Microsoft's Azure boosts security with "confidential computing" service Watch Now

Video: Microsoft's Azure boosts security with "confidential computing" service

Everyone knows Linux is the operating system of choice on most public clouds. But did you know that, even on Microsoft's own Azure, 40 percent of all server instances are Linux? Therefore, it behooves sysadmins to pick up not just Linux skills but also to learn how to run Linux on Azure. To make this easier, The Linux Foundation has announced the availability of a new training course: LFS205 - Administering Linux on Azure.

This class provides an introduction to managing Linux on Azure. Whether someone is a Linux professional who wants to learn more about working on Azure or an Azure professional who needs to understand how to work with Linux in Azure, this course gives you the information you need.

There are a wide variety of officially supported Linux distros on Azure. These include CentOS, Debian, Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES), and Ubuntu. In short, Azure supports all the major Linux server operating systems.

John Gossman, Microsoft's Azure distinguished engineer and Linux Foundation board member, explained: "With over 40 percent of VMs on Azure now Linux, we [want] ... to make sure customers currently using Linux on Azure -- and those who want to -- have the tools and knowledge they need to run their enterprise workloads on our cloud."

There's a real need for such courses. "As The Linux Foundation and Dice's 2017 Open Source Jobs Report showed, cloud computing skills are by far the most in demand by employers," said Linux Foundation General Manager for Training and Certification Clyde Seepersad. Indeed, 70 percent of employers, up from 66 percent in 2016, are seeking workers with cloud experience.

Seepersad continued, "This shouldn't be a surprise to anyone, as the world today is run in the cloud. Azure is one of the most popular public clouds, and a huge portion of its instances run on Linux. That's why we feel this new course is essential to give Azure professionals the Linux skills they need, give Linux professionals the Azure skills they need, and train new professionals to ensure industry has the talent it needs to meet the growing demand for Linux on Azure."

Before taking the class, if you're new to Azure and Linux, I recommend taking Microsoft's 20533C Implementing Microsoft Azure Infrastructure Solutions and The Linux Foundation's Certified System Administrator courses.

This class starts with an introduction to Linux and Azure. It then quickly moves on to advanced Linux features and how they're managed in Azure. Next, the course goes into container management, either in Linux or with Azure's open source container technologies such as Docker, OpenShift, and Pivotal Cloud Foundry. After that, the course covers how to deploy virtual machines (VMs) in Azure and discusses different deployment scenarios.

This is hands-on instruction. Once you've set up the VMs up, students will learn how to manage them in an efficient way. The class concludes with techniques on how to troubleshoot Linux in Azure, and how to monitor Linux in Azure using different open-source tools

In a nutshell, students can expect to learn about:

Advanced Linux features and how they're managed in an Azure environment

Managing containers

Deploying virtual machines in Azure and managing them

Monitoring and troubleshooting Linux in Azure

The class is taught by Sander van Vugt, a well-regarded Linux instructor and course developer for The Linux Foundation. He's also a managing partner of ITGilde, a large co-operative in which about a hundred independent Linux professionals in the Netherlands have joined forces.

The course is available to immediately begin. The $299 fee provides unlimited access to the course for one year to all content and labs. Interested? Enroll in Administering Linux on Azure today.

If you have any interest in working with Linux and Azure, take this class. It will help both your understanding of how the two work together and your chances of getting an IT job.

Related stories