Getting started

Network management in Linux is a fun, diverse field that is always changing. While the core components typically remain the same throughout the years (such as the TCP/IP protocol), how these services are managed have evolved in each generation, such as the rise of systemd. Linux is definitely exciting.

In this chapter, we'll see how to set up your environment. Depending on your experience level, you can skip directly to Chapter 2, Revisiting Linux Networking Basics. If you're already comfortable setting up a distribution or two on a physical or virtual machine, you already have the knowledge needed to get started. Here, we'll discuss how to install a few distributions of interest for the exercises in this book and some general pointers.

In a nutshell, the more Linux installations you have to work with, the better. While practicing networking concepts, it's a good idea to have as many nodes as possible, so you can test how your configuration changes, will affect your environment. If you are already comfortable installing Linux, feel free to set up some nodes and then I'll meet you in the next chapter.