Hello everyone, I'm Joe! I recently joined this awesome community to be active with the world of Linux. I like to ask if anyone in the community is actively part of the Red Hat Linux Family? I'm learning Linux and using Ubuntu as my start, however, my focus is on Red Hat and so I like to ask what recommendations would be the best for getting there. My goal would be to land a Junior SysAdmin role if possible. As so any tips or advice along with what to avoid along along my journey would be greatly appreciated!

Always start your script with #!/bin/bash. That first line is called a shebang (#!). It tells Linux which program should run the script. Without it, your script might not run correctly. Example: #!/bin/bash echo "Hello, world!" Steps to run it: Save it as hello.sh. Make it executable: chmod +x hello.sh Run it: ./hello.sh Output: Hello, world! 👉 Without the #!/bin/bash line, Linux will use the shell of the session you are logged into.

The following is a technical review of a series of issues that has taken over my life for the last week or 2. Please feel free to ask questions. Terraform Provider Lock Seemingly out of nowhere, our Azure pipelines stopped working. They would make it all the way to the apply stage, but then a Terraform provider lock resulted in following error: │ Error: Inconsistent dependency lock file │ The given plan file was created with a different set of external dependency │ selections than the current configuration. A saved plan can be applied only │ to the same configuration it was created from. │ │ Create a new plan from the updated configuration. This took all day to figure out. No changes were made to the pipeline and I am still unsure how this started. The issue was a block of code in the azure-pipeline.yaml file that locks terraform provider (azurerm, azuread) versions in place. Somehow those versions were showing up different from the planning stage to the apply. We only figured this out because someone put the azure pipeline and the error message into Sage AI and it told us the issue was that specific block of code. Version Upgrades One of the potential fixes was a version upgrade to the Terraform version as well as the 2 main provider plugins, azurerm and azuread. In our system, this can be a lengthy process. First, you have to find every external module and create a feature. Then you have to set the new provider versions in that module and any sub-module to that module. Then, back in the main repo, set the source in the call to that module to the feature branch. Now in the main repo, update the version numbers and any sub-modules inside this repo. (Note: In terraform, a module can be housed inside another repo, or external to it). From here, you want to run a terraform plan. This checks your code against the current infrastructure and tells you if anything needs to be changed according to your state file and the code. If that all checks out, you run your code through the pipeline and all goes well.

Before I get into the hectic work life that comes with what a lot of you say you want, I want you to understand the backdrop of my life a bit. I have a wife of 3 years that stays home with our 1.5 year old baby boy. I have more than 1 job and I'm working on starting a new business. Recently a friend's mother passed away. We've been friends since she moved in next door in the 4th grade. That funeral is this Saturday on September 30. My aunt that I found out was my mom's best friend...she's having her birthday dinner the night before. My mom passed in 2015. The grind is real. I have had several nights with only 2 hours of sleep. I'm presently dealing with carpal tunnel and a foot injury as well. I wrote all this to say, this is not the place to feel sorry for yourself and get sympathy. We're here to learn and push through at all costs. SOME of what happened will be in a following post. Mainly because when you're in the middle of something this, it's like a frenzy. Ideas are flying all over the place, this person needs an update for that person.....it gets hectic. This is all from one job and again, it's not everything, but I'm hoping that creates opportunities for conversation and questions. Here we go....

The /etc/hosts file is a fundamental system file that plays a key role in how your Linux machine resolves domain names to IP addresses. It's essentially a local, manually managed DNS table. When you type a hostname like www.google.com into your browser, your system first checks /etc/hosts to see if there's a corresponding IP address listed there before sending a query to an external DNS server. This local check makes resolution extremely fast since no network communication is required. 🎯 Primary Uses * Blocking Websites: This is a common use for parents or system administrators. By mapping a domain to your local machine's loopback address (127.0.0.1), you can effectively prevent access to a site. For example, adding 127.0.0.1 twitter.com will block access to Twitter on your machine. * Local Development: Developers use the hosts file to test web applications before they go live on a public server. By adding an entry like 192.168.1.10 myapp.local, they can access their development server using a user-friendly hostname instead of an IP address. This mimics a live environment. * Network Shortcuts: You can create simple, memorable hostnames for devices on your local network. Instead of remembering 192.168.1.50 for your network printer, you could add 192.168.1.50 printer to your hosts file and simply type printer into your browser or command line to access it. ✍️ Editing the File The /etc/hosts file requires root permissions to edit. You can use a text editor like nano or vim with the sudo command. A good practice is to always back up the original file before making any changes. * Backup: sudo cp /etc/hosts /etc/hosts.bak * Edit: sudo nano /etc/hosts * Add your entries: Add new lines with the format IP_address hostname. * Save and Exit: Press Ctrl+O to save and Ctrl+X to exit in nano. After editing and saving, the changes take effect immediately without needing to restart any services. 🛡️ Important Notes * Comments: Lines starting with a # are ignored by the system and can be used to add comments for clarity. For example, # Blocked for security.