Hi everyone -

I am currently in the transition process to retire from military. Looking at my potential 2nd career jobs I am very interested in finding a job as a Linux system administrator. Searching a few job sites (i.e. Monster.com, etc.) I see a lot of postings looking for varying levels Red Hat experience.

I would like to install an OS to help me learn the Red Hat side of the house.

What's the best way? As I see it (based on a few basic searches conducted) my options are

- buy copy RH Workstation
- buy copy of RH Server
- install Fedora
- install CentOS

I know the RH options will require $ but for my brainstorming I am ignoring that fact and looking for the best way to learn Red Hat (even if it costs me a little investment $).

Thanks!

I think you should stick with CentOS. It is practically re-branded RHEL minus the support cost.

Then start off with Linux+/lfcs or RHCSA guidelines. (Don't go off on a certification spree unless you have some months under your belt and/or hopefully have an employer who is willing to reimburse the cost).

-> Get comfortable with the command line and be prepared to work in CLI only environment.
-> Admins go through a lot of logs (application/system/dumps/reports).. So spend time reading the logs and try to understand what it says. (It'll start making sense with practice and tenacity)
-> Understand the filesystem hierarchy and learn at least one scripting language (such as perl/bash) and one programming language (such as python). They will help you automate stuff down the line. [bash,perl,python etc comes pre-installed with most Linux distributions]
-> Understand package management and repository handling.

Then you may look at various service configurations (such as samba, bind, apache etc), automation tools (salt/ansible etc), virtualization (such as KVM,xen,OVMx86) and such. At that time, you may follow various resources available on the internet.


I would also suggest to spend some time (in a VM ?) with debian/suse etc to understand how they differ with RHEL.

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I second using CentOS for learning.

A web search for "RHEL book" will turn up a number of items. In addition, the RHEL website has a list of recommended books. Read the reviews, then pick a good one and work your way through it. Stick with it and take your time (I did that several years ago; I was not attempting to get a certification, but I learned a heck of a lot).

If you have the resources, a computer capable of running up to three VMs or an extra computer or two (maybe from a second-hand shop) will be very helpful when you get the sections on networking.

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Another vote for use CentOS.

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Unix and Linux system adminstration handbook by Evi Nemeth and others
This is considered by many as something of a classic. It starts very much at the beginning yet contains masses of stuff that I wouldn't know in its 1000+ pages. Start at the beginning, using CentOS, and just try everything. As Evi used to say, you don't understand anything until you've implemented it.

Actually, nothing against books, but all the docs are available to read online free here https://access.redhat.com/documentation/en-us/

There are also many other websites for Linux docs eg www.linuxtopia.org

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I have two copies of the Linux Bible - Red Hat version for different years. This is an excellent first primer and standing reference. Your major booksellers should have copies: go with the one that costs less.
Avid Fedora, it contains packages and options that are NOT in Red Hat and some of them never will be. Fedora can be misleading, CentOS is the preferred option.

a few dozen eResources