eBPF Mastery
@amitmund
July 09, 2026
eBPF Mastery 2026
The Complete Beginner to Advanced Guide to eBPF (Extended Berkeley Packet Filter), Linux Kernel Programming, Observability, Networking, Security, Performance Engineering, and Cloud-Native Systems
Course Goal
This course is designed to take you from absolute beginner to production-ready eBPF Engineer, Linux Kernel Engineer, Platform Engineer, DevOps Engineer, SRE, Cloud Engineer, Security Engineer, Performance Engineer, or Systems Architect.
By the end of this learning track, you will be able to:
- Understand Linux Kernel Internals
- Master eBPF Programming
- Build High-Performance Networking Solutions
- Build Kernel-Level Security Tools
- Build Observability Platforms
- Create Custom eBPF Applications
- Understand Kubernetes Networking
- Debug Production Systems
- Analyze Linux Performance
- Prepare for eBPF & Kernel Engineering Interviews
Prerequisites
- Linux Mastery
- Bash Scripting
- C Programming Basics
- Networking Fundamentals
- Operating System Fundamentals
- Docker
- Kubernetes (Recommended)
Course Structure
Module 1 — eBPF Fundamentals
Chapter 1 — Introduction to eBPF
- Learning Objectives
- What is eBPF?
- History
- Berkeley Packet Filter
- Extended BPF
- Evolution
- Why eBPF?
- Kernel Architecture
- eBPF Ecosystem
Chapter 2 — Linux Kernel Fundamentals
- Linux Architecture
- User Space
- Kernel Space
- System Calls
- Kernel Modules
- Kernel Memory
- Process Lifecycle
- Internal Working
Chapter 3 — eBPF Architecture
- eBPF VM
- eBPF Bytecode
- Verifier
- JIT Compiler
- Maps
- Helpers
- Hooks
- Program Lifecycle
Chapter 4 — Installing Development Environment
- Linux Setup
- Kernel Requirements
- Clang
- LLVM
- bpftool
- libbpf
- BCC
- bpftrace
- CO-RE Setup
Chapter 5 — Your First eBPF Program
- Hello World
- Compilation
- Loading
- Verification
- Attaching
- Running
- Debugging
Module 2 — Linux Kernel Internals
Chapter 6 — Process Management
Chapter 7 — Memory Management
Chapter 8 — File Systems
Chapter 9 — Scheduler
Chapter 10 — Interrupts
Chapter 11 — Kernel Networking
Chapter 12 — Virtual Memory
Chapter 13 — cgroups
Chapter 14 — Namespaces
Module 3 — eBPF Programming
Chapter 15 — eBPF Instruction Set
Chapter 16 — Registers
Chapter 17 — Stack
Chapter 18 — Helpers
Chapter 19 — Maps
Chapter 20 — Tail Calls
Chapter 21 — Ring Buffer
Chapter 22 — Perf Buffer
Chapter 23 — CO-RE
Chapter 24 — libbpf
Module 4 — eBPF Program Types
Chapter 25 — Kprobes
Chapter 26 — Uprobes
Chapter 27 — Tracepoints
Chapter 28 — Raw Tracepoints
Chapter 29 — XDP
Chapter 30 — TC
Chapter 31 — Socket Filters
Chapter 32 — Cgroup Programs
Chapter 33 — LSM Programs
Chapter 34 — Perf Events
Module 5 — eBPF Maps
Chapter 35 — Hash Maps
Chapter 36 — Array Maps
Chapter 37 — Per-CPU Maps
Chapter 38 — Ring Buffer
Chapter 39 — Queue Maps
Chapter 40 — Stack Maps
Chapter 41 — LRU Maps
Chapter 42 — Bloom Filter Maps
Chapter 43 — Trie Maps
Module 6 — Networking with eBPF
Chapter 44 — Packet Processing
Chapter 45 — XDP
Chapter 46 — Traffic Control
Chapter 47 — Socket Layer
Chapter 48 — Load Balancing
Chapter 49 — Firewall
Chapter 50 — DDoS Protection
