Hands-On Linux & DevOps Labs Compared
Hands-On Linux & DevOps Labs Compared
A short look at some of the best hands-on Linux and DevOps platforms using sandboxes, each good for a different kind of practice.
| Site | Price | Format | Special features | Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| OverTheWire | Free | Sequential SSH wargame | Shared Linux hosts, no account needed | Bandit is a Bash wargame for beginners: 33 levels of command-line practice. Built as a primer for OverTheWire’s other security wargames, but it works well on its own. |
| KodeKloud | Free + subscription | Video courses + labs | Cert paths, playgrounds, AI-guided plan | Long-running hands-on DevOps training. Covers certifications such as Certified Jenkins Engineer and Certified Kubernetes Security Specialist. |
| SadServers | Free + paid | Full Linux VMs | Browser or SSH, candidate interviews | Especially good for hard Linux and DevOps troubleshooting, including software other platforms skip, like Vault, MongoDB or ClickHouse. Companies can interview and assess job candidates. |
| iximiuz Labs | Free + paid | Playgrounds + tutorials | Linux VMs, SSH or browser, diagrams | Strong for general learning, especially networking, Docker, and Kubernetes, with diagrams and explanations. |
Check them out, think about your particular case (preparing for a certification exam vs practicing or preparing for a troubleshooting interview for example) and look for reviews from actual users in specialized Linux, DevOps, Cloud and SRE forums.