Linux & DevOps Engineer - RHEL/AWS/Ansible

Khurram Salam

*******.*******@*****.*** 224-***-**** Hoffman Estates, IL

Linkedin URL: www.linkedin.com/in/khurram-salam-b634813a9

SUMMARY:

Linux & DevOps Engineer with 7+ years of experience supporting enterprise Linux environments across banking and large-scale technology organizations. Strong expertise in RHEL, CentOS, Oracle Linux, VMware virtualization, automation with Ansible, containerization using Docker and Kubernetes, and cloud infrastructure on AWS. Proven ability to support 24/7 production systems, automate manual operations, remediate security vulnerabilities, and collaborate with cross-functional teams to improve system reliability, scalability, and performance.

EDUCATION AND CERTIFICATION:

Bachelors of Computer Science 2006 – 2010

University of Central Punjab (UCP)

Red Hat Certified System Administrator (RHCSA EX 200)

Credential ID: 260-015-474

TECHNICAL SKILLS:

Operating Systems: Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 7,8,9 CentOS, Oracle

Automation & Scripting: Ansible, Bash Scripting, Kickstart, PXE Boot, YAML, Infrastructure as Code (IaC)

Package Management: YUM, RPM, Red Hat Satellite, Kernel and system updates, Patch Management

Virtualization: VMware ESXi, vSphere, vCenter, VMotion, VM lifecycle management, Snapshots

Cloud Platforms: AWS EC2, S3, EBS, EFS, ELB, IAM

Containers: Docker, Podman, Kubernetes, Orchestration, Pod deployments

Version Control: Version Control, Git, GitHub, Gitlab

Monitoring & Logging: Nagios, Splunk, CloudWatch, Grafana, Prometheus

Backup & Recovery: Veritas NetBackup, rsync, snapshots

Networking Tools & Security: TCP/IP, DNS, DHCP, NFS, SSH, HTTP/HTTPS, tcpdump, hardening, NIC bonding, firewalld, SELinux, traceroute, ping, nslookup, dig, curl, wget, netstat, ss

Performance: CPU, Memory, Disk, Network, IO, top, vmstat, iostat, sosreport

ITSM Tools: ServiceNow, BMC Remedy, Jira Confluence, incident management, change management, on-call support, PagerDuty

Documentation: SOP creation, runbooks, operational documentation, knowledge base maintenance

EMPLOYMENT HISTORY:

Comcast, New Jersey 06-2023 – Present

Linux Systems Engineer

Responsibilities:

●Installed, configured, and managed Red Hat Enterprise Linux servers across physical, virtual, and cloud environments while maintaining enterprise security standards, OS compliance, and system stability.

●Own to RHEL upgrade with pre and post planning, utilized Leapp utility for in-place Rhel 7 to 8 and Rhel 8 to 9 with minimal downtime and proper application up time validation.

●Managed Red Hat High Availability Clusters for mission-critical applications, handling proactive monitoring, performance tuning, and DR planning to maintain uptime and fault tolerance.

●Supported and maintained HP-UX (Unix) and Linux-based enterprise systems, including performance tuning, patching, and troubleshooting of critical production workloads

Worked in mixed Unix/Linux environments, ensuring compatibility, system stability, and operational consistency across platforms

●Administered VMware ESXi environments, performing VM provisioning, performance monitoring, and live migrations using VMotion to optimize resource utilization and maintain high availability.

●Managed AWS cloud infrastructure using (EC2, IAM, S3, Load Balancers, and Auto Scaling) to support secure, reliable, and scalable production environments.

●Automated Linux server provisioning, patch management, configuration enforcement, and compliance remediation using Ansible across on-premises and AWS environments, significantly reducing manual effort while ensuring consistent, secure, and highly available infrastructure.

●Configured and managed NFS file systems across enterprise Linux/Unix environments for shared storage access

Supported infrastructure migrations involving file systems, ensuring data integrity and minimal downtime.

●Collaborated with cross-functional application teams during system upgrades and migration activities.

●Troubleshot and resolved complex issues across Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) environments, including Compute Instances, networking (VCNs), storage volumes, load balancers, and Oracle Linux servers, ensuring high availability and reliable production operations.

●Configured RAID levels 0, 1, 5, 6, and 10 on servers to improve storage speed, protect data from disk failures, and ensure zero data loss in a production environment.

●Implemented enterprise monitoring and observability solutions using CloudWatch and Nagios to track infrastructure and application health, enabling proactive alerting, faster incident detection, and improved system reliability across production environments.

●Automated infrastructure provisioning, system configuration, user management, and application deployments using Ansible playbooks, significantly reducing manual intervention and improving consistency across multiple environments.

●Administered and maintained enterprise-scale RHEL environments, leveraging Red Hat Satellite Server to automate lifecycle management, patch deployment, system provisioning, and configuration compliance across production and non-production environments.

