Are Linux certifications worth anything?

My brother has been in the I.T. game for 20 years but has taken a "break" for the past few years to work out personal issues. Now he wants to get back in the game. He has never been a certification guy since he felt he never needed it to excel in a position. But his skills are outdated and I feel he needs something to show recent technologies on his resume. He has a love for Linux and would like to specialize in it since most techs tend to stray from Linux. I would like to find whatever resources I can to help him out in finding a position. My question is whether or not employers look for Linux certified people? Which ones add overall value? Only one I know besides the Comptia Linux+ is the RHCE. Does the RHCE hold any value?

Thanks in advance

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MrAgent

Both the RHCSA and RHCE hold a lot of value. This is because the exams are performance based. This means that you can not simply just **** the exam.

ptilsen

Any Linux certification can potentially add value depending on the employer and your career level. However, the RedHat certifications seem to hold the most value and are more likely to affect your employability and salary, especially RHCE and RHCA.

lsud00d

MrAgent has a great point about the Red Hat based exams--I respect when I see someone with those certifications because I have seen several friends go through the process and it is a serious exam process.

I was required to get the Linux+ for a previous contract since the customer was mostly SUSE infrastructure. I don't get the opportunity to work with linux that often on my other contracts but I always include the L+ on my resume.

IMO it shows a completely different set of skills and thus demonstrates (on paper) that you are more capable than someone with just Windows-based certs. Also it extends to PoSH and Cisco CLI as far as ease of transitioning to terminal shells, which anyone in the hiring process who knows anything about linux should be able to infer.

Also the L+ is essentially the entry-level linux cert, but it was still very difficult for me. I was new to linux and there is a LOT to learn for the exam.

j23evan

I think Linux+ is an excellent piece of paper, or any Linux certifications, however it is the knowledge that is the most important. I see quite a few job postings looking for Linux admins, and Linux is certainly gaining tremendous foothold in the traditional enterprise market. VMware, third party appliances, specialized application servers running a small footprint OS.

It is a great area of expertise, and relevant for much more than just traditional Linux Server/Workstation Distros, and will certainly open doors that others wont be qualified for.

timme

At the beginning of last year, I decided to change my career. I studied the Network+, Linux+, Security+, CCNA and RHCSA exams (I'm still to write the RHCE). Prior to this, I had no real experience of working in IT apart from managing the IT of a small office.

I would definitely say that the Linux qualifications helped me get a job in IT. It's good on the CV and the knowledge has REALLY helped me in my day-to-day job. I've rapidly moved from being pure support to taking the role as a System Administrator (took me about 4 months).

It helped that my employer was at the time deliberately looking for an Linux guy.

I hope this helps.

Legacy User

Thanks guys! He is real excited that I'm getting him RHCSA study resources. Do you know of any good online video training series for it?

Asif Dasl

Linux | Unix | Open Source Training - LinuxCBT.com

This is the place to go for linux training..

Legacy User

@Asif wow that looks like the holy grail of linux training..thanks

On a side note can anyone explain whats the big deal with linux anyway? I personally don't get the appeal. I asked the question to my brother all he had to say its better performance and its just cool. Only thing that seems cool to me is that you can boot the os from a flash drive. I like windows and I work with windows so when I go on a linux system its doesn't really wow me.

MrAgent

Performance, open source, security. Those are probably the 3 biggest things that draw people to it.

ally_uk

Windows and Linux both have there benefits

However I prefer Linux reason being I find it to be more open in a sense you can configure alot more, If you dedicate the time and get under the hood and learn BASH it is very powerful. It's a solid platform ideal for setting up servers and is cost effective as opposed to deploying Microsoft solutions. It keeps my mind busy what I mean by this is I get a sense of achieving something when i'm using a Linux system as opposed to using Microsoft products.

timme

dmarcisco wrote: »

Thanks guys! He is real excited that I'm getting him RHCSA study resources. Do you know of any good online video training series for it?

