Passed Linux+ / LPIC-1 !

Les1977

Well I took the plunge, and am now Linux+ / LPIC-1 certified!

I have been playing with Linux for nearly 10 years, so a some of it wasn't new, but this was an invaluable learning experience!

I used the CompTIA (powered by LPI) Linux+ Complete study guide by Sybex.
It's a great book, however watch out, there are a couple of typos in there (there was a command or two that had double quotes, where single quotes were required), but if you try out all the commands, you will pick up on them.

Concerned Water

Congrats!

NightShade03

Congrats on the pass!

j.petrov

Nicely done! I'm hoping to pick up a Linux cert sometime in the future.

j666gak

Congrats. I passed the Security+ today and thinking of doing the Linux+ next.

However I am interested in knowing if anybody who has passed the Linux+ has actually got their LPIC-1 through? as once you have the LPIC-1 it says you can also have the Novell Certified Engineer cert if you apply for it???

petedude

j666gak wrote: »

. . . as once you have the LPIC-1 it says you can also have the Novell Certified Engineer cert if you apply for it???

You're thinking of the Novell Certified Linux Administrator cert. All you have to do is apply for it once certified at LPIC-1.

Novell Certified Linux Administrator

mapletune

Congrats! this one is also on my To-Do list, right after i get my CCNA this September!

Les1977

j666gak wrote: »

Congrats. I passed the Security+ today and thinking of doing the Linux+ next.

However I am interested in knowing if anybody who has passed the Linux+ has actually got their LPIC-1 through? as once you have the LPIC-1 it says you can also have the Novell Certified Engineer cert if you apply for it???

I asked LPI about this before I sat the first exam.
The way you do it is, you sign up at lpi.org first and you must ensure you use the same e-mail address, that you use for your CompTIA account.
When you sit the exams, you are asked whether you want your scores forwarding to LPI, and you check the 'yes' box (you must do this for both exams).

The first of my exams have already been forwarded to LPI, so now I am just waiting on the second exam results working their way through the system (they aren't even on the CompTIA website yet).

Once this is done, according to Greg Porter's blog, I can forward the LPI scores to Novell, where I will qualify for both 'Certified Linux Administrator', and 'Data Centre technical specialist'

Four Certs, for the price of one!

The LPI certificate looks a lot nicer than the Linux+ one. I am not sure whether you receive actual paper certificates from Novell, or just pdfs you can print.....

Les1977

So a quick update.

A couple of hours after my last post, LPI was updated, and I am now certified with them.

I then forwarded the scores to Novell, where, upon completion on my details, I received the Novell certified Linux administrator certification!

This morning I received 3 e-mails from Novell. It turns out as well as the Novell CLA, I have been awarded the Data centre technical specialist, AND Suse 11 Technical specialist too!

There is no sign of any .pdf versions of the certificates yet, but this is the weekend.
(Incidentally, I looked on the Novell forums, and they provide .pdf certs only, no hard copy)
I am also automatically enrolled in two of their certification programs too, so I may look into those, depending on how widely deployed I think Suse is compared to Red-Hat for instance.

As somebody said about this on a forum somewhere, I think I will be careful not to over sell myself with these. The real advantage for the viewpoint of someone who reads your CV is, that they may have heard of Novell, where they may not have heard of LPI etc.

NightShade03

Depending on the job you are applying for and where in the world you live/work, Novell might not even be relevant compared to LPI. I can tell you on the east coast of the US, no one is using Novell and LPI is more wide known.

While it is nice that Novell gives away these certs for passing the LPI exams I think it's strange because most people don't use SuSE when studying for the exam (could be wrong here, but I would saw 90% of posts in this forum recommend/deal with Centos and Ubuntu).

HLRS

dont u need to take 2 parts for to be Linux+ Certified?

Les1977

NightShade03 wrote: »

Depending on the job you are applying for and where in the world you live/work, Novell might not even be relevant compared to LPI. I can tell you on the east coast of the US, no one is using Novell and LPI is more wide known.

While it is nice that Novell gives away these certs for passing the LPI exams I think it's strange because most people don't use SuSE when studying for the exam (could be wrong here, but I would saw 90% of posts in this forum recommend/deal with Centos and Ubuntu).

Yes, I heard the US is Red-Hat's biggest customer, and I Suspect Novell are generous, to try and encourage the use of their product.
Sure the recommendation is Centos and Ubuntu, but there is no real reason that you couldn't use SuSE and another OS, in fact I also have it on a VM, and used to run it on my main machine for quite a time.

It is a nice little bonus though! You guys across the pond seem to be way ahead of the game regarding certifications. I have never seen an employer ask for CompTIA certs over here, let alone LPI!

HLRS wrote: »

dont u need to take 2 parts for to be Linux+ Certified?

Yes, there are two exams since CompTIA partnered with LPI, the 101, and 102.

NightShade03

@Les Actually I did some research after your post because I was/have been really curious as to where SuSE is playing well. According to their website they are the largest deployed Linux OS in China (more so than Red Hat). They also are used very heavily in car manufacturing and aerospace. Those are some fairly large markets, which is why they are still around I would imagine. It's a same that you don't see more diversity in the US. I'd be interested to see how the SuSE enterprises find the OS compared to say an enterprise that is using RH.

log32

Congrats! , what about LPIC-2?

