Windows Admin looking for a Linux(ish) job?

langenoir

Hello, I’m a Windows admin that has a couple years working with Linux (CentOS in production, Fedora at home). I’ve got myself into a pickle. I worked with Linux at my last job, but I’ve got myself into a job that is only(mostly) Windows, well sometimes Mac. No Linux… Yes, probably a big misstep. I’ve got 7 years working in Windows environments and 2 years of Linux. I’m not trying to go full throttle Linux SysAdmin, but looking for more of a heterogeneous Windows / Linux environment probably on the corporate side. I don’t think I have the skills to work for a full on Linux/Unix ISP/DevOps, where I probably should be if I want to get Linux Admin experience.

Anyway I’m looking to isolate the core concepts any good Linux Admin (Distro Agnostic) should have. I’m working on my RHCSA and trying to teach myself Python. I have a list below of the things I’m focusing on. Am I missing anything glaring?

Installation / Partitioning / LVM
File Installation
File/Folder Ownership / Permissions
Shared Resources (NFS, iSCSI, SMB/CIFS integration?)
Configuring the Network/Firewall (BIND, iptables)
Scripting (Bash, Perl, Python)
Directory Admin (LDAP)?
Log monitoring / Maintenance
Backup / DR
Apache
MySQL

And if anyone here in NYC happens to know of any good openings I can work with Windows AD(2008, 2003), Linux(Redhat distros), VMware(4/5), SAN(NetApp, HP, Dell) please let me know.

the_hutch

langenoir wrote: »

trying to teach myself Python

I highly recommend the SPSE course for Python. So far, this course has been awesome. By reputation, SecurityTube doesn't get the respect that it deserves, but I'm only in the second module (of 10) and I already feel like I've taken more from this course than any other single course I've taken. Plus its only $250 for the course material, student forums and the test & certification. SecurityTube Python Scripting Expert « SecurityTube Trainings

Krones

Justin, would you recommend the Learn Python the Hard Way course before delving into the SPSE course for Python? This is coming from someone with little to no programming background. Thanks in advance!

the_hutch

Not at all. I have practically no programming background and I picked it up quick. Personally, I feel like this provides a better introduction than LPTHW. I tried LPTHW before enrolling and got really frustrated. Vivek teaches it really well.

ChooseLife

langenoir wrote: »

I worked with Linux at my last job, but I’ve got myself into a job that is only(mostly) Windows, well sometimes Mac. No Linux… ... looking for more of a heterogeneous Windows / Linux environment probably on the corporate side

I was in exactly same position at some point - going from 90% Linux environment to a larger and more challenging, but 100% Windows environment. I suffered for some time thinking it would hinder my career growth, but then decided to act and introduced Linux (and VMware, but that's another story) to the system. Linux part was not big, just a few servers, but it allowed to continue working with Linux in a corporate environment and display this continuous experience on resume.

langenoir

Krones wrote: »

Justin, would you recommend the Learn Python the Hard Way course before delving into the SPSE course for Python? This is coming from someone with little to no programming background. Thanks in advance!

That's what I was wondering. I've been using Python | Codecademy to get up to speed. Then I was going to do one of these. https://www.coursera.org/course/interactivepython or https://www.coursera.org/course/programming1

langenoir

ChooseLife wrote: »

I was in exactly same position at some point - going from 90% Linux environment to a larger and more challenging, but 100% Windows environment. I suffered for some time thinking it would hinder my career growth, but then decided to act and introduced Linux (and VMware, but that's another story) to the system. Linux part was not big, just a few servers, but it allowed to continue working with Linux in a corporate environment and display this continuous experience on resume.

I've tried that, but I've heard my Boss say that he doesn't like anything he has to do in the command line. So I doubt it's ever going to get any traction.

ChooseLife

langenoir wrote: »

I’m looking to isolate the core concepts any good Linux Admin (Distro Agnostic) should have.

Looks like a solid list. A few things to add:

Traditional:
* Email (qmail/sendmail/postfix)
* Tomcat
* Software stacks on top of web servers - PHP, Java, Ruby...
* Performance monitoring/tuning

Emerging:
* Puppet/chef
* Git
* SELinux

Worth noting that it's good for any Linux admin to have some knowledge of the mentioned systems, so he can hit the ground running in any new environment. In the reality, the actual role will always focus only on a subset of these.

ChooseLife

langenoir wrote: »

I've tried that, but I've heard my Boss say that he doesn't like anything he has to do in the command line. So I doubt it's ever going to get any traction.

Yep, I received the same feedback, but I was persistent and persuasive... Had to prove the point of why Linux was a better choice for specific server roles, document everything, and make sure my boss was comfortable with having "this lunix thing" around on the network.

UnixGuy

langenoir wrote: »

...
Anyway I’m looking to isolate the core concepts any good Linux Admin (Distro Agnostic) should have. .

Personally, I believe there's no such thing Some people disagree....

Every shop is different. Working for a web hosting company will give you a completely different exposure than working for a financial services company. Yes certain things will be similar, but the technologies will be different. Just know that if you don't use it, you lose it. Learning and trying out LDAP in a lab is good, but if you don't use it for 2 yrs (for example), you will forget it.


What you're learning is excellent. Get RHCSA (and RHCE), but most importantly, try to get a job as soon as possible. Learning on the job is essential here. Keep working on certifications.

Regarding scripting, you must know bash (sed, awk, grep,..). Then you can learn something like Perl or Python. There's no standard here, every company is different. Some companies swear by Perl, while other use Bash. I believe everything can be done by Bash, but some people disagree

dontstop

I've added some

Installation / Partitioning / LVM, ZFS, ?Clustered Filesystems?
File Installation, Automation (Kickstart)
File/Folder Ownership / Permissions, Unix Permissions, ACLs (Windows Style)
Shared Resources (NFS, iSCSI, SMB/CIFS integration?)
Configuring the Network/Firewall (BIND, iptables)
Scripting (Bash, Sed/Awk/Regex, Perl, Python, PHP, some html/css is nice)
Coding (c/c++) Basic understanding
Directory Admin (LDAP, NIS, NIS+, Kerberos)
Log monitoring / Maintenance, nagios, cacti, ganglia,
Backup / DR, Clustering, Loadbalancers
Apache, nginx, tomcat
MySQL, postgres
SVN/GIT
Wiki

Until about 2 years ago i was keen as becoming a Windows System Administrator, After starting with Linux i found it so much more liberating to do what you want and not having to follow the "Windows way, or the highway" approach.

One thing that i must recommend is although this is cool, being able to kludge things together so it works, ensure that what you do is:

• Well Documented/Well commented
• Simplicity & elegance are king.
• Modular
• Easily maintainable, extensible
• and Diagramed!!!

There are many times you find in the *nix world little hacks that glue infrastructure together which can become a big pain to maintain once a person leaves or if the code/system is complex and hard to understand.