Linux Systems Administrator

About CloudIQ TechnologiesCloud IQ offers a portfolio of IT Cloud Management services designed to ensure high availability, scalability, optimal uptime, and reduced total cost of ownership. We provide end‑to‑end Cloud Infrastructure and Application Migration Services, helping global organizations optimize mission‑critical IT systems and business processes. Our expert teams enable customers to focus on core business functions while we manage their infrastructure with precision and reliability.CloudIQ is a full‑stack engineering solutions provider with deep expertise in Application Modernization and modern data analytics platforms across Azure, AWS, and Kubernetes. Recognized as one of the top 100 companies and certified by both the Cloud Native Computing Foundation and Microsoft, CloudIQ is committed to delivering cutting‑edge cloud‑native engineering solutions.Position OverviewWe are seeking a highly skilled and experienced Linux Systems Administrator with 10- 12years to join our infrastructure team for temporary contract work. In this role, you will be a key contributor to a critical initiative: planning, automating, and executing the migration of our legacy Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 6.x environment to modern, fully supported enterprise Linux versions (RHEL 8.x/9.x or modern equivalents).The ideal candidate possesses deep, hands-on Linux administration expertise and a passion for automation. You will leverage Ansible and/or Puppet to build repeatable deployment patterns, automate configuration management, and ensure our modernized infrastructure is secure, scalable, and highly available.Key Project GoalsLegacy Assessment: Inventory and analyze existing RHEL 6.x instances, identifying application dependencies, custom scripts, and compatibility bottlenecks.Modernization Roadmap: Collaborate with application owners and developers to architect clean upgrade and migration paths to modern platforms.Infrastructure as Code (IaC): Standardize and automate the provisioning and configuration of new server instances using Ansible and Puppet, eliminating drift and manual setups.Security & Compliance: Ensure all modernized systems are hardened, patched, and compliant with current organizational security baselines (including SELinux, firewalld, and modern TLS requirements).Key ResponsibilitiesMigration Execution: Lead the technical hands-on execution of migrating OS workloads from RHEL 6.x to newer platforms, utilizing both in-place upgrades (where applicable) and clean-rebuild/migration strategies.Automation & Configuration Management:Develop, test, and maintain robust Ansible playbooks/roles and Puppet manifests to automate server deployments, patching, and configuration drift correction.Integrate configuration management into existing CI/CD pipelines or deployment workflows.System Administration: Provide daily administration, troubleshooting, performance tuning, and capacity planning for our enterprise Linux landscape.Scripting & Tooling: Write and maintain robust scripts (Bash, Python, or Ruby) to facilitate data migration, backup validation, and system integration.Collaboration & Support: Partner closely with application development, security, database, and QA teams to troubleshoot migration-related issues (e.g., library dependencies, systemd transitions, network changes).Documentation: Create clear, comprehensive documentation including migration guides, architecture diagrams, runbooks, and automation playbooks.Required Skills & ExperienceProfessional Linux Expertise: 5+ years of dedicated experience administering Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) or equivalent distributions (CentOS, Rocky Linux, AlmaLinux) in a medium-to-large scale enterprise environment.Legacy RHEL Knowledge: Strong familiarity with RHEL 6.x architecture, including SysVinit, legacy network configurations, older package managers (yum), and Python 2 legacy environments.Modern RHEL Knowledge: Deep understanding of modern RHEL architectures (RHEL 8/9), including systemd, firewalld, AppStream, advanced storage management, and modern security protocols.Configuration Management:Proficient in Ansible (writing playbooks, roles, utilizing Galaxy, managing variables, and vault encryption).Proficient in Puppet (writing manifests, modules, understanding hiera, and maintaining a Puppet agent/server architecture).Scripting: Strong scripting skills in Bash and either Python or Ruby to support migration automation.Storage & Networking: Strong understanding of LVM (Logical Volume Manager), file systems (ext4, XFS), NFS, SAN/NAS, and core networking concepts (TCP/IP, DNS, DHCP, VLANs, routing).Problem Solving: Excellent analytical and troubleshooting skills, with the ability to diagnose complex application-to-OS compatibility issues.Preferred QualificationsCertifications: Red Hat Certified System Administrator (RHCSA) or Red Hat Certified Engineer (RHCE) is highly preferred.Virtualization & Cloud: Experience migrating workloads across VMware ESXi, Nutanix, or public cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP).Containerization: Experience with Docker, Podman, or Kubernetes/OpenShift.Version Control: Proficiency with Git and Git-based collaborative workflows (GitLab, GitHub, Bitbucket).