How To Become A Unix/Linux Administrator: What It Is and Career Path

What is a unix/linux administrator and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

The average unix/linux administrator salary is $80,041. The most common degree is a bachelor's degree degree with an computer science major. It usually takes 1-2 years of experience to become a unix/linux administrator. Unix/linux administrators with a Red Hat Certified System Administrator (RHCSA) certification earn more money. Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 5% and produce 18,200 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreUnix/Linux AdministratorUS Average

Salary

6.3

Avg. Salary $80,041

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

5.7

Growth rate 5%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

3.6

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.31%

Asian 13.91%

Black or African American 7.99%

Hispanic or Latino 11.70%

Unknown 5.01%

White 61.08%

Gender

female 16.88%

male 83.12%

Age - 42

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 42

Stress level

5.7

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

6.7

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

7.1

Work life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a unix/linux administrator

Explore unix/linux administrator education requirements

Most common unix/linux administrator degrees

Bachelor's

78.8 %

Master's

14.5 %

Associate

4.2 %

Start to develop specific unix/linux administrator skills

Skills	Percentages
Linux Servers	5.81%
Unix	4.53%
Windows	4.22%
RHEL	3.62%
NFS	3.18%

Complete relevant unix/linux administrator training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 3-6 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New unix/linux administrators learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a unix/linux administrator based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real unix/linux administrator resumes.

Research unix/linux administrator duties and responsibilities

Use bash shell scripting to schedule and automate processes.
Manage installation, configuration, upgrades, and patch systems running OS such as Redhat and Centos.
Manage storage allocations in SAN environment.
Install and configure Nagios monitoring tool to manage infrastructure.

Prepare your unix/linux administrator resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your unix/linux administrator resume.

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