(Part 2) Best products from r/linuxadmin

I think the above is excellent advice. I might add that maybe the best way to really get to grips with the system is to find some sort of project relevant to your current skillset and/or interest, and implement it with Linux, without worrying too much (yet) about whether you're doing it the "right way". If you have the discipline to go through thick books from cover to cover, more power to you, but I had more fun and learned faster by making things with Google to hand to answer questions like "how do i restart apache".

You mention you have some background in web development. That's how I started too; I just moved closer to the server while my colleagues were more interested in design and interactive behaviour.

If you really want some good books, one I wouldn't hesitate to recommend is Sobell's A Practical Guide to Linux.

Incidentally, if you get really good at this, you might find your knowledge of finance has a lot more synergy with your new skills than you might think ...

A lot of what has been suggested is great for learning linux. Realize that "out there" very little is served out of a single box (and if it is you're doin it wrong). Production infrastructure likely looks and acts very very differently from your home linux workstation. Just because you know how to type sudo apt-get install apache2 does not mean you are ready for a full ops position... BUT - if you put in the wrench time and pay your dues, you will get there.

Here are some areas that would be good to build your knoweldgebase up in...

• First and foremost - you must build the ability to learn how to figure things out and build an intuition of what to inspect should something not be working. This comes from having a working knowledge of many different systems in a large heterogeneous environment. This will come with experience.
  
• Learn some of the rapid deployment frameworks - cobbler, puppet, cfengine, etc... No one sits around configuring each and every production machine from scratch.
  
• Now that you are familiar with (presumably) the installation and configuration of apache, start thinking about setting up caching/proxy infrastructure. Get a sense for what to use for load balancing v.s. caching v.s. increasing availability (and some combination of the three). Become familiar with things such as nginx, mod_proxy, haproxy, squid, varnish, mongrel, etc...
  
• You MUST know how dns works. Crickets bind and dns should be considered required reading. Any lack of understanding of how dns works is simply unacceptable for a proper sysadmin.
  
• this book is required reading, period.
  
• You must become familiar with centralized authentication mechanisms. Most systems utilize something called PAM. Learn how to configure PAM to reference slapd, AD, etc... Kerberos is our current preferred central authentication mechanism, you need to know how to bounce kerberos tickets around. Get slapd (OpenLDAP) up on its legs.
  
• When running a linux kernel, learn how to configure netfilter. Under linux, Netfilter is the thing responsible for routing, nat, and packet filtering. Understand that other kernels do not use netfilter (or commonly use something else). Become familiar with the common kernels firewall, routing, and forwarding system(s). Don't make the mistake of saying "the iptables firewall..." in the interview room! Iptables is not a firewall.
  
• Know your basic networking. Internet core protocols should be added to your list of required reading. Understand the differences between a hub, bridge, switch, and router. Learn how to "subnet", which means knowing your binary math! I cannot tell you how many times I have seen a messed up network because someone didn't know how to figure out /27 and keyed in the wrong values from a "subnet calculator". Along with networking do a bunch of reading/research on vlans, trunking and stp. Most people cannot tell you what a L2/3 managed switch is or how it differs from a "dumb" switch or router. Don't be one of those people! Learn how to configure routing protocols such as BGP, RIP and OSPF (also, learn basic computational graph theory). You may not end up doing a whole lot of networking, but it's really good stuff to know.
  
• Virtualization is important. You need to know the different forms of virtualization (desktop v.s. os-level v.s. para v.s. hyper virtualization). If you are keen to linux, you need to know how xen and kvm work (this is typically what commercial vps's typically use). Also look at vmware and virtualbox for desktop virt. For os-level virtualization, you need to know how to use LxC and jails.
  
• Learn how LVM works! Spend some time familiarizing yourself with LVM2 (linux), vinum (BSD), and ZFS's container framework (Solaris/BSD). Know how and when to use raid. Make sure you understand the implications of the different raid configurations.
  
• Learn common backup methodology. Raid is not backup, don't make this mistake.
  
• Get used to doing everything on the command line, and always think "what if I had to do this on 20,000 servers?".
  
  So off the top of my head there's a bunch of things you could study. I think that's quite a bit to get your head around, and a deep understanding of some of these topics will only come from working experience. There may be a LOT of work to do in some of those areas. Getting a fully functional xen (or kvm) based system up and on it's legs is not an easy task for the uninitiated. It is my opinion (and everyone else is free to disagree with me) that all good sysadmins/ops/engineers need to "grow up" in some area of lower level technical position. That can be a jr. admin position, the helldesk, or whatever else... This will give you the "systems" working experience that will let you branch into a full fledged admin/op position. Getting some certs under your belt can help you get in the door, but by all means isn't required. Cert's cost money and (the ones worth getting) take time. Personally, I tend to stray away from places that make a big deal out of certs... but that's just me.
  
  tl;dr: Learn how to learn. Pick something you don't know how to do and leverage a linux system to accomplish that goal - rinse and repeat.
  

