Learn how to deploy OpenStack for free

The Linux Foundation is collaborating with edX to offer an online course titled, LFS152x. The course spans across seven chapters, with a quiz at the end of each chapter. Students must take a final exam in order to complete the course. The complete course is available free of cost. Students can obtain a verified certificate of completion for $99.

Challenges for OpenStack

OpenStack may be ruling the private cloud but it’s not very easy to get started with OpenStack. In fact, a survey sponsored by SUSE found that one of the biggest challenges for customers is OpenStack implementation.

The survey stated, “Half of all enterprises that tried to implement an OpenStack cloud have failed, and 65 percent of companies report they have found the implementation experience difficult. In addition, nearly half (44 percent) plan to download and install OpenStack software themselves, potentially adding to the degree of difficulty.”

“To keep current with their profession, sysadmins of all stripes must have at least basic knowledge of cloud technologies, especially OpenStack,” said Linux Foundation General Manager for Training and Certification, Clyde Seepersad. “We knew edX was an ideal partner to help increase the pool of talent qualified in OpenStack by providing a platform to make high-quality education easily accessible to people looking to build rewarding careers managing OpenStack clouds.”

The course is designed for those who want a high-level overview of OpenStack to gauge whether their organization needs OpenStack solutions or not. The course also helps users in getting started with a small scale OpenStack test environment so they can test and experiment with it.

According to the Linux Foundation, the course covers:

• The origins of OpenStack: Where does it come from and how can you contribute as a developer to the project?
• How to deploy OpenStack: Setup your own lab environment and deploy OpenStack on Ubuntu and CentOS with DevStack and Packstack, respectively.
• How to deploy a virtual machine from Horizon: Get the steps and components that lead to a working and accessible virtual machine.
• An introduction to managing OpenStack from the command line.
• Scaling out your OpenStack cloud by adding SDN, object storage, compute nodes, high availability and more.

The course will also help those who want to take the Certified OpenStack Administrator exam.

“We are proud to work with the Linux Foundation to offer their third MOOC to the edX global learning community,” said Anant Agarwal, edX CEO and MIT Professor in a press release. “Linux is helping learners gain the essential training needed in the growing networking and cloud computing disciplines to improve their careers and gain a competitive edge in the workplace.”