Path to Linux / Unix Systems Administrator Post: 302415485

Sponsored Content

Top Forums UNIX for Dummies Questions & Answers Path to Linux / Unix Systems Administrator Post 302415485 by rhfrommn on Thursday 22nd of April 2010 04:18:55 PM

04-22-2010

Registered User

One comment I'd have is that a large fraction of the admins I know had an experience in their career where they got thrown in way over their head and they had to learn under pressure. One of my mentors worked at a large bank, and 1 month after becoming a Unix admin the senior admin quit so he ended up in charge of hundreds of workstations and servers by himself.

In my case, 1 year after getting into Unix I was hired to be the middle person of a 3 admin team for a fairly small company. There was supposed to be a very experienced admin hired for the senior position. The day I showed up they told me the senior guy got another job offer and wouldn't be joining the company. So day 1 I ended up in charge of the entire Unix environment for a new company I'd never worked at before! Not long after that, due to layoffs I ended up the only person between both Unix and Storage teams, doing the work that was handled by a team of 6 about a year earlier. It was tons of work and stress having to come up to speed that fast and handle everything on my own. But for the long range career outlook it was great. I had experience and knowledge I never would have gotten working under a more senior admin again.

So, I guess the practical advice for you is to find a way to work on Unix, even if you think it's beyond what you can do. If you truly love it and have the talent and smarts it takes you'll manage to get by and learn more than you ever could reading books. Find a part time or entry level Unix job, or volunteer at the church/school/charity of your choice to work on their Linux or Unix systems, or somthing like that. Find a way to get real world experience even if it seems intimidating at first.

Good luck.

rhfrommn

View Public Profile for rhfrommn

Find all posts by rhfrommn

2 More Discussions You Might Find Interesting

1. What is on Your Mind?

Unix Administrator and Linux Administrator transition

Hello Unix Experts, I'm going to be graduating with a CIS (Computer Information Systems) degree in the coming year. I have been offered an internship with a job title of Unix Administrator under a well known company. I understand that Unix is used for high-end servers in many large...

2. Advertise with Us

UNIX Systems Administrator Opportunity

Optiver is a worldwide market maker and derivatives trading firm with offices strategically located in Chicago, Amsterdam and Sydney. Attracting very ambitious, talented and results-oriented individuals to become members of a highly selective trading and support group is a primary contributor to...

LEARN ABOUT PHP

getdate

GETDATE(3)								 1								GETDATE(3)

getdate - Get date/time information

SYNOPSIS

       array getdate ([int  $timestamp = time()])

DESCRIPTION

	Returns an associative array containing the date information of the $timestamp, or the current local time if no $timestamp is given.

PARAMETERS

	      o $timestamp
		-  The	optional  $timestamp parameter is an integer Unix timestamp that defaults to the current local time if a $timestamp is not
		given. In other words, it defaults to the value of time(3).

RETURN VALUES

	Returns an associative array of information related to the $timestamp. Elements from the returned associative array are as follows:

       Key elements of the returned associative array

       +----------+--------------------------------------+---+
       |   Key	  |					 |   |
       |	  |					 |   |
       |	  |		Description		 |   |
       |	  |					 |   |
       |	  |	  Example returned values	 |   |
       |	  |					 |   |
       +----------+--------------------------------------+---+
       |	  |					 |   |
       |"seconds" |					 |   |
       |	  |					 |   |
       |	  |  Numeric representation of seconds	 |   |
       |	  |					 |   |
       |	  |					 |   |
       |	  |		  0 to 59		 |   |
       |	  |					 |   |
       |	  |					 |   |
       |"minutes" |					 |   |
       |	  |					 |   |
       |	  |  Numeric representation of minutes	 |   |
       |	  |					 |   |
       |	  |					 |   |
       |	  |		  0 to 59		 |   |
       |	  |					 |   |
       |	  |					 |   |
       | "hours"  |					 |   |
       |	  |					 |   |
       |	  |   Numeric representation of hours	 |   |
       |	  |					 |   |
       |	  |					 |   |
       |	  |		  0 to 23		 |   |
       |	  |					 |   |
       |	  |					 |   |
       | "mday"   |					 |   |
       |	  |					 |   |
       |	  | Numeric representation of the day of |   |
       |	  | the month				 |   |
       |	  |					 |   |
       |	  |					 |   |
       |	  |		  1 to 31		 |   |
       |	  |					 |   |
       |	  |					 |   |
       | "wday"   |					 |   |
       |	  |					 |   |
       |	  | Numeric representation of the day of |   |
       |	  | the week				 |   |
       |	  |					 |   |
       |	  |					 |   |
       |	  | 0 (for Sunday) through 6 (for Satur- |   |
       |	  | day)				 |   |
       |	  |					 |   |
       |	  |					 |   |
       |  "mon"   |					 |   |
       |	  |					 |   |
       |	  |  Numeric representation of a month	 |   |
       |	  |					 |   |
       |	  |					 |   |
       |	  |		1 through 12		 |   |
       |	  |					 |   |
       |	  |					 |   |
       | "year"   |					 |   |
       |	  |					 |   |
       |	  | A  full  numeric representation of a |   |
       |	  | year, 4 digits			 |   |
       |	  |					 |   |
       |	  |	   Examples: 1999 or 2003	 |   |
       |	  |					 |   |
       |	  |					 |   |
       | "yday"   |					 |   |
       |	  |					 |   |
       |	  | Numeric representation of the day of |   |
       |	  | the year				 |   |
       |	  |					 |   |
       |	  |					 |   |
       |	  |	       0 through 365		 |   |
       |	  |					 |   |
       |	  |					 |   |
       |"weekday" |					 |   |
       |	  |					 |   |
       |	  | A full textual representation of the |   |
       |	  | day of the week			 |   |
       |	  |					 |   |
       |	  |					 |   |
       |	  |	  Sunday through Saturday	 |   |
       |	  |					 |   |
       |	  |					 |   |
       | "month"  |					 |   |
       |	  |					 |   |
       |	  | A full textual representation  of  a |   |
       |	  | month, such as January or March	 |   |
       |	  |					 |   |
       |	  |					 |   |
       |	  |	  January through December	 |   |
       |	  |					 |   |
       |	  |					 |   |
       |    0	  |					 |   |
       |	  |					 |   |
       |	  |  Seconds since the Unix Epoch, simi- |   |
       |	  | lar  to  the  values   returned   by |   |
       |	  | time(3) and used by date(3).	 |   |
       |	  |					 |   |
       |	  |  System	Dependent,     typically |   |
       |	  | -2147483648 through 2147483647.	 |   |
       |	  |					 |   |
       +----------+--------------------------------------+---+
EXAMPLES

       Example #1

	      getdate(3) example

	      <?php
	      $today = getdate();
	      print_r($today);
	      ?>

	      The above example will output something similar to:

	      Array
	      (
		  [seconds] => 40
		  [minutes] => 58
		  [hours]   => 21
		  [mday]    => 17
		  [wday]    => 2
		  [mon]     => 6
		  [year]    => 2003
		  [yday]    => 167
		  [weekday] => Tuesday
		  [month]   => June
		  [0]	    => 1055901520
	      )

SEE ALSO

       date(3), idate(3), localtime(3), time(3), setlocale(3).

PHP Documentation Group 														GETDATE(3)