Linux Essentials for
Cybersecurity
by William “Bo” Rothwell
and Denise Kinsey
Chapter 1: Distributions and Key Components
Objectives
Describe the various parts of Linux
Identify the major components that make up
the Linux operating system
Describe different types of Linux distributions
Identify the steps for installing Linux
© 2019 by Pearson Education, Inc. Chapter 1: Distributions and Key Components 2
Introducing Linux
Linux is an operating system, much like
Microsoft Windows
Linux itself is a kernel, not a full OS
Kernel is open source
Many components come together in a
distribution, or distro, to form a complete OS
Some distros are free; others are commercial
© 2019 by Pearson Education, Inc. Chapter 1 Distributions and Key Components 3
Components of the Linux OS
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Linux Distributions
Commercial Security enhanced
Red Hat Enterprise Kali Linux
Linux Alpine Linux
SUSE Live
Home or amateur Manjaro Linux
Fedora Antegros
Linux Mint Live versions available
Ubuntu of Fedora, Linux Mint
© 2019 by Pearson Education, Inc. Chapter 1 Distributions and Key Components 5
Shells
Shell: A software program that allows a user
to issue commands to the system
Command line interface (CLI)
Graphical User Interface (GUI)
Different shells are available, with different
features, functions, and syntax
BASH shell is most popular CLI, and is
assumed in this book
© 2019 by Pearson Education, Inc. Chapter 1 Distributions and Key Components 6
Pre-Installation Questions to Ask
Which distribution will you choose?
What sort of installation should be
performed?
If Linux is installed natively, is the hardware
supported?
If Linux is installed as a VM, does the system
have enough resources to support both a
host OS and a VM OS?
© 2019 by Pearson Education, Inc. Chapter 1 Distributions and Key Components 7
Which Distro to Choose
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), Fedora, or
CentOS
Collectively referred to as Red Hat-based distros
Fedora and CentOS are free
RHEL is subscription-based
Linux Mint, Ubuntu, or Debian
Collectively referred to as Debian-based distros
Kali
Security-based, contains many security-related
tools
© 2019 by Pearson Education, Inc. Chapter 1 Distributions and Key Components 8
Native or Virtual Machine
Native: Installed directly onto a machine, also
called bare-metal install
VM: Installed within a hypervisor, software
that presents virtual hardware to a VM
Hypervisor software options
Vmware
Microsoft Hyper-V
Citrix XenServer
Oracle VirtualBox
© 2019 by Pearson Education, Inc. Chapter 1 Distributions and Key Components 9
Installing a Distro in VirtualBox
1. Click Machine and then New.
2. Provide a name for the VM.
3. Set the Type to Linux.
4. Set the version to 32-bit or 64-bit depending
on the version you are installing
5. Set the Memory Size value to 4196MB
6. Leave the Create a virtual hard disk now
option marked.
© 2019 by Pearson Education, Inc. Chapter 1 Distributions and Key Components 10
Installing a Distro in VirtualBox
(cont.)
7. Click the Create button.
8. Set the size of the virtual hard disk to 12GB.
9. Leave the Hard disk file type set to VDI
(Virtual Hard Disk).
10. Change the Storage on physical hard disk to
Fixed Size.
11. Click the Create button.
© 2019 by Pearson Education, Inc. Chapter 1 Distributions and Key Components 11
Installing a Distro in VirtualBox
(cont.)
12. Click the new machine and then click Start
on the toolbar.
13. Select the installation media when
prompted.
14. Follow the prompts to complete the
installation.
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Tips for Installing Linux
Accept the defaults
Don’t worry about specific software to install;
you can always install more packages later
Don’t forget the password you choose
© 2019 by Pearson Education, Inc. Chapter 1 Distributions and Key Components 13
Summary
In this chapter, you learned about the major
components of the Linux operating system
You learned what a Linux distribution (distro)
is, and what questions to answer prior to
installing Linux
You also learned how to install Linux as a
virtual machine
© 2019 by Pearson Education, Inc. Chapter 1 Distributions and Key Components 14
