Linux + Scheduled for Saturday

Read the Linux + In Dept book along with running Fedora 7 (spent a lot of time in run level 3 vs. 5).
I also did an install of Cento5. I've been running Ubuntu on my laptop since last July.
My main (server computer) only have Ubuntu 8.04 now. Having Linux on to separate system helped me use NFS & Samba.

Yeah I'm nervous about Saturday. The TechNotes on Linux+ are good. I also watched Mike Myers Linux+ CBT.

The only reason I stopped studying for 70-291 is because last year around July I installed and ran Microsoft Vista Business for two weeks and was horrified by it. Let's be real 15GB just to install the OS, no really 20GB cause you need room for updates.

I thought to myself that there has got to be something other then a Microsoft Windows Operating or Apples OSX to use. I love Apple but I didn't want to buy another system at the time. So while at work I saw an old red box the said "Redhat" on it. I spoke the senior DBA about what the hell RedHat was. The night I downloaded
Ubuntu Linux and the love affair began. After twice weeks of studying I felt like blinders had been removed. I soon learned that everything I used XP for Ubuntu or Fedora could do.

I'm into ripping & burning stuff and with Windows if you delete large .iso, .avi your going to have to defragging your system all the time. In the past I'd schedule defrag a night so the computer would be left on all night. With Linux thats over. Using NFS to transfer files over 802.11g is faster between to Linux boxes then between two Windows boxes on my small network.

OS order (my opinion): Linux , Mac OS X , then Microsoft.
Distro's I like are Ubuntu, Fedora, CentOs, OpenSuse.
(Microsoft better watch out , because Ubuntu 8.04 is a Vista killer http://www.ubuntu.com/products/whatisubuntu/desktopedition)
Well back to studying.

I'll let you guys know how I do hopefully I don't stress out and bomb it.

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Comments

cacharo

Good luck! This one is on my docket by the end of the year as well. Please share your insight when you slay this one!

Grynder

Good Luck. I just passed Linux+ last week. I personally preferred the Sybex book, but the In Depth book covers everything. Know your package management, LILO and software installation methods

vwtech

I'm not that mad cause of a few reasons:

-I'll get the fee back from my job pass/or fail
-Some parts of the test I didn't study
-A lot of the question wasn't covered in the "Linux In Depth 2005" or the cbt's I watched.
-The practice software didn't have prepare me for for what I saw on the test.
-Didn't study about tripwire or NIS.

*I know I got the hardest pool of questions available thats why in only two weeks I'm going to sit it again.
A score of 570 isn't far from 675. During testing alot of questions "I was like WTF I never seen this before".
This week I took two practice test via ExamForce and scored over 80%.
Technotes from this site were not any help on this pool of questions also.

It felt like a test for a straight Linux Administrator veteran not someone with six months experience.

I got no questions on vi -which I thought was crazy.
Nothing on NFS.
Nothing on cd, ls, top, ps, vmstat or free.
One printer question (would be nice if Technotes had a section on printing).

So my plan is to go over the areas I missed with more hands on with only Fedora 7 vice Ubuntu.
I have learned a lot and know the next time I'll be successful. This is the first cert I've failed ever out of 6 so I'm not tripping.

I didn't pass for one reason: I got the hardest questions. The first computer the lady tried to placed me on didn't work so I had to move to another one , by whatever.
Well for the next two weeks I'll be living in the land of CLI (init 3) only visiting the GUI (init 5) to surf the net.

BeaverC32

I didn't pass for one reason: I got the hardest questions.

How would you know that? It's just as possible you got the "easiest" questions. The real truth is you failed for one reason: you didn't understand the material. A clear indication that you are still just learning the fundamentals is your emphasis on the runlevels that you are using

sprkymrk

Sorry about your not passing. Better luck next time and Im sure you'll get it.

You mentined the TechNotes not being helpful because they didn't cover stuff you had on the exam. That's fair enough, so aside from printing, what other topics would you like to see covered?

(Hint: You should be seeing a large TechNotes section on security sometime in the near future).

vwtech

Living in a MS world for so long being so attached to a GUI all the time, even to troubleshoot problems hurt me.
The next to weeks I'm going to work on all the Administrator (hard stuff) that I saw on the test.
I'm not giving up. Got My laptop running Fedora 7 now. And to correct myself about failing "I didn't prepare I well as I should have". Put some of the things I expected to be on the test just wasn't- no X windows questions were there either but the next time around I'll beat it.

