A Linux Systems Administrator is a professional who plays a crucial role in managing and maintaining Linux-based computer systems. They are responsible for ensuring the smooth operation and optimal performance of these systems, which are widely used in various industries. In this blog post, we will describe the primary responsibilities and the most in-demand hard and soft skills for Linux Systems Administrators.

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Main Responsibilities of a Linux Systems Administrator

The following list describes the typical responsibilities of a Linux Systems Administrator:

Add

Add monitoring and performance metrics for a variety of Linux and Windows Services.

Adhere to

Adhere to documented procedures and create new documentation as needed.

Advise

Advise department members in the selection of equipment and technologies for new projects.

Advocate

Advocate continuous process improvement.

Analyze

• Analyze and resolve issues with hardware, software and peripheral equipment.

• Analyze, acquire, modify and support operating systems, database or utilities software.

• Analyze, design, acquire and implement projects for LAN and / or WAN systems.

Answer

Answer user's query and service requests.

Apply

Apply solid systems engineering and administration skills to large-scale IT systems.

Assist in

• Assist in capacity planning and resource forecasting.

• Assist in monitoring and troubleshooting of LAN.

• Assist our Deployment Operations team in provisioning capacity in order to meet customer demand.

• Assist our Systems Administration team with platform and host troubleshooting.

• Assist with the deployment of services running on local or cloud-based servers.

• Assist with the sizing of those servers.

Collaborate with

• Collaborate with other IT teams to integrate Linux systems into the overall IT infrastructure.

• Collaborate with vendors and service providers to resolve technical issues.

Collect

Collect and review system data for capacity and planning purposes.

Communicate

• Communicate effectively with others both on a technical level and on a business level.

• Communicate escalated issues clearly between relevant team members, via email and chat.

Conduct

• Conduct incident investigation.

• Conduct regular security audits and vulnerability assessments.

• Conduct system performance tuning and optimization.

• Conduct systems analysis and development to keep systems current with changing technologies.

Contribute to

• Contribute to and maintain system standards.

• Contribute to the design of existing and future platforms.

Coordinate

• Coordinate critical customer issues as well as new product and / or system implementations.

• Coordinate with vendors to resolve issues, arrange service, and obtain support.

Create

• Create and maintain IBM Sterling Integrator Workflows.

• Create and resolve helpdesk action items.

• Create detailed technical reports and metrics.

• Create, maintains and manage Disaster Recovery Plans for Physical and Virtual Servers.

• Create, modify, and remove user accounts.

• Create scripts to improve automated installations and maintenance.

Deploy

• Deploy and maintain physical and virtual servers.

• Deploy, manage and troubleshoot PROD CRONs.

Design

Design architectures and systems including hardware and communications solutions.

Develop

• Develop and implement automation scripts using tools like Bash, Python, or Perl.

• Develop and maintain installation and configuration procedures.

• Develop puppet modules for configuration management.

Diagnose

Diagnose, troubleshoot, and resolve complex system and network related.

Document

Document detailed instructions for system installation and configuration changes.

Ensure

• Ensure all communication and processes are clearly documented in assigned issues and tasks.

• Ensure all system patches and updates are current.

• Ensure all systems are hardened to appropriate standards.

• Ensure compliance with industry standards and regulations.

• Ensure critical system security through the use of best in class security solutions.

• Ensure optimal hardware and software operation.

• Ensure security configurations align with University policies.

• Ensure system and network security by implementing firewalls, intrusion detection systems, and security patches.

• Ensure the scalability and appropriate integrations with other systems.

Evaluate

• Evaluate and recommend system and software upgrades.

• Evaluate system performance and make recommendations for optimization.

Execute

Execute complex changes, prepare and execute changes per implementation plans.

Harden

Harden computer systems consistent with security practices and established guidelines.

Help

Help maintain and administer secure and scalable networks in both data centre and cloud environments.

Identify

• Identify additional improvement and performance metrics.

• Identify and remediate vulnerabilities by way patching and / or modifying configurations.

• Identify and replace failed components.

• Identify infrastructure deficiencies and propose mitigation strategies.

• Identify needs and investigates solutions of tools in providing enhanced support.

Implement

• Implement and maintain monitoring and alerting systems.

