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21 Best Linux Books, Courses and Videos for System Administrators

linux books
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Knowing Linux is essential for any system administration, middleware, web engineer job.

Linux is used almost everywhere in production or a non-production environment. There are thousands of articles, books, video training to explore and learn, but that would be time-consuming. Instead, you can follow one or two related books or online training.

The following learning materials cover a large number of Linux Administration tasks from beginning to expert level. So pick the one which suits you.

Linux administration cookbook

Need recipes to get up and running with the modern Linux admin ecosystem?

This book offers more than 100 of them. It offers a roadmap to managing all types of Linux machines, from a tiny Raspberry Pi to a production server in the Azure Cloud. On its pages, you will find tools and knowledge to troubleshoot day-to-day problems and to understand the inner workings of GNU Linux.

Through an easy-going guide, adorned with anecdotes and experiences, the author shares his vast experience as a data center engineer, teaching how to install and configure a system. By the time you finish reading, you will have gained valuable knowledge of Linux administration.

Linux server management and security

This course lasts four weeks and guides you through the main Linux administration tasks from an enterprise perspective. It starts by looking at what Linux is used for in the enterprise, teaching you how to differentiate between different Linux versions.

Linux-server

Then it explores Linux configuration and demonstrates the usage of different Linux commands. After that, it dives in authentication mechanisms and user administration, and finally, it gets into security, explaining different technologies to secure a Linux system and teaching access control topics.

The course is part of the specialized program on Computer Security and Systems Management.

Learn Linux in 5 Days

One of the best-selling online courses on Udemy to learn Linux in 5 days. More than 100,000 students enrolled with 4.5 out of 5 ratings give enough credibility about the course.

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Jason Cannon, the author, cover various topics on managing and administering Linux operating system.

If you have limited time and looking to grasp knowledge on RHEL, Fedora, OpenSUSE, Slackware, Debian, Ubuntu, etc. then this quick online course would get you started.

The Linux Command Line

A Complete Linux Command Line Introduction by William Shotts is one of the best-seller Linux books.

If you like or would like to get control on Linux using terminal over GUI, then this book will give you everything you need as a Linux Administrator.

You can expect to learn shell, writing shell scripting, manage everyday tasks using essential tools, etc.

Linux for developers

As part of Coursera’s Open Source Software Development specialized program, this course teaches the main Linux topics for developers. It intends to make the developer feel comfortable working with the command line.

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After diving into Linux history and explaining what Linux is, it gets into separating Linux kernel from the rest of the operating system, making contributions to the kernel, working with the file system, monitoring utilities, etc.

After taking this course, you will master the essential skills needed to work with Linux systems daily.

Linux Security & Hardening

The practical guide focus on how to harden and secure Linux OS covering the following topics.

  • Protecting Linux from hackers
  • Enforce strong password policies, aging policy, control password
  • SSH & network hardening
  • Sudo configuration
  • File system security & encryption
  • Firewall configuration
  • Port scanning
  • And much more…

If you have a basic idea about Linux and looking to upgrade your skills in security, then this online course would be helpful.

It contains 4.5 hours of video, two articles that you can access anytime, anywhere.

Linux Kernel in a Nutshell

Ready to dive into the Linux kernel to build & configure?

This FREE book helps you with the following Kernel topics.

  • Kernel introduction and how to build them
  • How to retrieve the kernel source
  • How to install kernel and boot from it
  • How to upgrade & customize the kernel
  • Kernel Reference & helpful utilities

Complete Linux Training Course

If you are planning to get your dream job this year, this course may be what you need to achieve that goal. It prepares you for the corporate world and for getting RHCSA (Red Hat Certified System Administrator), RHCE (Red Hat Certified Engineer) and LFCS (Linux Foundation Certified System Administrator) certifications. By the time you finish the course, you will be a professional Linux administrator, being able to take the EX-200 exam and pass it.

Your knowledge will include more than 150 Linux system admin commands and lots of solutions for Linux troubleshooting.

Complete-Linux-Training-Course

The course includes 29 hours of on-demand video, 24 articles, 120 downloadable resources, lifetime access to the course materials, and a studies certificate. The only requisites are a strong desire to learn and a computer.

Cheat Sheet

If you need a command reference, then this FREE Linux Command Line Cheat Sheet will be handy to you.

You may also refer to my previous post on a cheat sheet for various elements.

Linux Administration Bootcamp

Go from beginner to expert with Linux administration bootcamp. 7.5 hours of the on-demand video cover almost everything you should be aware of as a Linux administrator.

If you have a basic idea and looking to enhance your skills to be an expert, then this course will be handy.

Google IT Support Professional Certification

If you are planning to get a job in IT to support, this 5-course certificate can prepare you for an entry-level role in a small business or at a global corporation. Top employers are looking for certified professionals, so Google’s certificate could be a valuable asset when applying for an IT job.

The certification program employs a mixture of video lectures, quizzes, and hands-on labs, through which you will be introduced to customer service, system administration, security, and troubleshooting. You only need to dedicate about 5 hours a week, and in less than six months, you will be able to complete the program.

Getting started with Linux

To feel confident when taking your first steps into the world of Linux administration, you need an inspiring guide, such as David Clinton, the teacher of Getting Started with Linux. The course starts by explaining how to find Linux distributions and open-source software and work with them. Next, it teaches you to control and optimize the Linux runtime environment.

And finally, it explains how to use physical and virtual Linux instances to manage server applications, such as Apache and Nextcloud.

Getting-started-with-Linux

When you are done with this course, you will be installing and managing Linux systems like a pro, and you will have the necessary knowledge to understand what Linux can do for you and your career.

