All You Need To Learn To Start A Career In Linux

A lot of technology geeks and engineering graduates today want to pursue a career in open source as the scope is vast and opportunities are unlimited. For that matter, even if they are not looking at open source as a career, they are definitely looking to switch to and experiment with Linux and Open Source OS.

So, if you have also planned to opt the Open Source route, it’s necessary to understand what is required to learn if you are willing to build a career in Linux. So here we bring to you 12 tools that are required to be understood before diving into the open source world.

1. Apache: Apache is definitely the world’s most widely used web-server which is known for its open source architecture. Often termed as the Apache HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP) server program, it is one of the crucial and primary requirements to create a good CMS or likewise. So even if you are not willing to learn it all, you do need to learn the basics. Major of the Linux employers would ask you to come with a hands-on over the apache administration.

Resource: Apache’s Documentation.

2. Apt-get tool: It is a command-line tool to handle packages which are used to get hold of other tools using the APT library. Although, mainly used on Debian based systems, apt-get is cross-platform with various front ends built for it. Apt-get is one of the simplest tools to use and one should still be familiar with its working and syntax on command line.

Resource: Apt-get tool Manual.

3. BASH Shell: Bash (Bourne again shell) is a sh-compatible command language interpreter which executes commands from the standard input or a file. It incorporates cool features from the Korn and C shells(ksh and csh) too. It is fairly necessary for you to know how to program in Bash. One can save a lot of time and energy by writing down a little bash script to automate a task on the command line.

Resource: Complete BASH manual.

4. Iptables: If you’re hitting for a Linux administrator, or someone on similar lines, you need to master this. Iptables is used to install, manage and inspect the tables in the IP packet filter rules within the Linux kernel. With iptables you have the ability to create firewall rules on your Linux computer to allow/restrict access through each network interface. You should be capable enough to list the IP rules, filter a range of IPs and add/remove the rules to the table.

Resource: Iptables.

5. MySQL: MySQL is a simple SQL database with GNU readline capabilities which supports interactive and non-interactive use. While it is used interactively, the query results are presented as an ASCII-table. For a non-interactive use, as in a filter, the results are tab-separated. However, the output format can easily be altered using command options.

To work on Linux domain, it would be very possible for you work on Linux-Apache-MySQL-PHP, aka LAMP. Hence, you need to be familiar with a MySQL server.

Resource: MySQL Documentation.

6. SSH and OpenSSH: SSH/OpenSSH client is a tool/program for logging onto a remote machine to executing commands over it. You might have to use a lot of SSH while working on a Linux network. Some of the basic requirements are – connecting to a server using SSH and setting up a key-based authentication for SSH.

Resource: SSH.

7. Perl: It is one of the best known scripting languages for system management tasks. It is optimized for scanning arbitrary text files, extracting information from them, and printing reports based on that. Perl is known to be easy to use, efficient, and complete within itself. Several administration tasks can be completed with less pain and trouble with the advent of Perl scripts. Being a Linux admin, you may have to use this feature of Perl to master your network and system upgradation processes.

Resource: The Perl manual.

8. PHP: PHP is a recursive acronym for ‘PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor.‘ This again is a widely-used Open Source general-purpose scripting language with special inclination towards Web development paradigm. It can be easily embedded into HTML and hence widely used. Having a good hands-on over PHP, Apache and MySQL is essential to get your favorite Linux job.

Resource: PHP documentation.

9. Postfix: It is a mail transfer agent (MTA) used on Linux analogous to Sendmail and Qmail. It is known to handle the routing and delivery of emails. If you’re handling a Linux network, particularly a mail server, you need to have a knowledge about this very MTA. You must master the art of configuring postfix main.cf and master.cf files along with troubleshooting other postfix errors.

Resource: Postfix official documentation.

10. rsync: It is a powerful tool to greatly speed up file transfers when the destination file is being updated. Rsync uses a remote-update protocol which basically copies only the difference of files that have been changed. It is a great tool for backing up files to another Linux host. An aspirant should atleast be aware of the syntax used with rsync to copy files to another host machine.

Resource: documentation.

11. Samba: You would have probably come across this name while working on Linux and reading articles over the web. The Samba software suite is a collection of programs which implement the Server Message Block(SMB) protocol for *NIX systems. This protocol is often referred to as the Common Internet File System or CIFS. A lot of companies which run over a Linux based environment use Samba to share files across the network. As Linux career enthusiast, you should master Samba to perfection. The preliminaries include – installing and configuring Samba server, adding and maintaining users, setting up Samba shares, et al.

Resource: Samba Manual.

12. SCP: It helps copy files between hosts within a network. It uses ssh for data transfer with same authentication and security as ssh. scp asks for pass-phrases if they are needed for authentication. One needs to know scp if he/she needs to copy files between Linux hosts over a public or private network with security concerns.