• Implement and maintain virtualization technologies, such as VMware or KVM.

• Implement automation of recurrent tasks through scripting.

Install

• Install and configure Linux operating systems on servers and workstations.

• Install and configure network services, such as DNS, DHCP, and LDAP.

• Install and manage block storages.

• Install and manage file / backup storages, such as Cohesity.

• Install, move, and / or break-down systems.

Interact with

• Interact with remote data center technicians in order to troubleshoot hardware issues.

• Interact with third-party technology vendors and internal database staff.

Investigate

Investigate possible security breaches as part of incident management team.

Lead

• Lead automation efforts to reduce repetitive processes to streamline support.

• Lead large sized continuous process improvement efforts.

• Lead reviews and analyzes performance metrics in order to optimize environment for efficiencies.

• Lead the provision, maintenance and management of 140+ servers and workstations.

Learn

• Learn the ins-and-outs of our internal and customer facing service portals.

• Learn to configure and use industry standard software that powers the cloud.

Maintain

• Maintain and update system documentation, including configurations and procedures.

• Maintain documentation regarding configurations, operations and troubleshooting procedures.

• Maintain mission critical systems used by Law Society staff, members and public.

• Maintain the security and stability of cross domain solutions.

• Maintain Windows-based / Linux-based hardware systems.

Make

• Make recommendations for hardware and software purchases for future growth and licensing.

• Make recommendations to Manager, Global Core Infrastructure for inclusion in technology roadmap.

Manage

• Manage and optimize system resources, including disk space, memory, and CPU usage.

• Manage cross domain enterprise level solutions.

• Manage HP DL / DX and SAN switches.

• Manage network services including CIFS / NFS, DNS, DHCP, Mail, and Web.

• Manage Puppet infrastructure, distributing and enforcing standard configurations.

• Manage system backups and perform operational recoveries as required.

• Manage the operations of the Linux storage environments.

Mentor

• Mentor and or / provides leadership to other members of the team.

• Mentor team in technology to allow them to be knowledgeable and self-sufficient.

Monitor

• Monitor and analyze system logs to identify and resolve potential issues or security breaches.

• Monitor and manage system backups and data retention policies.

• Monitor and support CPU, RAM, Drive, Fans, Power, NIC, HBA and cables...OS crashes and exceptions.

• Monitor our infrastructure for host uptime and health status.

• Monitor system availability and performance.

• Monitor system events to ensure health, maximum system availability and service quality.

• Monitor system performance and troubleshoot issues to ensure high availability and reliability.

Oversee

Oversee and execute system and user account provisioning for the designated groups.

Participate in

• Participate in evaluation new requirements.

• Participate in knowledge hand-off of technical support issues that can span multiple work shifts.

• Participate in on-call rotations to provide 24/7 support when necessary.

• Participate in post-mortem and root cause analysis.

• Participate to the backups and restoration of Linux systems.

• Participate to the definition of standards, guidelines, best practices and metrics as directed.

Partner with

Partner with Networking and Storage teams to innovate and support new technologies.

Perform

• Perform daily checks on servers, analyze logs.

• Perform disaster recovery by repairing and recovering any hardware or software failures.

• Perform Linux audit and reporting tasks.

• Perform regular backups and implement disaster recovery strategies.

• Perform remote installation of applications to users and servers.

• Perform system monitoring using required tools and automation including script building.

• Perform system testing and validation to ensure compatibility and stability.

Plan

• Plan and execute system upgrades and migrations.

• Plan and perform operating systems and software updates to maintain stability.

• Plan, conduct and direct the analysis of business problems to be solved with automated systems.

• Plan, design, acquire and implement telecommunications voice / wire systems.

Prepare

Prepare for new product related releases and assists with new initiatives and upgrades.

Provide

• Provide detailed technical solutions.

• Provide input to develop performance / security management of the platform.

• Provide knowledge transfer and training to tier 2 support by providing detailed documentation.

• Provide on-site technical solutions.

• Provide technical guidance and support to junior system administrators.

• Provide technical support for multiple Linux distributions, including Debian, CentOS and Ubuntu.

• Provide technical support to engineering teams.

• Provide the highest level of network security products & services.

Recommend

Recommend architecture and process improvements.

