Switching from Windows to Linux Administration

Boxer77

This is a bit of a long-winded post so bear with me. I recently applied for a job with a local software company. It seemed a bit Linux intensive but they have a great product, reputation, and was 10 minutes from my house instead of 40+ minutes. I had a phone interview which went okay, but I was told that they only run Linux. I explained that Linux is my weakest subject and was told I'd be working with their consultant while I got up to speed. I figured it wasn't going anywhere, but was called in for a in-person interview and they recently contacted my references. I am scheduled to speak with them next week and I'm guessing a job offer is going to be made based on how my references said the call went.

So for the million dollar question, has anyone made the jump from a 100% Windows admin to a 100% Linux admin? And if so, what kind of experience am I in for? They are aware that I'm going to face a steep learning curve and essentially know very little going in. Their previous administrator left awhile back and I would be working with a consultant while I learned the job.

Overall, it sounds like a great opportunity. The company has been growing consistently. It's the switch to Linux that has me concerned. I don't want to set myself up for failure. Any input would be greatly appreciated.

Expect

I've done that change, and it certainly paid off, more money, more demand.

if you have 0 knowledge in Linux, I would advise the following:

Start learning from scratch, using this book:
Beginning the Linux Command Line by Sander van Vugt | 9781430218890 | Paperback | Barnes & Noble

I would highly recommend reading and understanding how Linux works as an OS, and not just command line mastering, this is going to help you significantly in troubleshooting in the future.

if you're after certs, this is the path I took
LPIC-1 -> LPIC-2 -> LPIC-3 Core
and on to Red Hat's RHCSA -> RHCE

A lot of the new buzzwords are all Linux based, which is why this move is so smart in the first place.
good luck.

markulous

Is Linux what you want to do? There's plenty of free material out there to run up some VMs of some different disros and play around. If it's something you're interested in then I wouldn't worry about setting yourself up for failure. It's a marketable skill and you'll succeed if you like doing it.

I didn't jump from pure windows to pure linux but I do more linux commands now that I work on ESXi servers and go through logs. I enjoy it more than windows admin that's for sure.

paul78

This sounds like a fabulous opportunity if they are willing to let you come in without prior experience. Anecdotally, in my travels, I find that the best system admins generally will have Linux/Unix experience. Good luck!

fuz1on

Go for it head on but I'd say moving from pure Windows GUI to Linux CLI is quite a bit of a shell-shock even if you have extensive experience with PowerShell/cmdlets. The very nature of I/O, memory pointers and file functionality are very different. That being said, Linux is redefining the marketshare and will continue to do so and I've found just getting my Linux+ has opened some new opportunities for me. That's where I'd start if I were you - plus you get those other 2+1 certs - and I found it pretty challenging even for someone who has used Linux for a while (though not a lot as a daily box only VMs). In anticipation for the future market, I'm taking the LFCE on 11/29 and I actually run Ubuntu/Kali dual-boot as a daily OS along with OS X El Capitan and Windows 10. Did you hear Red Hat and Microsoft just signed a hybrid cloud deal for Azure? The market is hot...

blargoe

I doubt I will ever go to 100% Linux, but I know my next role, wherever it is, will probably require current Linux knowledge, which I why I'm going through the LPIC sequence now. I worked with Linux quite a bit 12 years ago, but very little since then in the corporate world other than working on the ESX CLI.

One thing I would suggest to get your feet wet, after you get through the basic steps to set up and operate a Linux system, is to try to duplicate the tasks and setups that you already know how to accomplish in Windows, and perform the same in Linux.

Linuxacademy.com is a good place to start.

Boxer77

Thanks everyone! I really appreciate the feedback. I'm currently working through the All-In-One CompTIA Linux+/LPIC-1 Certification by Robb Tracy. It comes with VMs I have running on VirtualBox on my Windows laptop for practice.

I think it will be a good move if I do get offered the position. I have 17 years of Windows experience that isn't going to totally meaningless if I decide to move on after a couple of years.

I'm expecting a good deal amount of shell shock for awhile. Luckily, they have a consultant I can fall back on and a pretty solid system is already in place. And my initial tasks will be reviewing documentation and documenting the systems as best I can while I ramp up my skills.

jcondon

This is an older book but it should ease the transition from windows to Linux.
Linux for Windows NT/2k Administrators: Secret Decoder Ring with CDROM (Mark Minasi Windows 2000): Mark Minasi, Dan York, Craig Hunt: 9780782127300: Amazon.com: Books

OctalDump

Something that you soon realise, is that at the high level its all quite similar. You still have boxes running various services, network authentication services, redundancies, virtualisation, SOEs, deployment and configuration management tools, SLAs, monitoring etc etc. A lot of the specifics of how they are implemented, the tools you use etc, change fairly rapidly within an operating system.

The other thing is that you usually end up spending most of your time with the more 'bespoke' parts of an IT implementation. All the standard stuff is usually pretty solid, it's the customisations and specific business applications that are most time consuming. And those differ between organisations on the same OS.

