Command Line Interface Primer 👨🏻‍🏫

Intro 👋

Well the ProLUG course is a go. We had a great meeting yesterday with a group of over 80 people. There was a slight snafu regarding thread size limits, so mid lesson we jumped into a presenter room. The session ran for a solid two hours wherein Scott went over command line interface essentials, networking essentials, VIM, pathing, redirects, Xargs, man pages and more. Although I have decent foundational knowledge of Linux, I know that there is always something to learn or better understand. I came away from this first class with a handful of things to review and practice for sure.

prompts 🦮

Group discussions have kicked off early in #ProLUG-Projects. Scott has prompted us with a few questions for Unit 1 that we are to post and discuss. I thought it would be good to post these answers in a longer form on my blog. This acts as a review of yesterdays work and gives me a chance to further reflect.

Discussion Post 1: Technical Skill Assessment 🔍

Using this rubric, we are to self-assess our skills in various areas with a score from 1-10, giving us a total score at the end. My score was 48 out of a potential 110. I would never rate myself above a 7, as that feels like Demi-God territory!

Given the pace we started at in the first class, I’m confident that my skills will improve throughout this course. I plan to really go for it and challenge myself along the way.

What do I hope to learn in this course? 🤔

I aim to gain hands-on experience in all aspects of system administration. While I have studied Linux and system administration, I understand that skill levels in this field can vary widely. As I work toward becoming a Systems Engineer, I recognize the importance of consistently challenging myself. Through this journey, I hope to build confidence in managing existing systems, configuring services, securing environments, and automating tasks.

What type of career are you looking for? 🥕

I am looking to become a full time Linux System Engineer. I am currently in an administrative support role wherein I am tasked with setting up new systems on a small scale. I would like to be able to manage a large number of servers with automation.

Discussion Post 2: Target Job and Skills Gap 🎯

Our second task is to look for a job we would like to target and list the requirements posted for that given job.
I found this job posted by OERP Canada, located in Toronto, Ontario, with the following information.

Job Overview

The role will be 100% remote for now (#socialdistancing). Eventually, it will convert into an onsite role in Toronto, ON. We are only accepting applications from residents of Canada.

OERP Canada is looking for a full-time, experienced LINUX System Administrator to help maintain our operations and support our Odoo application deployment team, which deploys the Odoo Business Application suite for our clients. The successful candidate will have a technical background in LINUX, experience with hosting, web and proxy servers, database administration, mail routing, network security, strong communication skills, and the willingness and ability to think creatively and flexibly. A desire to learn is an important requirement of being part of our team.

This position is both creative and rigorous by nature—you need to think outside the box. We expect the candidate to be proactive and have a “get it done” spirit.

Responsibilities

• Manage cloud and on-premise hosting environments
• Endless security improvements
• Improve automation tools
• Improve scripting
• Provide technical support as needed

Must-Have Skills

• Ubuntu / Debian server
• NGINX
• Security best practices: Firewalls & WAF
• Automation tools and server scripting
• Functional knowledge of networking: VPNs, DNS, mail routing and delivery, etc.
• University degree or 3-5 years of work experience

Nice-to-Have Skills

• PostgreSQL high availability, load balancing, and replication
• Virtualization: VMware, vSphere, KVM
• VCS/Git working knowledge
• FreeBSD

What I am currently able to do in this position 💪🏻

• Solid experience with Debian/Ubuntu
• Confident in managing both cloud and on-premise hosting environments
• Skilled in improving automation through the use of Ansible, Terraform, and Bash scripting
• While I may not have 3-5 years of continuous working experience, I have been involved in IT work on and off
• Experienced in setting up and managing PostgreSQL
• Proficient with Oracle VirtualBox and Proxmox, which I believe translates well to VMware, vSphere, and KVM
• Knowledgeable in Git, including branch management and command-line usage
• Familiar with FreeBSD and BSD-specific commands

What I am currently incapable of 😓

• Lack confidence in managing firewalls
• Limited experience with VPNs, DNS, and mail handling
• Basic hands-on experience with NGINX, but skills are limited
• Minimal technical support experience

How I plan to close the gap on these missing skills 🎯

I plan to close this gap by learning more about general Linux security and networking principles from this course. Additionally, I’ve already purchased a recently published book by Michael Lucas on running and maintaining mail servers, which I intend to skim through. Additionally, I am studying ITIL to improve my understanding of technical support and service management.

ProLUG Links ⛓️

Discord: https://discord.com/invite/m6VPPD9usw Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@het_tanis8213 Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/het_tanis ProLUG Book: https://leanpub.com/theprolugbigbookoflabs KillerCoda: https://killercoda.com/het-tanis