Relay

Relay alerts and situation status information to both client and Unisys management.

Research

Research and recommend hardware and software solutions to improve system performance.

Resolve

• Resolve incidents quickly and identify root causes for long term fixes.

• Resolve well defined incidents using documented procedures.

Respond to

Respond to and resolve user support requests related to Linux systems.

Review

• Review and improve applications, networks, and systems.

• Review audit logs and documents findings.

• Review configuration settings across the tech stack to optimize system performance.

Script

Script routine maintenance, installation and configuration activities via Python in Ansible.

Set up

Set up and maintain user accounts, permissions, and security policies.

Solve

Solve challenges of scalability, efficiency and security at scale in cloud environments.

Stay up to date with

Stay up to date with the latest trends and technologies in Linux administration.

Supervise

Supervise a small team of system administrators.

Support

• Support 24 x 7 existing UNIX based systems running on Linux RedHAT version 6 - 7.

• Support and diagnose issues related to IBM Sterling Integrator.

• Support and Maintain Azure technology and deployment including working with Microsoft DevOps.

• Support government testing and update relevant documentation.

• Support of the Linux CAD environment and toolsets used by the Huawei design teams.

• Support our growing customer base, by becoming a subject matter expert on platform related inquiries.

• Support production environments leveraging Cloud solutions.

• Support requests from developers about CRONs and CRON environment maintenance.

• Support virtualized servers.

Troubleshoot

• Troubleshoot and resolve network connectivity issues.

• Troubleshoot highly complex multi-tiered enterprise systems that encompass numerous applications.

• Troubleshoot malfunctions to resolve operational issues and restore services.

Uphold

Uphold best practice standards as well as departmental policies and procedures.

Work with

• Work closely with clients to provide technical insight and analytics.

• Work includes participation in a team on-call rotation for 24 / 7 support.

• Work with best-of-breed technologies.

• Work with DevOps best practices and implement CI / CD pipelines.

• Work with manager in understanding and optimizing team performance.

• Work with security team in review, triage, and assessment and remediation of security scan results.

Write

Write and implement scripts to automate tasks.

Most In-demand Hard Skills

The following list describes the most required technical skills of a Linux Systems Administrator:

1. Proficiency in Linux operating systems (such as CentOS, Ubuntu, or Red Hat).

2. Strong command line and shell scripting skills.

3. Experience with virtualization technologies like VMware or KVM.

4. Knowledge of networking protocols and services (TCP/IP, DNS, DHCP, etc.).

5. Familiarity with server hardware and components.

6. Understanding of storage technologies, such as RAID and SAN.

7. Proficiency in server administration tools like Ansible or Puppet.

8. Experience with containerization platforms like Docker or Kubernetes.

9. Knowledge of database administration, such as MySQL or PostgreSQL.

10. Familiarity with cloud platforms like AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud.

11. Understanding of security best practices and tools.

12. Experience with monitoring and logging tools like Nagios, Zabbix, or ELK stack.

13. Knowledge of scripting languages like Bash, Python, or Perl.

14. Ability to troubleshoot hardware and software issues.

15. Understanding of backup and recovery strategies.

16. Proficiency in server virtualization technologies like Xen or Hyper-V.

17. Knowledge of version control systems like Git.

18. Familiarity with web servers and application deployment (Apache, Nginx, etc.).

19. Understanding of network security concepts and practices.

20. Experience with high availability and clustering technologies.

Most In-demand Soft Skills

The following list describes the most required soft skills of a Linux Systems Administrator:

1. Strong problem-solving and analytical skills.

2. Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.

3. Ability to work effectively in a team environment.

4. Strong attention to detail and organizational skills.

5. Adaptability and ability to learn new technologies quickly.

6. Time management and prioritization abilities.

7. Customer service orientation.

8. Ability to work under pressure and meet deadlines.

9. Proactive approach to identifying and addressing issues.

10. Continuous learning mindset.

Conclusion

A Linux Systems Administrator is responsible for managing and maintaining Linux-based computer systems, ensuring their optimal performance, and resolving any issues that may arise. They require a combination of technical skills, such as proficiency in Linux operating systems, networking, and scripting, as well as soft skills like problem-solving, communication, and teamwork.