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Introduction to free5GC (LFS114) is a free, self-paced Linux Foundation course that teaches the practical foundations of the open-source free5GC 5G Core. In roughly 3–4 hours, you move from 5G Core architecture to building, running, reading, and debugging the software. You do not need previous free5GC experience, but you should be comfortable with Linux and basic networking.
What is free5GC?
free5GC is an open-source implementation of a 5G mobile core network maintained as a Linux Foundation project. It targets 3GPP Release 17 and later development, uses a service-based architecture, and is licensed under Apache 2.0. The project can be deployed with Docker and Kubernetes as well as in a conventional Linux development environment.
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The core is split into network functions. LFS114 highlights the Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF), Session Management Function (SMF), and User Plane Function (UPF), then connects those roles to the control plane, user plane, signaling, and packet forwarding that make a 5G Core operate.
What is Introduction to free5GC (LFS114)?
LFS114 is Linux Foundation Education’s practical introduction to the free5GC project. It is aimed at developers, network engineers, and technologists who want hands-on 5G Core and cloud-native networking skills rather than a purely conceptual overview. The course is self-paced and online.
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| Course detail | Published information |
|---|---|
| Price | $0 enrollment price on the current course page |
| Content length | Approximately 3–4 hours; the Linux Foundation’s December 15, 2025 announcement calls it a four-hour e-learning course |
| Access | 90 days of online access |
| Assessment and completion | Quizzes and assignments, with a digital badge and a certificate on successful completion |
| Support features | Discussion forum |
What do you learn in the free5GC course?
The eight chapters are arranged as a progression from orientation to operation and then development.
- Course Introduction: scope, goals, and how to use the learning materials.
- Foundations of free5GC: the project’s purpose, 5G Core context, and the main ideas needed for the labs.
- free5GC Architecture: Control and Data Planes: how network functions communicate, with particular attention to AMF, SMF, and UPF.
- Building and Running free5GC: preparing a Linux environment, building the components, starting the core, and observing its operation.
- Exploring the free5GC Source Code: navigating the Go-based control-plane code and locating the parts that implement network functions and procedures.
- free5GC Development Basics: the practical conventions and workflow needed to make small changes or begin contributing.
- Debugging free5GC: tracing failures through configuration, logs, signaling, and the data path.
- Summary and Next Steps: consolidating the concepts and identifying ways to continue learning or experimenting.
Control plane and data plane
The control plane handles registration, mobility, sessions, and policy decisions. The data plane carries subscriber traffic; in free5GC this includes the optional GTP5G data-plane component. Understanding the boundary between these planes helps explain why a session can appear established while user traffic still fails, and gives you a method for locating the fault.
Source and Go exposure
The course is code-oriented. You inspect a Go-based control plane instead of treating free5GC as a black-box appliance. Go or shell experience is useful, but the course prerequisites do not require prior Go programming.
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Debugging and operations
Debugging is a dedicated chapter, not an afterthought. The intended practice is to correlate configuration, component status, logs, and control- or user-plane behavior so that you can distinguish an installation problem from a signaling problem or a packet-forwarding problem.
Who should take LFS114?
- Developers who want to understand or modify an open-source 5G Core implementation.
- Network engineers moving from 4G/5G concepts into service-based 5G Core software.
- Cloud and platform engineers interested in containerized network functions and Kubernetes deployment.
- Technologists who need a guided, small-scale lab before working with a larger telecom testbed.
The course assumes working Linux and networking foundations. It does not assume previous free5GC experience.
Prerequisites and lab requirements
Use these as the baseline before enrolling or starting the labs:
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- Working knowledge of Linux administration and networking.
- A Linux workstation or virtual machine with a modern kernel.
- An AVX-capable CPU.
- At least 4 GB of RAM.
- Git, as required by the official quick-setup guide.
- Go or shell familiarity is helpful but not required.
The course page recommends Ubuntu 20.04 or later. The official quick-setup guide lists Ubuntu 20.04, 22.04, 24.04, and 25.04 as supported choices at the time documented. MongoDB installation requires AVX support, so a virtual machine or older processor without AVX can fail even when the operating system itself installs normally.
Check your machine before the lab
- Confirm that your Linux distribution is one of the supported Ubuntu versions or otherwise meets the course’s modern-kernel requirement.