Chapter 51 — Service Mesh
Chapter 52 — Kubernetes Networking
Module 7 — Observability
Chapter 53 — Tracing
Chapter 54 — Metrics
Chapter 55 — Profiling
Chapter 56 — Logging
Chapter 57 — System Monitoring
Chapter 58 — Process Monitoring
Chapter 59 — Network Monitoring
Chapter 60 — Performance Analysis
Module 8 — Security
Chapter 61 — Runtime Security
Chapter 62 — Process Monitoring
Chapter 63 — File Monitoring
Chapter 64 — Network Security
Chapter 65 — Malware Detection
Chapter 66 — Container Security
Chapter 67 — Kubernetes Security
Chapter 68 — LSM Hooks
Module 9 — Performance Engineering
Chapter 69 — CPU Profiling
Chapter 70 — Memory Profiling
Chapter 71 — Latency Analysis
Chapter 72 — Scheduling Analysis
Chapter 73 — System Bottlenecks
Chapter 74 — Performance Optimization
Module 10 — Cloud Native eBPF
Chapter 75 — Docker
Chapter 76 — Kubernetes
Chapter 77 — Cilium
Chapter 78 — Hubble
Chapter 79 — Service Mesh
Chapter 80 — Envoy Integration
Chapter 81 — Cloud Networking
Module 11 — eBPF Frameworks
Chapter 82 — BCC
Chapter 83 — bpftrace
Chapter 84 — libbpf
Chapter 85 — Aya (Rust)
Chapter 86 — Go eBPF
Chapter 87 — Python Bindings
Module 12 — Production Tools
Chapter 88 — Cilium
Chapter 89 — Falco
Chapter 90 — Pixie
Chapter 91 — Tetragon
Chapter 92 — Katran
Chapter 93 — Tracee
Chapter 94 — Inspektor Gadget
Module 13 — Kubernetes & Cloud
Chapter 95 — CNI
Chapter 96 — Service Mesh
Chapter 97 — Network Policies
Chapter 98 — eBPF in Kubernetes
Chapter 99 — Cloud Native Security
Chapter 100 — Multi Cluster Networking
Module 14 — Advanced Internals
Chapter 101 — Verifier Internals
Chapter 102 — JIT Compiler
Chapter 103 — Kernel Hooks
Chapter 104 — Memory Safety
Chapter 105 — eBPF Scheduler
Chapter 106 — CO-RE Internals
Chapter 107 — BTF
Chapter 108 — ELF Loading
Module 15 — Real World Projects
Chapter 109 — Packet Analyzer
Chapter 110 — Network Firewall
Chapter 111 — Kubernetes Monitor
Chapter 112 — Process Monitor
Chapter 113 — Runtime Security Agent
Chapter 114 — DDoS Detector
Chapter 115 — Performance Profiler
Chapter 116 — Cloud Observability Platform
Module 16 — Interview Preparation
Chapter 117 — Linux Kernel Questions
Chapter 118 — eBPF Questions
Chapter 119 — Networking Questions
Chapter 120 — Kubernetes Questions
Chapter 121 — Security Questions
Chapter 122 — Mock Interviews
Module 17 — Bonus
Chapter 123 — eBPF Tips & Tricks
Chapter 124 — Hidden Features
Chapter 125 — Performance Hacks
Chapter 126 — Common Workarounds
Chapter 127 — Enterprise Best Practices
Chapter 128 — Future of eBPF
Every Chapter Includes
Each chapter follows the same professional structure:
- Learning Objectives
- Prerequisites
- Theory
- Internal Working
- Kernel Architecture
- Memory Flow
- CPU Flow
- Packet Flow
- Mermaid Diagrams
- ASCII Diagrams
- Flowcharts
- Kernel Call Stack
- C Code Examples
- Go Examples
- Rust Examples
- Python Examples
- libbpf Examples
- BCC Examples
- bpftrace Examples
- Docker Examples
- Kubernetes Examples
- Production Examples
- Enterprise Case Studies
- Performance Optimization
- Security Notes
- Best Practices
- Common Mistakes
- Troubleshooting Guide
- FAQs
- Hands-on Labs
