Whats the best way to start learning with a linux based system. I purchased a redhat linux certification book and I want to be able to know my way around the OS just like windows. I just passed my A+ 1101 test and am working on the second 1102 test.
Thank You!!!
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Use it. Break it. Fix it. Now, you’ve learned. 
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I agree on just installing, and using it daily to get used to the change.
For redhat, you probably want to grab a CentOS iso, and either run bare metal or in a VM.
you could run Fedora, but Centos, even stream, might be less full of features that are not in red-hat proper, so may be slightly closer to the redhat training guide.
the current version of Stream, is due to be updated / EOL’d in June, but byt then, you’ll either be comfy staying with it, or have moved on anyway.
Also, Hi!
You’re welcome to post questions, and there is a whole linux questions thread, if you search there in case others had the question (as well as google and manpages etc also…)
If you don’t get an answer, feel free to bump a couple times, or elaborate.
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I don’t know what you’d find most useful, but storage is a pretty common entry point here. Set up a NAS with 2 to 4 old drives and work through any shenanigans you run into there. It’s often easier to stay interested in something that’ll be useful to you than just following exercises from a book.
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Maybe go trough some success (and failure) stories for inspiration…
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Thanks, Everyone, I do appreciate the kindness in your posts.
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I’d say use BSD to learn the basics about UNIX and POSIX, consistency and have good documentation and move along if you feel like it.
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And if you can’t fix it … reinstall. And then repeat steps 1 - 3. A second box is good to have so when you do break an install, you still have your daily driver to use.
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ideally data is on another physical drive to the OS. so if do break and reinstall, you only have to setup the OS and not your data/documents.
The archwiki is a fantastic resource (even if you aren’t on arch, it can help with troubleshooting and config):
https://wiki.archlinux.org/
I also found great value in the: “UNIX and Linux System Administration Handbook”
When something breaks, check the logs!
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Here are some basics I learned when I first started with linux. Was CentOS running complicated deep learning stacks, in a startup, and I had no real linux experience!
- Everything in linux is a “text file” from config to processes, so you can read it.
- Learn to read the logs, I mean really read the logs, as the answer is nearly always there.
- Backup any file before modifying it (cp file.cfg file.cfg.ori) this will get you out so much trouble!
- When you get in trouble, just stop and think. Stack overflow is rarely your friend here as everyones systems and problems are different.
- Learn to understand the different qualities of documentation. Greatest truths are often found in product/project docs, then sites like DigitalOcean howtos (as they show code that is designed to be used repetably in automation so it is battle tested), then stackoverflow. I’m not saying SO is bad, just be careful.
- Read the documentation.
- Keep notes, i always have a markdown file open for code snippets, links to docs, blogs, my current thoughts or things to do next …
- I like to keep my systems clean and specific to their use cases, as that is efficient, and easy to fix.
- VMs or Vagrant or containers (e.g. docker) on top of a basic clean host, are a great way to run things, and a great way to learn, as when you break things, it’s as easy as ‘docker run’ to get a clean new working “system”. Rebuilding a whole host/computer can be a chore every time you break things, which you will do a lot when learning. There are also many docker images available, usually with their compose files, so you can see how they are built, and experiment with new things (e.g. nginx, or tensorflow) without killing your main host.
- Learn to automate/script. Start easy, a few bash commands or code snippets kept in your notes can form the basic of a script or automation or docker file. And don’t worry if those scripts are horrible code, what matters initially is that they run and run repeatably. You can make code pretty and robust iteratively as your learn or your product evolves.
- Did I say learn to read the logs? Honestly, want to see how something is running, or errors it is throwing, or why it failed or your change failed?
- A few sheets of paper up on the wall near your desk with your fav bash commands written on them, and kept updated everytime you learn something cool, is a brilliant aide memoir. And if you are in a work office, a way to share easily with others who may also be learning, or want to share something with you to help you learn.
- Have fun, it’s hard at first, but the lightbulbs will come
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If you’re gonna learn RHEL, there’s a free version you can install if you make a developer account on the official website.
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Or even just a different partition for /home
Then you can blow away&reinstall the OS partition.
SSD’s are affordable that one can get a $20 drive to be a seperate OS drive.
Learning linux is a lot more easier than it sounds.
The biggest thing to get used to is the naming schemes are different. And partition structures are different from the win hosed os.
So dont expect it to be exactly like windows.
The biggest benifit in linux is you have the control and the choice of formats.
Dont setup a single partition for the os and files like windows does. This is a big weakness.
If you chose redhat remember its an enterprise distro but it may not be suitable for you.
Download the live iso of at least 1 of each major branch
And burn to usb or dvd.
Then test it out live to see which branch will suit you.
Remember running live dvd or usb will run slower than an actual install.
Mint, ubuntu, arch, slax, redhat, debian, and knoppix.
Avoid gentoo until you have a lot of experience with linux.
Any app the distro does not have can easily be downloaded and installed from their repositories
Oh they are also free!
Ive been a full time linux user since 2004 and have tried about 200 different distros for forensic, general purpose, server, science, and gaming oriented.
Ive settled on mint for my main system, ham linux (debian) for my shack computer, and cyborg hawk for my forensic machine.
Without knowing exactly what you want to do and your preference is difficult to suggest a specific version of a distro.
So this is a case of test drive it , if it doesn’ suit you, try something different!
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Im doing full disk encryption with LUKS encrypted root and a separate LUKS encrypted /home and its a bit bothersome to type 2 passphrase to unlock them both at boot, so a full disk encrypted linux install may be best used in a single partition.
Previously i did separate root, /home, /var/log, swap and the EFI
Perhaps use Linux like you used Windows then. Which typically means as your primary OS exclusively for an extended period of time.
Not every game on steam will work, nor every proprietary app or device will work either, but you’ll find a way to get by.
This is exactly what I was going to suggest!!! Along with making a conscious effort to use it first over the daily driver pc.
May I suggest using ventoy to make a multiboot usb drive so all you have to do is add the iso image to the usb drive. It allows multiple iso images to reside on the usb drive and gives yom a menu to choose wich one to boot up from.
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I’ve mostly learned at college and I still do. What really helps me is knowing the specific thing I want to learn. Like for example, how to install Fog or set up Samba for folder share.
It also helps if you find a set of terminal commands that you might use a lot, as for example:
- sudo
- cd
- mkdir/cp or mv
- cat
- grep
- chmod/chown
You don’t need to know all of those and they might not be useful right away, it really depends on how you approach things. You can mostly ignore terminal but you’ll quickly find out it’s very useful and it will make things faster in a long run.
I don’t know, what your exact interests are in general, maybe you like gaming. You can for example look up, how to get non native games running and go from there. Or how to set up domain controller, learn bash scripting or anything in between.
Good luck!
Yes a command line cheat sheet helps but you dont need to know all of them.
Highlight the ones you will use most.
If a tast is present that you are unsure of then you can look it up for its function.
The average user will have little to no exposure to command line in their normal usage.
But certain system wide functions are only handled in terminal/ command line.
While knowledge of in depth command line usage is not a requirement to operate a linux system, it is a definate advantage.
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That is very true. It’s good to know that they exist. I often forget the syntax for groupadd and all that for example, but I know that they’re a thing and they might be needed here and there.
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