Need some help setting up CLI to learn Linux at home

[Nalens Oga]

My school uses Knoppix to teach us Linux CLI and we connect using a SSH. Knoppix isn't ideal for my older laptop with only a 128 GB SSD so I've been told to install Putty instead. The issue is that the only way I can connect and practise is using my school's server and my school account.

The thing is that I don't wanna mess around with that outside of the classroom. I want to have a separate account I use at home where I can do stuff shown in youtube tutorials. How exactly would I go about doing this using Putty? What server would I connect to or how would I log in?

Thanks

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[SniperHF]

The thing is that I don't wanna mess around with that outside of the classroom. I want to have a separate account I use at home where I can do stuff shown in youtube tutorials. How exactly would I go about doing this using Putty? What server would I connect to or how would I log in?

If you can remotely access your server (via VPN or with a public IP/Port given by the lab?) then I don't think it should matter all that much if it's using an account at school or not. If it's your system, you can make another user account/home folder.

If you can't use the school servers for random practice stuff, then you'll need a local copy.



There are other options though than using either your build in SSD or the school server. You could use a live USB/DVD, which contains a running version of the system.

If you have a DVD drive, just burn an ISO of Knoppix and boot into the "live system". There's usually an option for this right at the start.


DVD drives are kinda slow though, so running a live system on a USB thumb drive would be better. Though a little more involving when first setting it up.


So I would do this:
Download the latest Knoppix ISO file (or the version you need)
Download Rufus Rufus - Create bootable USB drives the easy way
Use Rufus to make a bootable USB version of Knoppix. You'll need an 8GB USB Drive, it will be erased.
Guide (For Ubuntu but basically the same) Create a bootable USB stick on Windows | Ubuntu tutorials

Then boot off your Knoppix USB drive when you want to use it. It will run "live" and you don't need to install it or anything.

 

[Cizin]

What server would I connect to or how would I log in?

Another option would be to install VirtualBox and create a Knoppix VM with minimum settings for RAM and storage. This will let you use PuTTY from your host OS to connect to the virtual machine.

 

[John Price]

agree with virtual box...been using that lately

 

[Nalens Oga]

Another option would be to install VirtualBox and create a Knoppix VM with minimum settings for RAM and storage. This will let you use PuTTY from your host OS to connect to the virtual machine.

So the VirtualBox would be installed on my laptop and it would run Knoppix? This would mean that Linux is installed on the Virtualbox and that I'd use Putty on my same laptop to connect to the VB? I'm avoiding this option atm because my laptop's only 4 GB ram. That's why I was preferring to connect to some other server running Linux elsewhere while only having Putty running on my laptop.

Putty does run well for me at home and lets me connect to the school's matrix account, I would just prefer to be able to mess around with a fresh version of linux or something that's not my school matrix account.

 

[SniperHF]

my laptop's only 4 GB ram.

It would probably be okay if you didn't have much running in the background on Windows. Knoppix can be configured to have a pretty low footprint in RAM. If you aren't going to be using the GUI you don't even have to install it. Or install it but don't run it at start, which will save resources. Keep the other programs running at startup on the Knoppix install to a minimum as well (which is also best practices anyway). I don't think I've ever installed Knoppix, but usually you can pick and choose what runs at startup during the installation.

Worst that happens is it doesn't run well enough and you uninstall it.

I tend to prefer working directly in the OS when practicing. But in the real world most of the systems you connect to will be virtual anyway.

 

[Cizin]

So the VirtualBox would be installed on my laptop and it would run Knoppix? This would mean that Linux is installed on the Virtualbox and that I'd use Putty on my same laptop to connect to the VB?

VirtualBox is installed as a Windows program that you run only when you need to access Knoppix. As Sniper suggests, don't install the GUI as you don't need it to learn the command line. You can use the command line directly from within the Knoppix virtual machine. I suggested using PuTTY too, to so that you will gain familiarity with it (things like SSH tunnels, etc.) even though it is local. Configure the network adapter as a Bridged Adapter so that it will be on the same subnet as the Windows host OS.

This guide, How to install knoppix as virtual machine step by step guide says you can use 1GB RAM and 5GB hd space, which should be fine for a learning/test environment. There are a bunch of Youtube videos that show the process as well.

 

[BigT2002]

If you can SSH, give this a whirl: OverTheWire: Bandit

Easily one of the best things out there if you're trying to learn Linux CLI