I have the UNIX and LINUX System Administration Handbook It's awesome and has a pirate boat on the front, so you know it's good. It's great for best practices type stuff, and there's a little bit of sysadmin humor mixed in.

I also have the Linux Command Line and Shell Scripting Bible which is good for CLI reference.

Other than that, you can find a ton of stuff on the web. Is there anything in particular you are looking for?

When I studied for the RHCSA, I found that Sander Van Vugt came highly recommended. Best of all? $Free (i.e. get the free trial and go for it)

https://www.safaribooksonline.com/library/view/red-hat-certified/9780134723990/

I also got the Ashgar Ghori book because the Michael Jang one wasn't out yet.

Jang's RHEL6 books were highly regarded, so I would expect his RHEL7 stuff to be held in similar esteem. Ghori's book seemed perfectly capable, though.

I recently got a job as a junior admin and found Unix and Linux System Administration to be really good. There is also a nice CBT Nuggets series on Linux which is a great overview, especially when watched while reading LPI Linux Certification in a Nutshell as the book complements the videos.

If he already knows another programming language Dive Into Pythion is great for getting up to speed quickly.

I really enjoyed both of these books when I was starting out. Even now they are super helpful. https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0134277554/ref=dp_ob_neva_mobile

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1491927577/ref=dp_ob_neva_mobile

If you don’t know Linux at all the 2nd book gives you a good overview of things.

The PS/2 issue is simple enough to fix with a converter, they are cheap and readily available. VGA to HDMI requires an expensive, clunky, finicky converter box, so that ain't happening. With that in mind, move away from the NUCs. If you can find a cheap alternative that supports DVI, conversion to both HDMI or VGA, I believe, is cheap and easy. Something like this has a DVI and an HDMI, tho I don't know the brand too well. Or how well linux support is for a random ass'd ARM based system. Or MSI has a celeron unit with a VGA port. Figure out a per system budget, and look around, and check reviews, and google for issues with the model you go with ;) Quite a few minis have DVI.

I recommend you complete your LPIC-1 learning, whether or not you then take its exams, before starting RHCSA.

I'm currently going through this recommended book by Michael Jang to learn RHCSA and RHCE, and also this book by Sander van Vugt for RHCSA and RHCE.

In the book by Michael Jang, at the end of chapter 1, he writes that the LPIC-1 exams "cover a number of related commands that we believe are implied prerequisites for the Red Hat certifications" and also says "Passing the LPIC 101 and 102 exams provides an excellent foundation for the RHCSA and RHCE exams."

It's wise to know everything at the LPIC-1 level whether or not you choose to buy the two corresponding exams for the LPIC-1 certification. If you do want to buy & take exams to get an LPIC-1, you might as well buy & take the two current Linux+ exams, and then have them tell LPI so that you also get LPIC-1. But it doesn't work the other way (if you get LPIC-1, you don't automatically get Linux+).

Read "The Linux Command Line" from cover to cover (it's free). You'll easily be a beginner shell scripter by then and probably a better Linux user overall. The book is also an easy read.

From there go into "Unix Shell Programming". If you reduce the gap between the 2 books, the 2nd book will also be an easy (yet somewhat dry) read.

Try to build some small projects while going thru the material. If you use it you'll be more apt to retain the info.

That's what I did. Took me 2 months of reading afterhours of my full time job. By the time the 2 months was up I surprisingly knew more shell scripting than most Linux Admins I've met since. (Admittedly, a lot of people in IT really don't know as much as they try to make it seem.) The only thing missing was experience and projects to use as practice.

Edit: You probably would do really well getting a LinuxAcademy subscription for a year and go thru as much as possible.

I found this book to be very helpful - OpenStack in Action https://www.amazon.com/dp/1617292168/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_wx0FAbNCER186

Other than that, there not much else that can be done beyond labbing and taking notes. Personally I like making mind maps (xmind is a good free tool) to help me break down/remember difficult topics.

It all depends on the chipset, some support master mode for broadcasting a network, other don't. You probably wont get much luck with a USB wifi dongle though, I can't imagine that network strength would be too great.

However looking around the AR9271 chipset should work in master mode and this looks like a decent dongle.

If by Complete Linux you are referring to the book published by Macmillan Computer Publishing then you're not really comparing like with like.

MCP books are generally written at huge speed. Generally they are written faster than a single author can write, which is why their books are generally either written by a team, or are revisions of previous books. The process as a whole doesn't lend itself to careful correctness either. For example the text of the book is imported (was imported: my information is some years old) into Microsoft word. That has some problematic effects for Unix books; for example
echo it is now date
sometimes gets turned into
echo it is now 'date'

They have little interest in post-publication corrections, since instead they simply publish an updated book (about Foo! Linux! Version N+1) instead, with new and different errors.

IOW, the MCP process is (or was, at least) about shifting large numbers of new books quickly. Not long term sales of a single title.