A lot of it comes down to the specific role. Taking care of a network that's pretty sold, stable with not much change in the future is different from coming into a crisis where you are re-architecting from the ground up with nearly no budget.

The transition will take some time. I'd encourage you to force yourself to use Linux at home as much as you can. Linux is fairly flexible, so you can use it in more Windows like ways, to make the transition less painful.

As for learning Linux, don't get too hung up on Linux+. It is broader than you likely need it to, and maybe not as deep as it could be. It's worthwhile reading, but it depends very much on what they are running what bits will be useful to you. What you want to be comfortable with is using shell, man, navigating the file system, changing permissions (and what they all mean), starting and stopping services, installing and updating software, and then dealing with whatever services they are running. That's just to start.

Some advice from a more Red Hat centric point of view was given a while ago on Reddit. Following that advice will take you somewhere like LPIC-3 (and a little beyond) or RHCA level - which is like multiple MCSE.

gespenstern

I personally had around zero issues in a similar case. Yeah, at first it takes longer to do simple tasks, like "how to read logs" or "assign permissions" or "troubleshoot boot issues". But really it's all the same, I was always catching myself in a situation like I knew WHAT to do and I knew that "there should be some way to do that" so in the end it boils down to know different ways to do similar tasks. Tasks are basically the same, like "run a script remotely", "install software", "clean up installation", "backup", "tune configs". There are, basically, roughly three big families of *nix operating systems, one being Debian based (Ubuntu, etc) and another being Red Hat based (CentOS etc.) that work slightly differently in some ways and another family is BSD-based systems with Free BSD being the most popular.

It's helpful if you are good at managing your windows out of bare command line. I, personally, got used to do that many years ago and enjoyed many times that moment when you are the only person who can get job done on a Windows core installation.

Up to this date I successfully managed to transition whole small business from Windows to PC-BSD for workstations & FreeBSD for servers, multiple business to linux-based thin stations with Windows-based Citrix/RDS farms, deployed and supported "Moodle" online educational system for a educational entity, did some security work for IBM Power systems etc.

With all that said, my knowledge of Microsoft products and infrastructure is like 95% of my overall IT knowledge. But still I manage to do almost anything with Linux, it just takes a little longer. Not "right away" as I would do with Windows, but, say, 4-10 times longer, which is still somehow was found to be acceptable by all of my employers.

OctalDump

gespenstern wrote: »

I personally had around zero issues in a similar case. Yeah, at first it takes longer to do simple tasks, like "how to read logs" or "assign permissions" or "troubleshoot boot issues". But really it's all the same, I was always catching myself in a situation like I knew WHAT to do and I knew that "there should be some way to do that" so in the end it boils down to know different ways to do similar tasks.

This is true. Knowing that something can be done is more than half the battle. You just break out the Google-fu and have an answer, usually with step by step instructions.

JockVSJock

I finally made the jump to Linux Sys Admin over a year ago and its one of the best choices and things that has happened to me. I've been after a position like this since the early 2000s. Believe it or not, as much as I hate on CompTIA, it was my Linux+ that got me the position. None of the other windows admins were willing to stand up and take up the position.

What Linux distro is this company using? Probably Redhat, they seem de facto in the Enterprise.

Seems like you have ton of great experience with Windows, so you'll have some knowledge/experience to apply toward the position, however expect to be overwhelmed probably your first 60 to 90 days. Be prepared to learn a ton on Virtualization, more then likely VMWare.

Here are a number of links that could help you get up to speed:

Linux Bible
http://www.amazon.com/Linux-Bible-Christopher-Negus/dp/1118999878/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1447076720&sr=8-1&keywords=Linux+Bible

Linux Academy
https://linuxacademy.com/

Great Linux Forum
http://www.linuxquestions.org/

Boxer77

Thanks for the advice, everyone! You've been beyond helpful. I'm definitely going to check out the resources, especially linuxacademy.org. I'm glad to see there were no horror stories from anyone who made the jump.

I did get the offer. Now I just need to make a decision. The initial offer was about $2k less than I was hoping for. It would cut my daily commute time by an hour so there's that to consider, as well.

Certification-wise, I think I'm going to do the Linux+ path to pick up my LPIC-1, as well. I also thought I saw after that you can apply for a Red Hat cert that doesn't require any further exams. I'll look into that further.

thomas_

Boxer77 wrote: »

I did get the offer. Now I just need to make a decision. The initial offer was about $2k less than I was hoping for. It would cut my daily commute time by an hour so there's that to consider, as well.

If you end up taking the offer I think $2k less than what you wanted and cutting daily commute time by an hour is a good trade off. That's roughly 250-300 hours each year you don't have to spend stuck driving in traffic.

Ideally you would get the salary you want and the reduced commute time, but even with $2k less than what you wanted is a good deal. Less time commuting means less money spent on gas, tires, and other wear and tear on your car.

OctalDump

thomas_ wrote: »

If you end up taking the offer I think $2k less than what you wanted and cutting daily commute time by an hour is a good trade off.
Less time commuting means less money spent on gas, tires, and other wear and tear on your car.

And more time for studying to get the better job