[Ale-study] Linux system administrator

[JD]

On 05/02/2014 09:41 AM, B. Robert wrote:
> I moved here 2 years ago and looking to start a new career in IT,  I work 2 jobs
> to support my family and looking to do Linux system administration
> It would be tough to enroll in a main stream college program and my background
> has not been strong in computers as i am a High school.
> 
> I need some advice on how to go about this, from a professional point of view or
> experience from someone who has been through the same.
> 
> Looking forward for any guidance
> 

Everyone seems to find their own way into becoming a UNIX admin. There isn't a
set way to do it. Mine was strange too. Come to an ALE or GA-400 Linux meeting
and I'll share the story after. I have ZERO formal training, but have been doing
UNIX/Linux administration since 1996 in 1 way or another - never as my only job.

So - the best way is to get the company to pay for you to get trained by Redhat.
If you want to make money, Redhat Certification is the best, most-likely, way to
get paid in the end.

Lacking getting the company to pay, get a current Redhat Cert book, load up
CentOS and start working through all the chapters systematically.

It should go unsaid that you need to use only Linux all day, every day, only
dropping back to Windows when absolutely necessary. The struggle matters.
Fedora is the desktop distro that RH people run.

It should be noted that I'm saying this as an Ubuntu Server Admin and Debian
lover. That just is not where most of the money flows.

Most companies willing to pay well for admins (in the USA) will run RHEL. There
are exceptions, of course.  Similar thoughts happen for virtualization - VMware
ESXi is the money-earner, XenServer 2nd, followed by all the free solutions.
Virtualization is a core skill for any Linux admin now.

DevOps is a buzzword too - real admins have been doing DevOps since the
beginning of time, but the tools are better today. This is also a core skill for
any Admin, IMHO.  Puppet, Chef, Ansible, CFEngine ... tools like that.

Being on projects with a budget matters. Just sayin' - RHEL, ESXi, Puppet are
the skills to get paid.