●Centralized and governed infrastructure automation workflows using Ansible Tower, enabling controlled, role-based execution of deployment processes and improving operational consistency across cross-functional teams.

●Built and containerized microservices-based applications using Docker, improving deployment scalability, isolation, and consistency across development and production environments. Managed full container lifecycle including image creation, orchestration, networking, and persistent storage volumes.

●Collaborated with development and operations teams to integrate infrastructure automation into CI/CD and release workflows, improving deployment efficiency and operational alignment.

●Maintained and managed version control practices for infrastructure and application code using Git and GitLab, supporting structured branching strategies, peer review processes, and controlled release management across distributed engineering teams.

●Supported and optimized HP-UX and UNIX-based legacy infrastructure across enterprise environments, driving platform standardization, performance tuning, system reliability, and operational efficiency within complex multi-environment server estates.

●Built and deployed applications using Docker containers to make setup faster and ensure applications worked the same in both development and production environments.

●Orchestrated Kubernetes-based container platforms supporting production workloads, including deployment scheduling, cluster monitoring, and troubleshooting of containerized applications in enterprise environments.

●Enforced Kubernetes security and compliance standards by implementing secure cluster configurations, access control policies, and governance practices aligned with organizational security requirements in production environments.

●Managed end-to-end incident response and IT service operations using ServiceNow, including root cause analysis, change management, and audit-ready documentation for production systems.

CBS, New York, NY 05/2020 - 04/2023

Linux Systems Administrator

Responsibilities:

●Supported enterprise VMware vSphere infrastructure in large-scale production environments by maintaining, upgrading, and optimizing virtual systems while coordinating changes with stakeholders to ensure minimal downtime and stable service continuity.

●Administered Linux server environments across hybrid infrastructure, enforcing standardized OS baselines, secure SSH key authentication, and organizational configuration policies across production systems.

●Engineered scalable storage architectures using LVM and RAID configurations (RAID 0,1,5,6,10) to support resilient and high-performance application data systems in enterprise environments.

●Performed enterprise system administration including RPM/YUM package lifecycle management, patching operations, and internal repository maintenance to ensure consistent and reliable software deployment across environments.

●Hardened Linux operating systems using iptables and Firewalld, implementing structured network segmentation, firewall policies, and access control frameworks to strengthen overall infrastructure security posture.

●Automated routine operational workflows through cron-based scheduling for system backups, log rotation, and maintenance tasks, improving operational reliability and reducing manual intervention across production systems.

●Executed structured patch management cycles including pre-deployment validation, controlled production rollout, and rollback planning to ensure system stability and compliance in critical environments.

●Delivered and supported enterprise-grade services including Apache HTTPD and VSFTPD, ensuring reliable availability of internal web applications and secure file transfer services.

●Performed system-level performance analysis using vmstat, iostat, and top to identify CPU, memory, and disk bottlenecks, implementing targeted optimizations to improve system stability and efficiency.

●Secured administrative access across Linux environments using VPN-based connectivity, SSH hardening standards, and privileged access controls to minimize unauthorized access risks and improve security compliance.

●Supported enterprise DNS infrastructure including zone management, failover testing, and resolution troubleshooting using dig and nslookup, ensuring consistent and highly available name resolution services.

●Contributed to infrastructure planning and capacity engineering discussions, providing technical recommendations for OS selection, storage design, and deployment architecture in enterprise-scale environments.

●Managed infrastructure monitoring using CloudWatch and Nagios to track Linux server performance, monitor application health, and support production environments.

●Documented operational procedures, troubleshooting runbooks, and post-incident analysis reports to enhance knowledge sharing, operational consistency, and reduce onboarding time for new engineers.

●Provided filesystem and storage support, including recovery of corrupted partitions and resolution of disk-level failures to maintain data integrity and ensure service continuity in production environments.

Logic Works, NYC, NY 05/2019 - 04/2020

Linux Analyst

Responsibilities:

●Created and managed local user accounts, including setting default shells, assigning group memberships, and handling password resets as part of daily operations.

●Assisted with physical server deployments by racking and cabling equipment in the data center, following documented layout standards.

●Monitored system load averages and disk space utilization using tools like top and df, escalating anomalies to the senior team when thresholds were exceeded.

●Applied basic configuration changes to system resources, including allocating additional swap space and adjusting memory settings based on usage patterns.

●Archived outdated log files and cleaned up temporary directories in line with internal housekeeping policies to maintain disk availability.

●Set up SSH key-based authentication for secure, passwordless login across trusted Linux servers, improving access control.

●Contributed to internal knowledge-sharing by writing step-by-step guides for common troubleshooting tasks and posting updates to the team wiki.

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