There comes a point in every person's life when they must grow up and plan for their future. It is important to remember that you can be anything you want if you try hard enough. Of course, some jobs such as astronaut, President of the USA or NBA player are harder to get than others!

A smart choice in today's world is to be involved with Linux. There are many careers in Linux that are in demand nowadays. If you want to be a Linux Systems Admin, I have good news -- you can now become qualified online thanks to a partnership between edX and the Linux Foundation.

To sign up and learn more, you can check it out here.

"LFS201 is the second course The Linux Foundation has made available on the edX platform. The first, a free course, was Introduction to Linux (LFS101), which to date has enrolled over 400,000 learners, making it one of the largest courses available on the edX platform. The new course, which is appropriate for those who have completed LFS101 and want to take the next step, as well as individuals who have worked in IT positions but not directly with Linux, will be offered for a fee of $499, which includes a Linux Foundation Certified System Administrator exam attempt, a $300 value which includes one free retake if not passed on the first attempt. The course will be offered at an introductory price of only $399 for two weeks from today", explains The Linux Foundation.

The foundation further explains, "LFS201 enrollment is open now on edx.org, and students will be able to begin taking the course on August 3, 2015. This exam is offered online and can be taken anytime, from anywhere, making it a convenient option for individuals around the globe. It is completely performance based, so tests skills rather than rote memorization, which makes these certifications attractive to potential employers. As the jobs report found that 54 percent of hiring managers expect a certification or evidence of formal training from applicants, certified professionals will have a leg up on the competition".

According to the course page, you will learn the following.

Edit text files on the command line

Manipulate text files from the command line

Archive and compress files and directories

Assemble partitions as LVM devices

Configure swap partitions

File attributes

Find files on the filesystem

Format filesystems

Mount filesystems automatically at boot time

Mount networked filesystems

Partition storage devices

Troubleshoot filesystem issues

Create backups

Create local user groups

Manage file permissions

Manage fstab entries

Manage local users accounts

Manage the startup process and related services

Manage user accounts

Manage user account attributes

Manage user processes

Restore backed up data

Set file permissions and ownership

Access the root account

Use sudo to manage access to the root account

Write basic bash shell scripts

Install software packages

Unlike many other edX courses, this one is not free. With that said, it is far more in-depth and valuable than the typical course found on the site. Quite frankly, $399 is a steal to become a Linux Foundation Certified System Administrator. Remember, the best investment you can make is in yourself.

Photo Credit: Julien Tromeur/Shutterstock