What (if any) are the benefits of Linux certification?

dudwell

Hi,
I'm a complete newbie to the world of Linux so I'm trying to decide on the best approach in getting started (ultimately I want to be proficient enough to support Linux servers in work). Can anyone tell me if the certification track is a good starting point? I've been considering the LPIC-1 certification so that i have something to work towards rather than tinkering on a machine with no end product (also looks good to have something on the CV).

Also, can anyone recommend the best Linux distro that I should use to get a solid understanding of how the OS works? I can see from previous threads that this is very much a matter of personal preference but feedback is much appreciated all the same. Ideally I'm looking for a distro that will force me to learn as much about the OS as possible.

Cheers

mr kr0nik

Hi there,
I managed to get the Red Hat Certified System Administrator last year. There was a four day refresher course followed by the exam on the fifth day.

I wouldn't recommend doing this until have have a good bit of experience under your belt, but its the only linux certification I've ever gone for and would recommend it.

Sorry forgot to mention, I earned some kudos from my employer (helped with a successful argument for a pay rise).

LiamOSullivan

dudwell wrote: »

Hi,
I'm a complete newbie to the world of Linux so I'm trying to decide on the best approach in getting started (ultimately I want to be proficient enough to support Linux servers in work). Can anyone tell me if the certification track is a good starting point? I've been considering the LPIC-1 certification so that i have something to work towards rather than tinkering on a machine with no end product (also looks good to have something on the CV).

Also, can anyone recommend the best Linux distro that I should use to get a solid understanding of how the OS works? I can see from previous threads that this is very much a matter of personal preference but feedback is much appreciated all the same. Ideally I'm looking for a distro that will force me to learn as much about the OS as possible.

Cheers

I have no experience in the business world, but if you want a distro to force you into having a good understanding, I'd recommend Linux from Scratch and Gentoo Linux. Both of those cover almost the entirety of a Linux system, and getting a Gentoo system up and fully functional to the degree you require will give you a lot of knowledge about administering a system and the basics of scripting it.

If you're going to be working with servers, it's also a great idea to become at least slightly familiar with distros like Red Hat, Oracle Linux(CentOS is fine), and such, as these are pretty common in the server world.

PrzemoF

dudwell wrote: »

Hi,
I'm a complete newbie to the world of Linux[..]

Based on the above - get any popular distro (ubuntu, fedora, mint...) and get familiar with the concept of working with linux. I'm thinking about things like using command line (GUI is easy), using pipes, scripts, reading logs, fixing things without reinstalling everything and so on. It really doesn't matter what distro you pick - switching is rather easy (keep you /home partition separate - that makes switching _really_ easy).

@LiamOSullivan, I don't agree with you suggestion about gentoo/linux from scratch. If dudewell is a complete newbie he'll become another linux-is-hard advocate before he can build a working system.

Stuxnet

yes Id advise away from starting with Gentoo....Im a Unix admin intern with CPU manufacturer in Shannon, Id go with Ubuntu firstly a) it will most likely work with your current hardware out of the box... you dont need a headache straight up trying to compile drivers for your laptop...and b) the community help is second to none, all the information is at your fingertips

Linux is Linux, so all the linux commands will work on ubuntu, as you get to grips, then Id move on...to fedora,(which is red hat) learn about systemd, nis, automounts, very important if you are interested in the server side of things, and try do basic things like package installs and file searching & editing in the terminal as opposed to point and click gui

being able to navigate linux and use the terminal are a good start, it would take a couple of years with production environment experience id imagine before you could get Red Hat Certified imo ?

Good luck

dudwell

Thanks for all the great feedback folks. Just talking to some of the Linux heads here in work and they recommend the RedHat track, they reckon its ubiquitous in the industry when it comes to Linux server OS? They recommend installing Fedora and working from there, any thoughts on that? Ultimately I wish to become proficient enough to put down on my CV that I can support and work on Linux servers. Can anyone tell me if a RedHat certification should suffice from an employers point of view?

Stuxnet

yup fedora is a good start.... fedora 18 is actually out this week or next !! but 17 was pretty cool, I like the KDE version myself
but i recommend Ubuntu if you have proprietary wireless/video card drivers that need to be installed, although it isnt too much of a headache in fedora, just till you get your feet warm

Yes Red Hat Cert is the best cert you can get !:)

Tom Dunne

dudwell wrote: »

Thanks for all the great feedback folks. Just talking to some of the Linux heads here in work and they recommend the RedHat track, they reckon its ubiquitous in the industry when it comes to Linux server OS? They recommend installing Fedora and working from there, any thoughts on that?

In my experience as an Oracle DBA, RedHat is pretty much the defacto server OS of choice (in non-Windows shops).

In older places (large manufacturing or finance), you may come across other flavours, such as HP-UX or Solaris, but I don't know if they offer any kind of certification. Even if they did, I think it would be too niche.

One thing I will say is stay away from the GUI if you want to learn how to use Linux skills that will be useful in the workplace. The likes of Ubuntu (or Fedora, which I use) keep you away from the nuts and bolts or of the operating system.

dudwell

Think thats it sorted then, will go with the Fedora distro and work towards a RedHat certification. Any feedback on best RedHat certification to work towards as a beginner and best training approach would be much appreciated. Thanks for the feedback.

madhatter76

In the business world you will find mostly RedHat because of their Business support. The RedHat certifications wil help you to learn and and proof your skills when trying to look for jobs in that area.

The free versions for Redhat to play with are CentOS, Scientific Linux and Fedora , where Fedora is more a developer branch and usually (but not only) used on Desktops. I would rather consider to go for Centos or Scientific LInux which are close to the RedHat server and can be considered as "stable".

Ubuntu, Linux Mint, and Debian are mostly Desktop Linuxes but could be used as servers as well but due to the lack of any "professional" support contracts (and who once bought Ubuntu support service will never buy it again) they are usually used either privately or for special purpose servers where there is no other option or support needed.

Orion

Tom Dunne wrote: »

One thing I will say is stay away from the GUI if you want to learn how to use Linux skills that will be useful in the workplace. The likes of Ubuntu (or Fedora, which I use) keep you away from the nuts and bolts or of the operating system.

They don't keep you away from it - they just default to the GUI. That's their model - linux on the desktop means not scaring the uninitiated. The console is still the best way to do anything even then. I'd be fcuked without df -h on my media pc which is set up so that even the wife can use it (the kids have no problem )- not even sure where to find how much crap I've filled up my disk with in the GUI

You're absolutely right about staying command line though - it's the only way to learn.

I did a Powershell for Windoze course recently. Billed as Microsoft's new powerful administration command shell. So much of it robbed from *nix it's unbelievable they can even claim ownership of it. Even their "proprietary" commands have built in aliases. E.g.

Alias           cat                                                 Get-Content
Alias           ls                                                  Get-ChildItem
Alias           kill                                                Stop-Process

harney

The LPI certification might be worth a look at as it aims to be vendor neutral, at least I think that is what the original goal was. You can find free training material out there, IBM used to have a full training course for free on their web site, although I haven't check in a while so it may not be updated to the latest course yet. It might be a useful way to get a good understanding of Linux before you tackle and pay for the Red Hat training.

https://www.lpi.org/linux-certifications

http://www.lpi.org/content/suse-certification-partnership (You can apply for SUSE Certified Linux Administrator (CLA) status for free once you pass both parts of the Level 1 exam)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ubuntu_Certified_Professional (it looks like you can take an extra module now and become Ubuntu certified. Not nearly as useful as either Suse or Red Hat certified but also an option as you are building up knowledge.)

http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/linux/lpi/ (a quick google brought up this, but there may be more relevant info out there)