Armin Jenewein

Senior Linux/UNIX Systems Engineer & Freelance Open Source Professional

About Me

Hi! My name is Armin, and I’m a senior Linux/UNIX systems engineer and freelance open source professional with more than 15 years of experience designing, maintaining, and optimizing reliable infrastructure, developing robust automation, and building efficient solutions for *nix environments. I am deeply passionate about the command line, automation, and the UNIX philosophy. My work focuses on terminal-driven workflows, system performance, reliability, and creating clean, maintainable solutions based on simplicity and technical excellence. Throughout my career, I have gained broad experience across diverse environments, ranging from enterprise infrastructure to modern open source desktop systems. My approach is guided by stability, minimalism, and a strong focus on understanding the underlying technology rather than relying on specific products or proprietary ecosystems. Driven by curiosity and a desire to understand how systems work beneath the surface, I continuously explore complex technologies and expand my expertise in areas that truly interest me - especially UNIX & BSD, automation, and IT security. I enjoy deep technical exploration and applying that knowledge to build practical, reliable, and thoughtful solutions. Rather than focusing on products, I focus on the technologies and principles behind them. This perspective allows me to continuously grow my knowledge independently of vendor ecosystems and avoid unnecessary lock-ins, creating solutions that remain flexible, sustainable, and future-proof.

Journey

I'm a passionate musician, DJ and visual computer artist who has worked professionally over 15 years with Linux & BSD. One of my primary goals is crafting beautiful, functional, and secure IT applications and appliances that work reliably and are a joy to use. My expertise spans across infrastructure design, configuration management, scripting, provisioning, and deployment automation. I'm a minimalist at heart who loves to start from scratch and to build solutions from the ground up.

I believe in the power of lightweight software, intuitive design, and seamless user experiences. When I'm not coding, you can find me exploring new operating systems, free software, programming languages, contributing to open-source projects, or making music and visual art.

Mission

To deliver reliable, efficient, and sustainable Linux/UNIX infrastructure solutions through deep technical expertise, automation, and open source technologies. Focused on building stable systems, streamlining operations, and empowering businesses with secure and scalable systems and toolchains.



Vision

To promote a modern, open, and transparent IT ecosystem where simplicity, automation, and open source principles drive innovation. Dedicated to advancing terminal-centric workflows and resilient infrastructure that enable long-term performance, flexibility, and technological independence.

Code

Mentionable Git repositories.

Professional Experience

06/2025 - 11/2025

Linux Systems Administrator

Helmholtz Zentrum Berlin (HZB), Berlin

Linux systems administration using Ubuntu and Debian, including deployment automation with Ansible.

Ubuntu Debian Ansible
Deployment automation
03/2021 - 04/2024

Senior Systems Engineer

Silpion IT Solutions GmbH, Hamburg

Senior Systems Engineer and Automation Specialist - responsible for automation, deployments, configuration management, IaC, fully automated provisioning of enterprise environments, scalability, IT security, network security.

BASH Python Ansible Docker
Automation & configuration management
IaC & automated provisioning
IT & network security
03/2020 - 09/2020

Senior Linux/UNIX Systems Engineer

Lindenbaum GmbH, Karlsruhe

Automation and testing for virtual conferencing/VoIP systems. Worked with Ansible, Perl, BASH and Python.

Ansible Perl BASH Python
VoIP automation
System testing
09/2019 - 02/2020

Senior Systems Engineer

COCUS AG, Frankfurt am Main

Senior Systems Engineer and Automation Specialist - Deployment and configuration management using Ansible and Debian/Ubuntu for scalable enterprise resilient systems (Splunk Enterprise Security).

Ansible Debian Ubuntu CI/CD
Automated deployments
Configuration management
07/2016 - 08/2019

Senior Systems Engineer

DeNIC eG, Frankfurt am Main

Senior Systems Engineer and Automation Specialist - Responsible for deployments and administration of continuous delivery platforms based on CentOS.

CentOS Ansible SaltStack DevOps
Infrastructure automation
Large-scale administration
08/2015 - 01/2016

UNIX/Linux Systems Architect

Uniberg GmbH, Eschborn

UNIX/Linux Systems Architect - Deployment, administration, and continuous maintenance of fully virtualized infrastructure, consulting for enterprise internet service providers (ISP) and global telecommunication companies, responsible for large-scale networks.