There are a small number of other publishers who, on the other hand, have a process which yields higher quality books. I'm thinking of Prentice-Hall, O'Reilly, Addison-Wesley and probably Wiley and Pragmatic Programmers. I have likely missed out a few quality publishers there; basically, anybody who works with a single source material almost throughout stands a better chance of a good result (e.g. publishing through LaTeX, Docbook, structured text, roff, etc.) on the details.

thrilljockey's advice is excellent. To add to that, follow the guides at gentoo.org and archlinux.org.

Work through Practical Guide to Linux

This has improved my skills/knowledge in amazing ways.

This book if you literally want to know how everything works on a very low level:
http://www.amazon.com/Cryptography-Developers-Tom-St-Denis/dp/1597491047

Read about LibreSSL. See if you can get Nginx+LibreSSL working, although this is not always such a good idea yet for Linux.

Configuring SSL on Nginx is pretty easy. I'd rather use Nginx as opposed to Apache. I don't really see why you would want to start your own CA.

Some links on SSL+Nginx:
https://yoirtuts.com/index.php?title=SSL_Server_Test
https://www.trevorparker.com/hardening-ssl-in-nginx/
https://yoirtuts.com/index.php?title=Nginx_SSL_Best_Settings

What products are you guys working on that you would like to integrate with SSL?

Two things you can to start out with:
1.) Get a free SSL cert at startssl.com and set it up with Nginx on your personal website and try get an A+ rating on https://www.ssllabs.com/ssltest/index.html
2.) Write some code that does something with libressl or openssl.

Watch this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7Wl2FW2TcA

How do you think your book compares with Brian Hogan's tmux book? I bought the first edition last year, which helped me get into tmux and setup my config, but I'm always looking for new tricks.

https://www.amazon.com/tmux-2-Productive-Mouse-Free-Development-ebook/dp/B01N9HBR3D/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1491080085&sr=1-1&keywords=tmux

Skimming through the intro and first chapter of yours, I like your visual representation of sessions, windows, and panes, and I hope the rest of it presents tmux as visually as possible, given too often in technical books focused on cli management we have written descriptors of screen elements rather than visual.

I use hostapd with a TPLink PCI-Express card on one of servers (Debian) for my office wireless network. This is, of course, with routing enabled. Performance has been stellar. The machine in question has a Sandy-Bridge Xeon, and does a bunch of other things as well including being a KVM host.

lspci:

01:00.0 Network controller: Atheros Communications Inc. AR9287 Wireless Network Adapter (PCI-Express) (rev 01)

cat /etc/hostapd/hostapd.conf:

interface=wlan0
driver=nl80211
ssid=(redacted)
channel=1
hw_mode=g
wme_enabled=1
ieee80211n=1
ht_capab=[HT40+][SHORT-GI-40][DSSS_CCK-40]
macaddr_acl=0
auth_algs=1
ignore_broadcast_ssid=0
wpa=2
wpa_passphrase=(redacted)
wpa_key_mgmt=WPA-PSK
rsn_pairwise=CCMP

There's also this delightful script that sits in /etc/init.d/hostapd and which enables hostapd to run flawlessly as a system service. I find it extremely valuable to be able to be able to configure and manage my wireless AP in exactly the same way that I would any other Linux-based service.

Visible Ops might be your best bet and it's short enough your head pants wearing mgmt might actually read it.. IIRC it should cover than well run system can determine versions globally, upgrade and downgrade cleanly ideally in an atomic transaction, and all the other ITIL fun stuff. ITIL itself may be a bit overblown in implementation, but most of the concepts are useful.

Honestly, you are never going to find a way to shortcut you out of this situation. No one answer is going to be perfect and get you from A to B if your already at C. I had a similar experience with programming and web development.

I studied computer networking all my adult life and never thought I would be developing as my career at the moment. It is the burden of knowing too much and not having a clear direction. What I needed was more confidence in my skills which can only really develop over the years through experience.

You say you already know a lot of Linux and Bash concepts. CD/CI pipelines try to abstract a lot of OS related involvement since your code doesn’t need to know how low level kernel operations are happening.

What it sounds like you need is knowledge of OS concepts, not just Linux concepts. I say this because every OS has its own way of doing the same thing one way or another.

For example virtual memory, if you understand the concept of virtual memory in any OS rather than a specific OS’s semantics regarding Virtual memory then I think you would be better off in the long run.

If I am wrong and you are the master of the Linux environment, I believe you just need to deep dive into development strategies and the core principles of CD/CI. Once you have a foundation it doesn’t really mater if you are a Jenkins expert or CircleCI expert, all that matters is if you have a foundation to fall back on.

Edit: if you wanted my two cents on material here are some books I recommend.

The Practice of System and Network Administration

Operating Systems Concepts

UNIX and Linux System Administration Handbook

Does anyone know, how does this book compare to this?: http://www.amazon.com/RHCSA-RHCE-Red-Enterprise-Linux/dp/1495148203/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1459255164&sr=1-1&keywords=red+hat+enterprise+linux+7

Looking at doing the RHCSA later this year.