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Teach Linux in a terminal that behaves the same for every student

CLI-Games is a free Linux terminal in the browser, with CTF training that starts at a student's first command. Make a group, put one link on the screen, and your class is in: no installs, no accounts on day one.

Read the class walkthrough Try the training yourself

01 / the same exercise, every time

No ambiguity between sessions

A class works when everyone is looking at the same thing. Live machines can drift, break, or differ from one student to the next. Training scenarios here don't: what you prepare is what every student sees.

Same exercise

Every student, every session

A training scenario is fixed by its definition: the same files, the same machines and the same answers on every screen. When your notes say a clue is in a certain file, it is there for the whole class, on Monday and again on Thursday. If we revise a scenario, the whole class gets the same new version. Only the next scenario each student is offered differs, because it follows their own progress.

Same place

Back where they stopped

On the same computer, a scenario a student has made progress in picks up from their last saved step next session. On another computer it restarts, though finished scenarios follow a registered account. If we change a scenario’s files, machines or answers, an old save is never forced into the new version: the student restarts it cleanly instead of landing somewhere neither of you expects.

Same proof

Finished means verified

In Orientation, Linux Basics, Files & Permissions and System Enumeration, the server replays a student’s exact commands twice from a clean start before it records a finish. A module goal counts those finishes, not a "level complete" a page claimed.

What a finish proves is deliberately narrow: that this command sequence solves this version of the scenario. It is a practice record, not a grade or a certification.

02 / your first class

Three steps before the bell

Groups use the real Linux group commands, so the setup is itself a small lesson. Type these in the CLI-Games terminal.

Step 1

Make the group

$ groupadd cs101

You need a registered account; your students don’t. It prints a join link, a join code and the group’s page.

Step 2

Bring the class in

Students join in one click and play as guests under generated handles. Before joining, each one is told what the group will see: their handle and their progress.

Step 3

Set the week’s goal

$ goal set cs101 module orientation

A seven-day goal. The group page shows how many have finished and each student’s progress. You are not counted: the goal belongs to the class.

Before they leave: have students register, so their seat and their work stay theirs. Next week, raise the bar with goal set cs101 module linux-basics.

03 / questions teachers ask

Before you bring a class

Does it cost anything?: No. The training and the games are free to play, and there is nothing to install.
What do students need?: A web browser. Phones work too, though a keyboard makes a terminal far more pleasant.
Do students need accounts?: Not on day one: a guest plays under a generated handle with no email address, and its verified work counts toward the group’s goals. A guest left unused for 48 hours is retired, work and all, so have students register before they leave (an email address and a code). Registered accounts are for ages 13 and up.
What can I see?: Every member of the group sees its page: each member’s training scenarios cleared (all time and in the last 7 days), Range challenges solved, daily challenges finished in the last 7 days, and leaderboard crowns held. Not their commands. A registered student can make their numbers private with incognito on, and a private member isn’t counted toward goals.
What can a goal be?: Finishing a module (Orientation, Linux Basics, Files & Permissions or System Enumeration), or a together goal: a number of training scenarios or daily challenges for the whole group.
How big can a group be?: Up to 60 members, and you can own up to 5 groups. Close a group to new members once everyone is in with gpasswd -r.
Is there chat?: Yes, there is public chat. Every chat line can be reported, guests included, and moderators review every report within 24 hours. A registered player can also block another with friend block.

Read the class walkthrough Why we built groups →Terms →