rootnode-academy/docs/ROOT_V1_SYLLABUS.md

ROOT_ V1 Syllabus

Program description

ROOT_ is RootNode Academy's path from general computer literacy to operating and repairing real infrastructure — Linux, Git, containers, and Kubernetes, taught through real hands-on Labs in a disposable environment, culminating in a capstone that operates and recovers a production-like system under realistic conditions.

Intended audience / readiness

Approximately age 15 and up, through college students, adults, and career changers — including help-desk technicians, junior sysadmins, developers, and anyone moving toward DevOps, cloud, or platform engineering. Age is guidance, not a technical gate; readiness is what actually matters (comfort with a keyboard and following multi-step instructions is the practical floor).

Prerequisites

None external. ROOT_ does not require completing RootNode's INIT_ or COMPILE_ course families — its own internal course sequence (below) is the only enforced prerequisite chain.

Learning outcomes

By the end of ROOT_ V1, a student can: administer a Linux system and diagnose common failures; use Git for real collaborative version control including merge conflicts; build, run, and compose multi-container Docker applications; deploy, scale, and update workloads on a real Kubernetes cluster; secure a cluster against common CKS-style findings; systematically troubleshoot a broken system using a repeatable framework; and operate and recover a production-like environment under a real incident.

Course sequence

1. Computing & Linux Foundations — how a computer runs software, the shell, the filesystem, files/text, processes, permissions.
2. Linux Administration & Networking — service lifecycle, storage/filesystem administration, the networking mental model, network/DNS/HTTP diagnosis, structured troubleshooting.
3. Git & Collaborative Development — why version control exists, the Git mental model, everyday Git, branching and real merge conflicts, remote repositories, engineering workflow.
4. Containers & Docker — why containers exist, images vs. containers, the Docker CLI, container networking, container storage, Dockerfiles, Compose, and the bridge to Kubernetes.
5. Kubernetes Foundations — the Kubernetes mental model and core objects, Pods and kubectl.
6. Kubernetes Application Workloads — Deployments, scaling, rolling updates, Jobs/CronJobs.
7. Kubernetes Networking & Configuration — Services, service discovery, Ingress, NetworkPolicy, ConfigMaps/Secrets.
8. Kubernetes Security — SecurityContext, ServiceAccounts/RBAC, network and supply-chain security, cluster hardening — a formal CKS-style assessment, required before the Capstone.
9. Kubernetes Troubleshooting & Observability — health probes, the RootNode troubleshooting framework, general operational troubleshooting.
10. RootNode Real Ops — real, deliberately un-guided incident response.
11. ROOT Capstone: Operate and Recover a Production-Like Environment — a graded, timed, real-Lab final assessment combining every prior domain.

(ROOT 08 — Kubernetes Storage & Scheduling — and the deeper modules of ROOT 11 — DevOps & Platform Engineering — are not part of ROOT_ V1; see docs/ROOT_V1_CURRICULUM_MANIFEST.md. A single ROOT 11 orientation module is included as optional bonus content.)

Assessments

Four course-ending assessments (ROOT 01, 02, 03, 04) validate foundational competency; one (ROOT 09) validates security competency and is required before the Capstone. See docs/ROOT_V1_ASSESSMENT_MAP.md for exact scope and duration of each.

Capstone

A 90-minute, real-Lab, graded final assessment. Requires ROOT 12 (Real Ops) and ROOT 09 (Security) both complete, plus the pre-existing six-stage scenario gate (foundation, workloads, networking, configuration, troubleshooting, real-ops). No new teaching — it tests what the program already taught, under conditions closer to a real incident than a classroom exercise.

Approximate structured hours

64.2 hours across the 12 V1 courses (excludes the deliberately-excluded ROOT 08). See docs/ROOT_PROGRAM_DURATION_MODEL.md for the exact per-module breakdown this is built from. This is instructional content time — it does not include instructor discussion, camp activities, or self-paced review time, which vary by delivery format (see docs/ROOT_V1_INSTRUCTOR_LED_PILOT.md).

Tools & technologies

A real Linux shell, Git, Docker (via a safely nested Docker Engine inside each student's disposable Lab, never touching the Lab host's own daemon), and a real single-node Kubernetes cluster (k3s) — all provisioned automatically per student, with no local installation required.

Learning expectations

Every module follows Learn → Practice → Lab → Troubleshoot → Validate (see docs/ PHASE6F_ROOT_V1_PILOT_READINESS.md's orientation content for the full explanation given to students). Labs validate themselves — a student always knows, immediately and objectively, whether a task actually passed.