Thanks for your support guys it really does help in the motivation department.

Slowhand

vwtech wrote:

I'm not that mad cause of a few reasons:

-I'll get the fee back from my job pass/or fail
-Some parts of the test I didn't study
-A lot of the question wasn't covered in the "Linux In Depth 2005" or the cbt's I watched.
-The practice software didn't have prepare me for for what I saw on the test.
-Didn't study about tripwire or NIS.

*I know I got the hardest pool of questions available thats why in only two weeks I'm going to sit it again.
A score of 570 isn't far from 675. During testing alot of questions "I was like WTF I never seen this before".
This week I took two practice test via ExamForce and scored over 80%.
Technotes from this site were not any help on this pool of questions also.

It felt like a test for a straight Linux Administrator veteran not someone with six months experience.
I got no questions on vi -which I thought was crazy.
Nothing on NFS.
Nothing on cd, ls, top, ps, vmstat or free.
One printer question (would be nice if Technotes had a section on printing).

So my plan is to go over the areas I missed with more hands on with only Fedora 7 vice Ubuntu.
I have learned a lot and know the next time I'll be successful. This is the first cert I've failed ever out of 6 so I'm not tripping.

I didn't pass for one reason: I got the hardest questions. The first computer the lady tried to placed me on didn't work so I had to move to another one , by whatever.
Well for the next two weeks I'll be living in the land of CLI (init 3) only visiting the GUI (init 5) to surf the net.

That's how they getcha, especially when you're studying something new that you really haven't had a lot of experience before. There isn't a lot of "just playing around" to fill in the gaps. Don't think, though, that you didn't learn anything. Reading your comments, it's clear that you've gotten quite a reality-check, and that from your studying, you know what your weak areas are and you know how to make them stronger. That's HUGE.

Specific advice I can give you is this: Beyond learning how to actually install X and the desktop managers from scratch, don't bother working in runlevel 5 at all until you sit for the exam, (even try to avoid it, if you can, when you're just messing around and having fun). Most people tank this exam, along with a lot of other Linux exams, because the CLI isn't second-nature and you get thrown for a loop not only by questions about specific commands, but by flags and options relating to those commands.

You've got a good grasp of the concepts you need to brush up on, so I won't harp on that. Just make sure you pick up some secondary study-material, the Sybex book is excellent, as is the TestOut material for this exam. And I definitely know what you mean about the feeling that this test is for more experienced Linux/Unix admins, and not just entry-level guys. Still, I'd imagine that for someone who uses Linux, Unix, or Macintosh exclusively, preparing for a Microsoft test probably feels like the study material and the test itself assumes you've been using Windows for years.

Good luck on the next go-around, we'll all be looking forward to seeing that ammendment on this thread: "[Update: I PASSED!!!]"

vwtech

PASSED the exam this morning with a 710 this time.
*Warning to those whom are coming from the Windows World->this test will destroy you if you underestimate it in the least.

*Don't buy any practice test from Examforce.com because they lie to me. Before I bought the software the sales person told me that they had Linux professionals on hand to answer question via email. After emailing them a simple question about printing they responded asking me what question ID was in the software. I then emailed that president and the manager (their contact info was on their website). They are giving me a refund.

A pass is a PASS. Another Linux Geek is here now.

Later.

Grynder

Congrats.

Did th e2nd exam have a different emphasis or did you do alot of studying between exams?

Daniel333

good job man! Hoping to take on that one early next year.

shednik

Congrats!!!

Slowhand

Congratulations! Good to hear that you knocked out a pass. What's up next?

vwtech

Slowhand wrote:

Congratulations! Good to hear that you knocked out a pass. What's up next?

Thinking about the 70-291 (so I'll earn the MCSA)
I will probably take a two week + break for studying. Before working on the 70-291 I've read the whole Sybex book on it and did a little hands on before studying for Linux+.
My mind needed to study something else than Windows but I know 70-291 will be next.
Maybe before football season starts I can pass that one also.

vwtech

Grynder wrote:

Congrats.

Did the 2nd exam have a different emphasis or did you do alot of studying between exams?

I continued to study more and I got a different pool of questions that were still extremely challenging.
The objective areas where I got things wrong is where I aimed my studying before retaking the test.