cancel
Showing results for 
Search instead for 
Did you mean: 
cancel
6664
Views
12
Helpful
8
Replies

Network Engineer - Linux?

fjcardenas-1
Level 1
Level 1

Hello,

I want to start studing a little bit about Linux. I don't know anything about it except that it is an operating system. Can anyone recomend a book or where to start studying Linux related to Networking? What do I need to know/study?

Thanks!

8 Replies 8

Brandon Svec
Level 7
Level 7

If that is really all you know, I would say go figure out how to download and install Ubuntu or some other version of linux on a computer and start playing with it.

I don't think I could really recommend a book, but if that is what you prefer, the O'reilly series is quite good for linux and other topics: http://oreilly.com/pub/topic/linux

brandon

-- please remember to rate and mark answered helpful posts --

Ganesh Hariharan
VIP Alumni
VIP Alumni

Hello,

I want to start studing a little bit about Linux. I don't know anything about it except that it is an operating system. Can anyone recomend a book or where to start studying Linux related to Networking? What do I need to know/study?

Thanks!

Hi ,

If you want to start from the base then go for  linux bible wiley publishers which is good books in linux area and also if you can have CBT's on linux for beginers then you can have good knowledge on how to start with linux.

Hope to Help !!

Remember to rate the helpful post

Ganesh.H

Jon Marshall
Hall of Fame
Hall of Fame

Depends what you mean by learning linux. Linux is based on Unix and that is a very large subject. Do you want to learn Linux from a end user point of view or a system administrators point of view ? Do you want to become proficient on the command line or are you happy to use GUI tools for configuration ?

If you understand the concepts of DNS/DHCP etc.. ie the network services then are you simply interested in learning how to implement them on a Linux system. As noted by Brandon, the first thing you should do is download Ubuntu and get it up and running on your PC. You can actually purchase laptops with it preloaded if you want.

Perhaps if you could be more specific about the area you are interested i could suggest some good books/study material.

Jon

I passed my CCNA exam. Now I want to learn about linux because I have seen that some Network Engineer positions require some Linux knowledge. What I want is to learn what a Network Engineer should know about Linux.... maybe with that said you can help me with a more specific focus and make a recommendation. Of course it is easier to use GUI but if CLI is most used then maybe I want to learn CLI.  Thanks!

Indeed Linux or knowledge on any of the operating system helps network engineer to grasp the problem depth and faster resolution of the problems / design.

I have done RHCE couple of years back and will recommend you to go through book available to your local store for RHCE. .. you can build one system at your home and practice in better way help you for

-- getting basics of linux

-- knowing advance features of Linux

-- FTP / Telnet / SMTP knowledge and it's operations

-- Web service and security service knowledge..

You can create your own firewall using linux or any other operating system.. so keep it up..

In short you just have to get out there and try it.  If you are just getting started then there are Linux distributions I would recommend (Ubuntu, Fedora, CentOS) and ones I wouldn't (Gentoo, Slackware, Debian).  Not that there is anything bad about the latter but they aren't typically for the faint-of-heart.  Don't feel bad about starting at the GUI.  You are talking about a real learning curve but, if you commit to it, you will find yourself a fan of Linux and open source in no time.  Besides, the GUI has all of the access to the CLI that you would need and makes it much easier by being able to have multiple windows open.  Most of the O'Reilly books are very solid.  I would actually suggest starting with Ubuntu and use their online handbook so you aren't out any cash.  Then you can figure out where you need to go next and if a book is required.  If you are really committed then you could buy a subscription to safaribooksonline.com where you can get access to up-to-date technical books on almost every subject you can think of.

I would also recommend trying to run your Linux in a virtual machine to start.  Linux doesn't take a lot to run.  If you have control of your own machine (not a corporate computer) and you can spare a little memory, processor cycles, and hard drive space.  Go get Sun VirtualBox (FREE!) and you can run as many different Linux distros, FreeBSD, OpenBSD, etc. as your system will handle.  If you royally screw one up while you're learning then just blow it away and start again.  Since it's a virtual machine you can also save it in a certain state BEFORE you make critical changes so that you can just revert back to that state without blowing it away.

Open Source and Cisco is a very powerful combination.  Good luck with it and welcome to the family.

Tyler West, CCNP

CWI, Inc.

challagonda
Level 1
Level 1

Hi Folks,

  I am a network engineer. But I have to use linux at my work but I only have a little knowledge and experience on it. so decided to use linux at my home laptop also. Could any one please let me know which linux version will be the best for a beginner (networking perspecive).

Please let me know.

Thanks,

Rakesh

zoltanszasz
Level 1
Level 1

There is a book: Linux Bible. Starting from differences between different Linux distributions goes step by step into every aspect of administration of a Linux machine/server. Linux versions you should test are Red Hat, Suse, CentOS.

Getting Started

Find answers to your questions by entering keywords or phrases in the Search bar above. New here? Use these resources to familiarize yourself with the community:

Innovations in Cisco Full Stack Observability - A new webinar from Cisco