- Home Lab Exercises
- Mini Projects
- Capstone Projects
- Exercises
- Quiz
- Interview Questions
- Challenge Problems
- Cheat Sheet
- Summary
- References
- Linux Kernel Source References
- Research Papers
- Glossary
Hands-on Labs
- Build Your First eBPF Program
- Trace System Calls
- Monitor File Operations
- Capture Network Packets
- Build a TCP Monitor
- Implement XDP Firewall
- Monitor Docker Containers
- Monitor Kubernetes Pods
- Build a Process Profiler
- Build a Runtime Security Agent
- Analyze CPU Usage
- Create a Network Load Balancer
- Build a Kubernetes Network Policy Monitor
- Build a Cloud-Native Observability Platform
- Create a Production eBPF Toolkit
Capstone Projects
- eBPF-Based Process Monitor
- XDP Firewall
- Kubernetes Security Monitor
- Network Intrusion Detection System
- Runtime Malware Detection Platform
- Cloud-Native Observability Agent
- High-Performance Load Balancer
- eBPF Performance Profiler
- Distributed Network Analyzer
- Enterprise eBPF Monitoring Platform
eBPF Ecosystem Covered
Core Technologies
- eBPF
- BPF
- libbpf
- bpftool
- BTF
- CO-RE
- LLVM
- Clang
Frameworks
- BCC
- bpftrace
- Aya (Rust)
- cilium/ebpf (Go)
- libbpf-bootstrap
Production Projects
- Cilium
- Hubble
- Falco
- Tetragon
- Pixie
- Katran
- Tracee
- Inspektor Gadget
Linux Technologies
- Kernel
- cgroups
- Namespaces
- XDP
- TC
- Netfilter
- iptables
- nftables
Cloud Native
- Docker
- Kubernetes
- CNI
- Service Mesh
- Envoy
- Istio
Research Papers & Documentation
Study and analyze:
- Original BPF Paper
- eBPF Documentation
- Linux Kernel Documentation
- Cilium Documentation
- XDP Documentation
- BCC Documentation
- libbpf Documentation
- Falco Architecture
- Pixie Architecture
- Meta Katran Paper
- Cloudflare eBPF Articles
- Netflix eBPF Case Studies
Certification Preparation
This course prepares you for concepts used in:
- Linux Foundation
- CNCF Ecosystem
- Kubernetes Certifications (CKA, CKAD, CKS)
- Cilium Certifications
- Linux Kernel Engineering Roles
- Platform Engineering Interviews
- SRE Interviews
- Cloud Infrastructure Interviews
Estimated Course Size
- 17 Modules
- 128 Chapters
- 5,500+ Pages
- 3,000+ Code Examples
- 800+ Architecture Diagrams
- 350+ Hands-on Labs
- 100+ Production Projects
- Enterprise Case Studies
- Complete Linux Kernel & eBPF Interview Preparation
Final Outcome
After completing this learning track, you will be able to:
- Understand Linux kernel internals and eBPF execution from first principles.
- Develop high-performance eBPF programs for networking, observability, security, and performance analysis.
- Build production-grade tools similar to Cilium, Falco, Pixie, Katran, and Tetragon.
- Diagnose performance bottlenecks, trace kernel behavior, and secure cloud-native workloads with minimal overhead.
- Integrate eBPF into Kubernetes, containers, and modern cloud infrastructure.
- Confidently work as a Linux Kernel Engineer, eBPF Engineer, Platform Engineer, SRE, Cloud Engineer, Security Engineer, or Performance Engineer.
- Successfully prepare for advanced Linux, kernel, cloud-native infrastructure, and distributed systems interviews.