Wanting to learn Linux - Where to start and how?

I'm quite keen to learn Linux. I've been going over some job specifications for network consultants and engineers, it seems quite saught after. Whilst I don't want to be a Linux administrator, i'd love to know Linux as I believe it would complement my networkin knowledge?

Where should I start with Linux? Would you recommend following a certficiation platform to get the base knowledge down, if so which one? I have been looking at LPI and Linux+?

Do you think that any other certification would be suited to a striving network consultant?

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ITSpectre

IMO you can start by checking out YouTube. They have tons of videos on the basics. After that you can either start with Linux+ or RHCSA (red hat). I would also recommend checking out the Linux forum on this site... plenty of resources there.

wd40

I am planning to do some Penetration testing certification this year, as preparation I installed Linux (Kali) on my main machine (besides windows 10) , and made it default at startup.

I started by downloading "The Linux Command Line", which is a Free book, After finishing the 500+ pages book I am planning to sign-up for linuxacademy.com and try to pass Linux+.

Link to the book: The Linux Command Line by William E. Shotts, Jr.

Verities

The Urban Penguin has a lot of excellent beginner Linux videos. You don't have to be certified in Linux to be proficient, but for what you're interested in, I would say Linux +. It provides a nice general introduction to Linux as an OS and covers the two most popular distributions.

iBrokeIT

https://linuxacademy.com/ !!!

CBT videos, labs, a host lab environment and practice tests.

echo_time_cat

Code Academy has a decent intro course on the command line that would get you started.

Also, Server World - Build Network Server has pretty good walk through's for getting a variety of services installed and running on a Linux server.

Simrid

Thanks for the replies all! I really appreciate it. I'll be sure to investigate.

DoubleNNs

If you're mostly learning it to complement networking skills, I'd mostly learn the command line.

Pick either Ubuntu, OpenSUSE or CentOS and install it in a VM. Going headless if probably the most useful (no GUI, just the text command line). Depending on what industry or geo location you're in, you might see more Red Hat or more Ubuntu or SUSE, which should determine your choice. Afterwards I would go through The Linux Command Line by William E. Shotts, Jr.. Then if you have any networking lab at home, maybe try to integrate your linux VM into it.

Good luck!

mgmguy1

iBrokeIT wrote: »

https://linuxacademy.com/ !!!

CBT videos, labs, a host lab environment and practice tests.

I am going to be tackling Linux certification hopefully this year. So far in my research Linux Academy is what I am going to use to learn and get Linux certified. My vote is for them if you choose them ?

TechGuru80

Personally I would at least just start studying Linux+. For Linux there is a lot of information out there but it helps to have some structure when you are first learning. Also make sure you have a computer to do virtual machines on and experiment with the different variations.

UnixGuy

As everyone else suggested...Install CentOS 7 on VMware...get RHCSA book, and play!

Phillies8607

I think if you go with the LPI cert you automatically get the Linux plus cert for free. So basically you get 2 certs for the price of one. But you have to do this thru LPI not CompTIA. If you go thru CompTIA you so not get credit for the LPIC cert. LPI also offers higher tiers of certs for Linux whereas CompTIA does not. Check out this link from LPI. You might also still be able to to get the Suse cert included too.

https://www.lpi.org/3-in-1-advantage-take-two/

thomas_

Phillies8607 wrote: »

I think if you go with the LPI cert you automatically get the Linux plus cert for free. So basically you get 2 certs for the price of one. But you have to do this thru LPI not CompTIA. If you go thru CompTIA you so not get credit for the LPIC cert. LPI also offers higher tiers of certs for Linux whereas CompTIA does not. Check out this link from LPI. You might also still be able to to get the Suse cert included too.

https://www.lpi.org/3-in-1-advantage-take-two/

No. If you take the LPIC-1 exams you will not get Linux+. You have to take the Comptia Linux+ exams. If you pass then you will receive LPIC-1 and the SUSE cert if you submit for it.

Chinook

If you don't know anything about Linux consider doing the following.

1. Install Linux Mint with KDE on a laptop or as a virtual machine. It'll feel "familiar" if you use Windows.

2. Take the Linux Essentials certification from LPI. It's cheap, it's easy and it'll teach you the basic command lines. Linux Academy has great training for Linux Essentials.

Linux Essentials is all command line stuff. It's the basic stuff but trust me when I say you will want to know that stuff in your head inside and out. It'll help you down the road when you start writing/reading scripts. The best part about Linux is once the commands are in your brain they NEVER leave. I started using Linux in the 90's and many of the commands are the same.

