who should follow this path

System administrators modernizing their skillset
Junior Linux engineers building ops foundations
DevOps engineers handling OS-level operations
Cloud engineers managing compute fleets

Prerequisites

Basic Linux command-line proficiency
Understanding of networking fundamentals
Familiarity with at least one scripting language
Exposure to virtualization concepts

The 90-day plan

Daily study recommendation: 2-3 hours/day, six days a week. Consistency beats intensity — block the time in your calendar like a meeting.

Days 1–15: Foundation

Linux system architecture (kernel, filesystems, processes)
User and group management
Package management (apt, yum, dnf)
File permissions and ACLs
Systemd service management

Outcome: Administer a Linux server confidently including users, packages, and services.

Days 16–30: Core concepts

Shell scripting for automation (Bash)
Cron and systemd timer scheduling
Log management and rotation with logrotate
SSH hardening and key management
Network configuration and troubleshooting

Outcome: Automate repetitive sysadmin tasks with Bash scripts and scheduled jobs.

Days 31–45: Tools and workflows

Configuration management with Ansible
Puppet and Chef overview
Idempotent configuration principles
Inventory management and host groups
Ansible roles and playbook organization

Outcome: Manage a fleet of servers declaratively with Ansible playbooks and roles.

Days 46–60: Hands-on projects

System performance monitoring (top, vmstat, iostat)
Resource tuning: CPU, memory, disk, and network
Kernel parameter tuning with sysctl
Capacity planning and alerting
Prometheus node exporter and system dashboards

Outcome: Diagnose and resolve system performance bottlenecks using observability tooling.

Days 61–75: Advanced practices

OS hardening and CIS benchmark implementation
Patch management automation
Immutable infrastructure patterns with Packer
Auto Scaling Groups and launch templates
Centralized logging and audit trail management

Outcome: Implement security hardening and automated patch management for a server fleet.

Days 76–90: Portfolio, interview & certification prep

Portfolio: automated server fleet management project
SysOps interview preparation
AWS SysOps Administrator certification exam prep
Linux Foundation Certified System Administrator prep
Documenting runbooks and escalation procedures

Outcome: Pass AWS SysOps Administrator exam prep and present an automated fleet management portfolio.

Weekly outcomes at a glance

Phase	Outcome
Days 1–15	Administer a Linux server confidently including users, packages, and services.
Days 16–30	Automate repetitive sysadmin tasks with Bash scripts and scheduled jobs.
Days 31–45	Manage a fleet of servers declaratively with Ansible playbooks and roles.
Days 46–60	Diagnose and resolve system performance bottlenecks using observability tooling.
Days 61–75	Implement security hardening and automated patch management for a server fleet.
Days 76–90	Pass AWS SysOps Administrator exam prep and present an automated fleet management portfolio.

Tools to learn

Ansible
Puppet
Bash
Prometheus
Grafana
Packer
Terraform
Splunk
Nagios
AWS Systems Manager

Labs to practice

Mini projects

Build a fully automated server provisioning pipeline with Packer and Terraform
Implement CIS benchmark hardening with Ansible across a 20-server fleet
Create a centralized log aggregation and alerting system for Linux servers

Interview questions to prepare

How do you troubleshoot high CPU usage on a Linux server?
Explain the Linux boot process from BIOS to login prompt.
What is configuration drift and how do you prevent it?
How does Ansible achieve idempotency?
Describe your patch management process for 100 servers.
How would you investigate a disk space exhaustion incident?
What is the difference between a process and a thread in Linux?

Certification suggestions

AWS SysOps Administrator – Associate — AWS
Linux Foundation Certified System Administrator (LFCS) — Linux Foundation
Red Hat Certified System Administrator (RHCSA) — Red Hat
CompTIA Linux+ — CompTIA

Browse the full certification registry for exam details and official links.

Free resources

// instructor-led option

Prefer live, guided training with mentors and certification support? DevOpsSchool.com runs paid instructor-led programs that pair well with this free path.

Explore paid training on DevOpsSchool.com ↗