My best advice is to use the Jang RHCSA / RHCE Red Hat Linux Certification Study Guide. It's pretty comprehensive and he can definitely pass the exam on just that. They key is to practice loads and loads. I would also recommend the Roderick Smith Linux+ Study guide if he is less familiar with Linux - it provides a lot of the command line basics.

Lastly, I would strongly recommend that he goes through the Red Hat Deployment Guide (Available on their website). Some of it won't be at all relevant, but it's an incredibly userful resource to have.

Personally, I don't think online videos are all that helpful for this type of studying, as the exam is totally practical and the only way to prepare is by setting up virtual machines and practising the commands until they become second nature.

wallpaper_01

timme wrote: »

My best advice is to use the Jang RHCSA / RHCE Red Hat Linux Certification Study Guide. It's pretty comprehensive and he can definitely pass the exam on just that. They key is to practice loads and loads. I would also recommend the Roderick Smith Linux+ Study guide if he is less familiar with Linux - it provides a lot of the command line basics.

Lastly, I would strongly recommend that he goes through the Red Hat Deployment Guide (Available on their website). Some of it won't be at all relevant, but it's an incredibly userful resource to have.

Personally, I don't think online videos are all that helpful for this type of studying, as the exam is totally practical and the only way to prepare is by setting up virtual machines and practising the commands until they become second nature.

I've used Linux for years but I would still say I'm amateur because ive just used what I needed to get by. Would you say Linux+ is worth it then? Or skip and go RHCSA? I'm looking to get the basics down as I imagine I have picked up bad habbits.

timme

wallpaper_01 wrote: »

I've used Linux for years but I would still say I'm amateur because ive just used what I needed to get by. Would you say Linux+ is worth it then? Or skip and go RHCSA? I'm looking to get the basics down as I imagine I have picked up bad habbits.

I don't know what your skill level is or how much you use the command line.

My experience was as follows:
I have used Linux (Ubuntu) since 2007 (Gutsy), often as my primary operating system on one of my machines. I benefited from the Linux+ qualification; I was able to get through it reasonably quickly, preparing no more than two weeks per exam.

Using the GUI is different from using bash on a day-to-day basis. If you're not familiar with bash, then the Linux+ syllabus will probably benefit you. Whether you choose to write the exam is a different question.

For job benefit purposes, I would definitely go with the RHCSA / RHCE. It gives you a really good working knowledge of CENT / RHEL systems, as well as server based software (eg. SSH; Apache; vsFTP; syslogd; cron; Postfix; iptables).

Lastly, I've learned far more from working everyday than pure qualifications have got me. For me, they're good on the CV and can get you the job, but the real learning starts on the job.

Legacy User

Thanks Timme I'll look into those resources.

WafflesAndRootbeer

I'd start with Ubuntu for learning your way around the OS in general and then work your way over to Debian to do some heavy learning there to prepare for the distro-specific Linux certs. Before you do any of the distro-specific certs, you can use the trial versions of the commercial distros for several weeks to make sure you got yourself in order.

Legacy User

@WafflesandRootbeer Thanks for the feedback. Well he's a big linux guy already so he already knows his way around. I was just looking for a way to help him get back into the job market and nothing says updated skills then a certification.

lol To be honest I know of Ubuntu but everything else you mentioned sounds foreign to me.

antielvis

Linux+/LPIC1 cert is a great certification to give you the basics of junior linux system administration. LPIC-2 is a more advanced certification and the second exam of LPIC2 focuses heavily on Apache. The major difference between the LPIC & RH exams is that the RH exam has a practical component. That might carry some weight but the reality is it's unlikely you'll pass even LPIC1 without either doing hands on in Linux or having hands on experience.

The first step in mastering Linux is learning the common linux commands because you're going to have to know those commands to write BASH scripts. IMO, the best way to learn those commands is to use them..so get yourself a Linux server and do everything in command line (even moving a file).