In this day and age it's feasible to use Linux as your main workstation. KDE and Cinnamon are very "Windows" like and make the best desktop for the transition over if you're coming from Windows.

Good luck. Welcome to Rebel Alliance as we destroy the Redmond Death Star !

tpatt100

Linuxacademy is awesome and you can't beat the price. My problem is I would rather use a book and lab vs watching videos and then practice labs.

JoJoCal19

tpatt, I'm the same way. Watching videos just makes me so tired. I do better with reading.

JoJoCal19

Check out this resource! https://linuxjourney.com

wd40

JoJoCal19

This looks good, Thanks.

varelg

So you want to know Linux but not to be Linux admin. You'll have to then define which aspect of Linux do you want to know? And how do you measure success? You mentioned you are network consultant. Focus on networking part and forget about user management (for example), throw in some knowledge of grep, regular expressions and awk (to be able to slice and dice logs) and start from there.
However, if you look for a certification, then unfortunately you'll HAVE to be a Linux admin. Go for RHCSA.

Muhammed H

Can't you become Linux admin without RHCSA? Let's say with LPIC cert?

There are many jobs which are windows heavy but also asks for Linux skills. Do you really need RHCSA level cert to prove your Linux skill for those job?

Asking out of curiosity. Want to get some insights from you guys.

varelg

Muhammed H wrote: »

Can't you become Linux admin without RHCSA? Let's say with LPIC cert?

There are many jobs which are windows heavy but also asks for Linux skills. Do you really need RHCSA level cert to prove your Linux skill for those job?

Asking out of curiosity. Want to get some insights from you guys.

Since I think I started the fire...
No, you don't have to be level RHCSA to prove your skills. If I am not mistaken, certain DoD positions require Linux+ certification for contractors working with DoD.

DoubleNNs

It's also possible for you to get jobs w/o any certifications.

I've worked w/ Linux my entire career so far (as short as it's been). I don't have an RHCSA, and my Linux+ is only ~ a year old. I still flaunt my Linux+ and LPIC1 on my resume and during interviews w/ success. However, truth be told, I'm sure I'd have more options with an RHCSA.

OctalDump

Get an obscure piece of hardware, maybe a 68k Mac or an old Sparc based Sun or a Dec Alpha or something. Then try to install Linux on it. You will run into enough problems that you will become well acquainted with its intricacies. Or you could just decide "I want to set up a home email server, with a web interface, that I can access via VPN". And then start doing that. Along the way you will learn a whole bunch of stuff.

Personally, I find these kind of challenges to be quite useful for learning. Since I actually have a useful goal apart from the learning, I can stay motivated more easily.

Also, if you are looking at the Linux Sysadmin path, read this. It's still pretty good and relevant advice.

alias454

I started using Linux about 15 years ago and things have gotten easier to get started. If I were starting today, I would go with Fedora or Mepis as a starting point. I agree to some point with octal though in that maybe taking a slightly harder road would be a better learning experience and with that thought in mind one can go with Slackware, Gentoo, or Arch. The latter are for more advanced nix users and may leave you frustrated to the point you don't want to continue using them.

Once you can get a functional desktop up and running try to use it for everyday things. You will find at the GUI there isn't much different other than the selection of applications one can use. Many of which are available cross platform ie. Libre Office, FireFox, Thunderbird, etc. The thing that people think of when saying they want to learn Linux, is mostly the command line I think. This in and of itself is interesting because I don't know a lot of Windows users that drop into the cli to do tasks.

If you are talking about learning the cli, there is some basic things you need to be aware of, Linux is CaSe SenSitiVe so this 'file' is different than this 'FILE'. From a nix cli you should learn how to use vi, vi is one of the most powerful editors you will ever find and is on every nix derivative that I know of by default. Learn basic navigation from within the command line. navigating the cli should be very similar to Windows but different. tab completion and bash are your friends but spend time learning the different shells and what they might be good for csh, ksh, zsh, etc. Some super basic need to know commands are cd, ls, cat, grep etc are very valuable. Commands like sed and awk are still considered black magic by some and should be used only after you sacrifice a live chicken and say the chant.

Resource on the web will get you there but if you are like me just reading through a bunch of stuff isn't helpful. I need to try and use something then when it doesn't do what i want, go find out how to do it. Keep the mantra of "I can do anything if I just know how" and you can go far with Linux.

Chadius

This thread.....freaking awesome. Thanks everyone.