- Check that the CPU exposes AVX instructions; this is especially important on older hardware and some virtual-machine configurations.
- Reserve at least 4 GB of RAM for the lab, with additional capacity if you will run containers or Kubernetes alongside the core.
- Install Git and ensure you can use a terminal with administrative privileges for package and service setup.
How do you run free5GC?
LFS114 teaches the workflow rather than promising a single universal command: prepare a supported Linux host, obtain the source, install its dependencies, build the components, configure the network functions, start the core, and then verify and troubleshoot the result. Exact commands and configuration values can change with the free5GC release, so use the version-matched instructions in the project’s official quick-setup documentation and the course lab.
- Prepare Linux: use a modern Ubuntu-based host that meets the AVX, RAM, kernel, and Git requirements.
- Get the project and dependencies: follow the official setup instructions for the free5GC release you intend to use rather than mixing commands from different versions.
- Build: compile the Go-based components and install or enable the optional GTP5G data-plane support when your lab requires real user-plane packet forwarding.
- Configure: provide the network-function and connectivity settings required by your test topology, including the relationships among AMF, SMF, UPF, and their service-based interfaces.
- Start and observe: launch the core using the documented native, Docker, or Kubernetes path, then watch component status and logs.
- Validate: check registration and session procedures first, then verify that user-plane traffic traverses the UPF.
- Troubleshoot: use logs and the control/data-plane distinction to isolate configuration, signaling, dependency, or packet-forwarding failures.
Native, Docker, or Kubernetes?
A native Linux setup is useful when you are reading source code and debugging processes directly. Docker gives you a repeatable container-based deployment. Kubernetes is appropriate when you want to study cloud-native placement and lifecycle management. The project supports containerized Docker and Kubernetes deployments, but the course’s minimum hardware requirements still apply to the host running them.
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Common setup problems
MongoDB or dependency installation fails
Check AVX first. The quick-setup guidance specifically warns that MongoDB installation needs AVX; a host that lacks the instruction set will not become compatible through a software-only fix.
The core starts but traffic does not pass
Separate the checks: confirm that control-plane registration and session establishment succeed, then inspect UPF and GTP5G data-plane configuration and packet forwarding. A healthy control plane does not by itself prove that user traffic is working.
Commands from a different release do not match
Use the setup instructions for the exact free5GC version in your checkout. Release-specific configuration and deployment details can change, so avoid combining an older tutorial with a newer source tree.
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- Interface: PCIe x1 lane, operable in PCIe X1, X4, X8 and X16 slots, not for PCI slots.
- System: Windows 8/10/11, Windows Server 2016/2019/2022, CentOS7/8/9, VMware ESXi 6, Ubuntu20/22, FreeBSD 13/14.
- Protocol: PXE, DPDK, WOL, iSCSI, Jumbo Frames, Auto MDIX, IEEE 802.1Q VLAN tagging, IEEE802.3bz (2.5G/5G BASE-T), Full Duplex flow control (IEEE 802.3x), NOT support FCoE.
What you receive after completing LFS114
The current course description lists quizzes and assignments, a digital badge, a discussion forum, and a certificate after successful completion. These are completion credentials for the course; the published sources do not provide an independent employment, salary, adoption, or performance guarantee.
Is LFS114 a good starting point?
Choose LFS114 if you want a compact, guided path that combines 5G Core architecture with actual building, source navigation, operation, and debugging. It is less suitable as a standalone telecom theory curriculum or as a production deployment certification. Plan for a compatible Linux lab before you begin, and treat the free5GC release documentation as the authority for commands that may change after the course materials were published.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need prior free5GC experience?
No. The course is designed to introduce free5GC, while expecting Linux and networking fundamentals.
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Is Introduction to free5GC (LFS114) free?
Yes. The current Linux Foundation course page lists a $0 enrollment price and 90 days of online access.
Do I need to know Go?
No. Go or shell experience is useful because the control plane is Go-based, but prior Go programming is not listed as a requirement.
Which Ubuntu versions are supported for the setup?
The quick-setup guide lists Ubuntu 20.04, 22.04, 24.04, and 25.04 at the documented time; the course page recommends Ubuntu 20.04 or later.
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