Linux Mastery

In exactly 11.5 hours, this course will teach you how to master the Linux command line, even if you have no previous experience. You will learn how to use Bash scripts and Cron scheduling to automate repetitive tasks and to install and manage open source software with package managers.

Besides gaining a complete understanding of Linux, you will have the necessary knowledge to operate a Linux computer entirely from the command line.

Linux-Mastery

The course offers 11.5 hours of on-demand video, three articles, 14 downloadable resources, lifetime access to the course materials, and a studies certificate. It is meant primarily for beginners, so the only requisite is not having any experience with Linux.

LPI Linux Essentials Certification

If you have plans to make a career in Linux systems administration or simply want to expand your IT knowledge, Acloudguru’s courses could push you in the right direction. The course teaches the basic components of the Linux operating system and makes sure the students gain hands-on learning exercises that can take your skills to the next level.

A screen shot of a landing page for a linux foundation certified engineer.

Acloudguru offers courses on Red Hat Certification, Linux Syste, Security, Windows Subsystem for Linux Deep Dive, and hands-on labs on IoT Edge Environment, Configuring FTP Server, working on Image Registries and more.

Fundamentals of Red Hat Enterprise Linux

Red Hat Enterprise Linux is one of the most popular Linux distributions in corporate IT departments. Fundamentals of Red Hat Enterprise Linux provides a basic introduction to this operating system, showing how it is organized and demonstrating introductory admin tasks.

Fundamentals-of-Red-Hat-Enterprise-Linux

The course gives a solid foundation for mastering Red Hat Enterprise Linux from the command line. It teaches fundamental operational tasks, useful both for desktop versions and for remote systems.

The topics covered include accessing the command line, managing files, creating/viewing/editing text files, managing local Linux users and groups, monitoring processes, and installing and updating software.

Linux fundamentals for IT professionals

Well-versed Linux academics dictate many Linux courses. Well, this is not the case. Fundamentals of Linux Administration is dictated by “mundane” IT professionals who are eager to share their experience in using the most common Linux commands and writing simple shell scripts for the most common necessities. The good thing about this course is that teachers and students talk basically the same language.

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The course is oriented towards computer science or information technology students, testing professionals, software engineers, application developers, data engineers, database administrators, etc. After taking the course, you will feel comfortable while performing day-to-day operations, automating routine tasks, and hacking to get useful debugging information from log files.

Linux tutorials and projects

A collection of free and very specific tutorials in Linux administration. This course cover topics such as SSL certificate management on CentOS Linux and Apache, MySQL Master-Slave replication on Ubuntu, load balancing HTTP and web traffic using Nginx, and more.

Linux-tutorials-and-projects

The teacher, Jason Cannon, is also the author of Linux for Beginners and founder of the Linux Training Academy. Throughout this course, he shares some of his real-world Linux experience.

The course includes 41 minutes of on-demand video, three articles, four downloadable resources, lifetime access to the course materials, and a studies certificate.

Linux tutorial

Ryan Chadwick, the author of this tutorial, enjoys teaching Linux to students. He’s been doing that for more than ten years. And one of the things he teaches is how to be lazy, but creatively — that is, how to assemble tools to do virtually anything, to have the computer do the work for its master.

Linux-tutorial

After taking this tutorial, you probably won’t be a Linux guru, but you will have the right knowledge to get there if that’s what you want. The tutorial gives a foundation in how to use the terminal and how to use the Linux command line (Bash). Its purpose is to take the mystery, complexity, and scariness away from the command line. Also, the tutorial aims to explain the most suitable use cases for the command line and for the GUI.

Linux journey

Linux-journey

An online, textual, and interactive journey throughout the realms of Linux. There is no predefined path on this journey. You can jump directly to the topics of your interest: command-line, permissions, processes, packages, file-systems, devices, networking, troubleshooting, etc. Or, if you prefer, you can follow the suggested order.

Either way, in this site, you will find plenty of resources and knowledge to master all the aspects of the Linux operating system. Every topic is explained in detail, with practical examples, and each lesson has a short exam to put your knowledge to the test.

The Linux basics course

A collection of 55 YouTube tutorial videos, ranging from basic Linux shell commands for beginners to OS virtualization, network security, and other specific topics for professional system administrators.

The author started making these videos for a friend who wanted to learn how to become a Linux sysadmin. The first videos were so successful that the author expanded the playlist to cover a wider range of topics, tools, practical projects, and career advice.

The videos seek a balance between theory and practice, trying to give the theory necessary to understand the system under the commands and, in turn, offer practice material to learn how to solve real-world problems.

Advanced Linux: The Linux kernel

Dr. Kevin Dankwardt takes his students for a dive into the heart of the Linux operating system: the Linux kernel. This tutorial offers the necessary knowledge to become familiar with the Linux kernel, as well as the mechanics of configuring and troubleshooting it.

linux certification

This is not a course for beginners, taking into account that it covers advanced topics, such as the Linux kernel specification, the boot process, and the loadable kernel modules. Throughout the lessons, you will practice techniques for configuring a Linux kernel from scratch and downloading and searching the Linux kernel source code.

Almost every chapter is followed by challenge videos that offer you to test your learned Linux skills.

The topics include reading Linux kernel messages, reading and writing files from the proc and sysfs filesystems, configuring GRUB, using kernel command-line parameters, debugging, configuring run levels, etc.

Learning options for all tastes

At this time, you should have a clear idea about how to start learning Linux administration, whether you prefer to read books, watch videos, attend classes, or read interactive web pages. If you are currently working in IT, or are planning to start a career in IT, you should pick one of these options, and start learning Linux administration right away.

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