Virtualization Infrastructure Telecom Networking
ISP consulting
Network optimization
08/2012 - 08/2015

Senior Systems Analyst

Amadeus Germany, Bad Homburg v.d.H.

Senior Systems Analyst - focus on Linux/UNIX and cloud technologies. Responsible for all aspects of communication and planning for a cloud server based fully automated continuous integration environment, head of infrastructure, planning and building of development environments, specialist for scripting and automation tasks.

Debian Jenkins Docker Git
Cloud VM infrastructure
CI environments
01/2012 - 08/2012

Systems Administrator for Linux / VMware

ADACOR Hosting GmbH, Offenbach

Responsible for a large number of VMware virtualized machines, maintenance of production environments based on CentOS, RedHat Enterprise Linux and Debian GNU/Linux, implementation and continuous administration of monitoring and firewall solutions.

VMware CentOS RHEL Debian
Virtualized infrastructure administration
Monitoring & firewall solutions
06/2008 - 12/2011

Systems Administrator / Software Developer

pawisda systems GmbH, Weiterstadt

Administration of production machines, development of installers and a large number of automation solutions and deployment tools.

BASH Python Automation Deployment
Production systems administration
Automation & deployment tooling
12/2005 - 01/2007

Freelancer - Systems Administration & Web-Design

Different Projects, Duisburg

Freelancer - administration of web- and mail-servers; development of backend software and database applications.

BASH Web Backend Database
Web & mail server administration
Backend & database development
07/2005 - 11/2005

Operator

Nothelle, Duisburg

Telephonist - 1st level customer-support team member for telecommunication providers.

Customer Support Telephony
1st level customer support
10/2020 - 01/2021

Linux & Docker Trainer

Heinlein Akademie, Berlin

Training Linux, shell scripting, automation and Docker/LXC for participants aged 21-62.

Linux Shell Scripting Docker LXC
Professional training courses
03/2018 - 05/2019

Voluntary Software Development

Acacia Secondary School, Windhoek, Namibia

Voluntary software development for a public school infrastructure project.

Software Development Python BASH
Educational infrastructure support
09/1996 - 10/2002

Mechatronics Engineer Retraining

Kreishandwerkerschaft Iserlohn

Professional retraining program focused on mechatronics engineering.

Mechatronics Engineering
Professional certification acquisition

Technical Skills

Core Technologies & Platforms

Extensive experience with a wide range of Linux distributions, automation technologies, custom ISO builds, custom container images, scripting languages and systems infrastructure.

/bin/sh Ansible Apache awk BASH C cgroups CSS Docker ffmpeg ForgeJo FreeBSD Gerrit Git GitLab Go Helm HTML ImageMagick Jails Jenkins Kubernetes Linux netcat OpenBSD OpenSSH OpenVPN Perl pf PHP POSIX Python sed socat tcpdump VIM Wayland WireGuard WireShark X11 Xorg
30+ years of personal Linux & BSD experience
15+ years of professional Linux & BSD experience
Cross-platform systems expertise (Linux/BSD/macOS/Solaris/HP-UX/AIX)

Personal Information

A mildly organized series of events

Born in Bremen, Germany, in 1980 - back when atmospheric CO₂ was a modest 338 ppm. Spent eight months in Dublin and went to school in Duisburg. Once lived in a flat with fast internet but no warm water (priorities). Native German speaker with fluent English. Currently based in Berlin and open to remote opportunities.

Contact

Contact

I'm always excited to talk with people about crazy ideas and I love to hang out on IRC. If you feel bored, or you simply want to test your fresh new mechanical keyboard and type away, drop me a /msg ;-)

🖥 Contact:

    IRC: "armin" on Libera/OFTC/HackInt

    Email: Please simply prefix this domain name with "armin@"

    XMPP: armin@jabber.vg

  • I do sometimes use telephones, but probably not in the way you think.
  • Please do not send me voice messages or links to YouTube Shorts.

📍 Based in:

Berlin, DE (Open to remote)