Transitioning from cloud to on-premises AD and server admin
Moving from a cloud consulting background to an on-premises role often leaves engineers needing to learn local Active Directory and server administration from scratch, or struggling to maintain Linux skills when working in a Windows-heavy shop. Without hands-on courses or experience, bridging this gap makes it difficult to know where to start learning.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
- 1Using WSL daily
- 2Running a homelab
- 3Taking refresher courses and vendor certification exams
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“The problem is that I work at a .NET/Windows shop, so I've barely touched Linux in years.”source ↗
“For those who came from a Windows-heavy background, what got your Linux skills to stick when your job didn't require it?”source ↗
“I was working as cloud consultant while I have little knowledge of on prem ad and servers and landed a job as ad admin and server admin I need your recommendation to go though any course that would actually help me learn.”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 4Thrown into managing cloud architecture with no experience
- 4Where can I practice Microsoft 365 admin center for free?
- 9Why does a cloud outage feel like total chaos internally?
- 2How to manage on-premises servers without an Active Directory domain
- 7How to handle being the only IT person at a company
- 4How to manage remote IT infrastructure without a dedicated team