Training/Book suggestions for ESX admins with primarily a Windows background

[RCHSN]

Ever since taking on the role as one of our ESX admins at work I've taken on the task of learning more about linux/unix based systems and their operation. Up until now it's been at my own pace as a side hobby. Now my management is soliciting for training requests and I would like to ask the community if there are any classroom based training courses that you would reccomend. Any book suggestions would be welcomed as well. Currently I would rate my current linux/unix proficiency as "novice." By comparison my Windows background is about 11 years.

[avarcher]

What do you want to learn? ESX / Linux / both?

Cheers.

[Bastien_P]

Hi.

I'm speaking more for the ESX side of thing... (Linux well that seems easier to find.. O'reilly must have a good basic linux) There is couple of good reading from VM alone (ie quickstart and configuration guide)...

There is this one from rapidapp that is a pretty good short and simple review of the ESX world: RapidApp's Quick Start guide to ESX 3.0

And of course there is the gazillion of links from Vmware-land...:

Didnt find any new books for the 3.5 but the basic of 3.0 are still pretty accurate for 3.5.

Cheers

[Bastien_P]

Just an update on the rapidapps quickstart....

just stumble on this link: http://www.lulu.com/content/405623 it would seems to be the exact same book but put online by another of the three authors.... At a different price like... download for free! If so.. It's well worth the download.

[RCHSN]

My apologies for not being more clear on that. It's linux/unix that I'm interested in. I've attended the VI3 classroom training and passed the VCP exam so I have a good foundation on the ESX side. With that being said, I would be open to any suggestions regarding non-VMware ESX training.

[avarcher]

Dont be surprised if I suggest VMware's DSA course, , covers things a bit more from the enterprise / automation / security perspective and gets into the Linux commands pertinent to the Service Console.

To look at learning more about Linux I'd suggest looking at the Linux Professional Institute web site and be guided .

[virtualdud3]

The Linux book that I find the most-useful is How Linux Works, by No Starch Press.

http://nostarch.com/frameset.php?startat=howlinuxworks

For ESX reading material, make sure that you don't overlook VMware's Technical Papers:

http://www.vmware.com/resources/techresources/

Regarding VMware training, I second the recommendation for VMware's VI3 - DSA (Deploy, Secure, and Analyze) course.

In addition to training, make sure that you have a test lab where you are free to experiment and you don't have to worry about making mistakes. You can either run ESX within a virtual machine, install it on a "white box", or just purchase a couple of used servers off of eBay or similar site. You can then setup a Linux (I would go with CentOS*) box as an iSCSI target (http://iscsitarget.sourceforge.net/) and/or NFS server (http://bashcurescancer.com/rhel-50-centos-nfs-install-gui-mode.html) and you can configure VMotion, DRS/HA clusters, VCB, etc. etc.

*As you may already know, CentOS ("Community Enterprise OS" http://www.centos.org/) is basically a legal, free version of Red Hat Enterprise Linux. CentOS is derived from the RHEL source code; the "Red Hat" packages are changed to remove the Red Hat logo, brand/trademarks, etc. Since the ESX Service Console is based-on RHEL 3.6, CentOS is a great "flavor" of Linux to start on.

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[RCHSN]

Thank you to everyone for their input. I've requested the VMware DSA class and will most likley pick up the "How Linux Works" book.

Cheers,

RC

[mikepodoherty]

www.linux.org has good introductory classes that are free and fairly comprehensive.

You might also want to download vmserver and a couple linux appliances for hands on practice.

HTH

Mike

[Texiwill]

Hello,

As mentioned in my tagline below, there is a new book for ESX that should help.

As for Linux books, all the ones mentioned plus perhaps the following: The UNIX Programming Environment, Kernighan & Pike. This gives a very good overview of the shell. I also like to have around Linux in a Nutshell. As well as the Linux Kernel in a Nutshell. The Nostarch Press is a good book, as is the O'Reilly Learning books... I would go to Borders, B&N, or your favorite technical book store and pull a few books off the shelf and see which ones work best for you. Everyone has a different approach to Linux....

Best regards,

Edward L. Haletky

VMware Communities User Moderator

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Author of the book 'VMWare ESX Server in the Enterprise: Planning and Securing Virtualization Servers', Copyright 2008 Pearson Education, ISBN: 0-13-230207-1. As well as the Virtualization Wiki at http://www.astroarch.com/wiki/index.php/Virtualization

[dfgl]

If you want training courses or reading material I would recommend rtfm-ed.co.uk - Mike knows his stuff! (I too am from a windows background & his musings have proved invaluable while I've been getting used to esx/linux) & you have to admire the name of his company!!!!!!