From Homelab Tinkerer to Hired Sysadmin
Every infrastructure job posting says “Linux experience required.” But what does that actually mean? Which commands matter? What do interviewers really test?
I’ve been on both sides of the technical interview. This series covers the Linux fundamentals that actually get asked – not obscure trivia, but practical command-line skills that demonstrate you can work in production environments.
Whether you’re moving from helpdesk to sysadmin, prepping for your first infrastructure role, or filling gaps before a DevOps interview, these 12 guides give you the commands, context, and career positioning to land roles paying £35-55k.
The Series
Each article follows the same structure: career context, practical examples, interview questions, and troubleshooting. Start from the beginning or jump to what you need.
Foundation Skills
The 30 commands interviewers actually test. Navigation, file operations, and the confidence that lands offers.
Start, stop, troubleshoot. The command you’ll use fifty times a day in any infrastructure role.
Installing, updating, removing software. Critical for Ubuntu/Debian environments that dominate enterprise.
The interview question everyone gets wrong. chmod, chown, and why 777 is never the answer.
Networking & Security
ping, traceroute, netstat, ss. Diagnose connectivity issues before escalating to senior engineers.
Security-minded administration. Why “just sudo it” makes senior admins cringe.
Daily Operations
cd, ls, pwd, find. The commands you’ll use every single day without thinking.
What’s running? What’s consuming resources? How do you stop it? Production essentials.
Finding out what went wrong. The skill that separates guessers from troubleshooters.
Advanced Operations
Keys, config, tunnels. Secure remote access for distributed infrastructure.
Parse logs, extract data, transform output. The power tools that impress interviewers.
Capacity planning and storage troubleshooting. Prevent the 2 AM “disk full” alerts.
Who This Series Is For
- Helpdesk/Support moving to infrastructure roles
- Windows admins adding Linux to their toolkit
- Bootcamp grads filling practical gaps
- Career changers entering tech via sysadmin track
- Homelab enthusiasts translating hobby into career
The Career Context
These aren’t just commands – they’re interview talking points. Each guide explains not just how to use the command, but how to discuss it in interviews, what scenarios demonstrate real experience, and how to position your homelab work as production-relevant.
Junior sysadmin roles in the UK typically pay £30-40k. With solid Linux fundamentals and the ability to articulate your experience, you’re looking at £40-55k for mid-level infrastructure positions. That’s the difference these skills make.
Start Here
New to Linux? Start with Linux Commands That Get You Hired for the foundation.
Prepping for interviews? Jump to the specific topics you’ll be asked about – file permissions, systemctl, and log analysis come up in nearly every infrastructure interview.
Already comfortable? The text processing and SSH guides cover advanced skills that separate candidates.
Linux Fundamentals Series – Part 1 of 12