Les1977

@NightShade03,
thanks for that! Turns out they run SuSE servers in the London stock exchange too. There is a little diversity over here, with some running SuSE, some running RHEL, and an interesting growth of Ubuntu workstations in schools.

@Dolev
thanks! and yes, a bit strapped for cash at the moment, but as soon as I am able, I will be continuing up the LPI route. It seems to me like a great place to start.

Dakinggamer87

Congrats on pass!!

Moe 0101

Congrats on the pass! I am new to the site. Is Linux + lifetime or is it just like A+ Net+ Sec+ you need to renew ever 3 yrs

Les1977

Moe 0101 wrote: »

Congrats on the pass! I am new to the site. Is Linux + lifetime or is it just like A+ Net+ Sec+ you need to renew ever 3 yrs

Thanks! I couldn't tell you for sure, but the Linux+ certification, both on CompTIA's website, and on paper, has no expiry date printed on it.

Having said that, the LPI certificate does expire, and it is expected you will either renew your certification, or progress through the levels. The way I see it, if you are passionate about Linux, or indeed any particular technology, you might as well go the whole extra mile...

The facts is, in IT, you are going to be learning for the rest of your life, so I can see the point of having certificates expire, even though it may be inconvenient.

Things like the A+, and Network+ on the other hand, should probably have remained lifetime, since they are very basic, and there is no way I will be renewing either of those if I have gotten to LPIC-3 and beyond!

Les1977

As a quick update regarding the Novell certs:

I contacted Novell about the DCTS, and the Suse 11 Tech spec, and they say those certifications are now given out by the partnernet program. I contacted them, and it seems you have to be a company to sign up with them! I have e-mailed them again, to ask, how, as a private individual, I can obtain the pdf certificates, so we shall see what happens.
My thought is not to hold my breath, but I can't really grumble at 3 certificates to hang on my wall. Besides, as far as Novell are concerned I am certified as DCTS, and Tech spec, and they have provided the verifications for those, for any prospective employers.

DCTS, and SuSE 11 Tech Spec, are listed on my credentials pages as "PartnerNet Specializations"

Edit:
I got a reply from PartnerNet, and you do have to be a member, to receive the pdf certs for DCTS, and SuSE Tech spec.

So bottom line is 3 certs, (Linux+, LPIC-1, and Novell CLA) still, very good though, and I am pleased!

snokerpoker

Nice job on the pass! I am hoping to do Linux + this fall or winter.

Les1977

snokerpoker wrote: »

Nice job on the pass! I am hoping to do Linux + this fall or winter.

Thanks!

I think it's well worth it, especially in today's environment.

JustFred

That's true Les, having the knowledge or knowing the fundamentals of every OS makes life so much more easier, it also makes you flexible as an engineer

whatthehell

Congratz on the pass!

Les1977

Thanks guys.

My certificate from LPI arrived yesterday, which I thought was pretty quick, especially for international post.
Just waiting on the CompTIA cert turning up now.

BroadcastStorm

What material did you used? and how long did you study for? I am registered for both LPIC-1 and LPIC-2 I got a super combo deal that is good for 1 year, but I am definily loving Linux when I administered it so I thought might as well get them both, I plan on running the distro over VM so far what I'm seeing is Ubuntu which I have some experience and CentOS which is completely new for me.

Les1977

I used the "CompTIA Linux+ Complete Study Guide: Exams LX0-101 and LX0-10" By Roderick W Smith"

I currently run Ubuntu as my main OS at home, and had Virtualbox running various other Linux flavours, such as CentOS, and Fedora core, for the red hat side of things.

I studied quite hard for 3 months.

There is a significant amount of networking involved, which is why if you have already done Network+ as they suggest, a chapter or so is re-reading what you have already learned!


Incidentally, the CompTIA certification finally turned up just last week!

snokerpoker

Very nice. I plan on doing Linux + towards the end of this year.

Flemeth

Hey les1977 and gz on you passing LPIC1/CompTIA Linux+

I am about where you ware a few months ago , i started learning hardcore (at list for me ) 4h a day for about 2 weeks now first trough Linux essentials book(by Smith) and now at about 30% LPIC-1/CompTIA Linux+ Certification Guide etc by Robb Tracy .I decided to follow this path as i had almost no Linux xp or knowledge before(basicly i could operate in the desktop environment and knew the most used 10 linux cli commands). As soon as i finish with this book i plan to study from CompTIA Linux+ Complete Study Guide by Smith

I have 2 questions to ask you and anyone else that did pass this certification

- What you used to validate your knowledge for the exams ? When did you knew you ware ready for it? as oposed to just trying it and failing

- I have problems remembering commands + there various options , i read them and remember them 1-2 days and then ufff , there gone . How can i improve my long turn memory with commands and options (i do try them in the cli ofc but this does not seem to be enough)

timme

Your best bet is to check the exam objectives given by compTia. You can find them on the CompTia website. What I find is quite helpful is to put the list in a spreadsheet, and colour-code them according to how comfortable I feel (e.g. red for unknown, orange for having read through, green for comfortable, or blue for either expert or ignoring - i.e. no further study necessary).

This gives you a good dash of how far you are and how much more you need to know.