Nagios Certification

the_Grinch

We are going to start using Nagios at work and I've been tasked with getting it up and running. Naturally, as I've been doing my reading, I wondered if a certification existed. Low and behold they have two Nagios certifications!

Nagios Certification - Nagios

Nagios Certified Professional and Nagios Certified Administrator

Any thoughts on these?

The Technomancer

No. Just no.

I've never seen one on a resume, and really, I think I'd laugh if I did. There are very few places that run Nagios with only standard plugins, which would be all you could certify against.

I do find it amusing that they have two tiers of certification, though. I mean, I was pretty sure that every admin that dealt with a Nagios server had to actually administer it. If you aren't doing that, what are you being certified for? Clicking links, ack'ing alerts, and being able to tell the difference between red, yellow, and green?

lsud00d

Hmmm at $199 and $299 I don't see much ROI UNLESS you obtained a role that was purely Nagios, of which I have been contacted for since I have Nagios on my resume. Aside from that...I wouldn't bother.

TBH I miss Nagios (it was in a previous work environment)...was doing some pretty crafty things with application availability.

petedude

I can't diss too many certifications-- most will have SOME value somewhere.

In the case of the Nagios ones, the basic cert might be too basic to have much utility except for some IT manager roles (aka "yeah, I've seen it"). The more advanced Nagios cert seems to be the most applicable for folks here. It won't replace years of Nagios experience, but gives you an earned keyword on your resume and gives you a snowball's chance against more experienced/overpriced competing candidates. If you study for the advanced Nagios cert, I'd suggest building some sort of portfolio to carry into interviews-- scripts, reports, etc. that you can explain and show off.

I'm starting to think the most optimal certification path for a Linux/FOSS network guru might be-- RHCSA/RHCE (or similar), then virtualization cert (e.g. VMWare, best VCP), then Puppet, then Nagios.

cmitchell_00

We use Nagios for monitoring and it's a great "Free" product. You only need basic Linux knowledge to setup and support. Now if you want some extra capabilities with plugins you'll need a more in dept knowledge base of Linux. However, I wouldn't waste $199 etc. because you'll be better off getting Microsoft's 2012 certifications. They are only $150 which are cheaper and they carry more weight than a Nagios cert.

antielvis

I disagree this would be a waste of time. It isn't designed to be used to get you a job, it's designed to compliment your current position. Not every certification is about getting a job..some of it is to broaden your career.

About7Narwhal

I would consider this simply because my company uses it and my boss would appreciate the effort to learn the program. If that weren't the case, I would likely not bother with it.

the_Grinch

Yeah, I wouldn't use it to get a job, but we are starting to use it here so I figure the certification would be nice to show I have some knowledge about it. Thanks all, dunno if I'll go for it, but definitely appreciate the opinions!

networker050184

This is one of those things where it's not a bad idea to learn about something, but you don't have to get certified in every little thing you learn.