I've created a cheat sheet that describes each step in the process. It should get you through your initial setup without too much trouble.
According to Buanzo, these are the most important commands for you to learn. We didn't have enough time to go over them in depth in the session, so they are an exercise for you.
- ps
- lsof
- netstat
- nc (net cat)
- nmap
- bash - you need to know your shell
- sed
- python - It's extremely useful, and it's available in all Linux distros
- nano - Because you're going to have to edit something before you learn vim.
- vim - You exit it by pressing typing :q and then enter. You're welcome.
- mc - A Norton Commander style file manager