  We report results of the beam commissioning and first operation of the 1.3
GHz superconducting RF electron linear accelerator at Fermilab Accelerator
Science and Technology (FAST) facility. Construction of the linac was completed
and the machine was commissioned with beam in 2017. The maximum total beam
energy of about 300 MeV was achieved with the record energy gain of 250 MeV in
the ILC-type SRF cryomodule. The photoinjector was tuned to produce trains of
200 pC bunches with a frequency of 3 MHz at a repetition rate of 1 Hz. This
report describes the aspects of machine commissioning such as tuning of the SRF
cryomodule and beam optics optimization. We also present highlights of an
experimental program carried out parasitically during the two-month run,
including studies of wake-fields, and advanced beam phase space manipulation.
