Passed 101

Just passed the first LPIC-1 exam (101) this morning! Woohoo! It was a tad bit harder than I thought it would be. I received a 730 out of 800, with 500 being the minimum to pass.

I started studying when the books arrived on the 24'th of Feb (1 week ago). For the most part it was review but a few commands were covered that I had never used and a few options to common commands that I had never used.

I am going to start studying for the 102 exam now and will most likely take it 3 weeks to a month from now. I can already tell that there are whole topics on 102 that I have very little exposure to. So this should be a good bit more challenging than the 101.

For anyone wondering I studied with the "LPIC-1 In Depth" book by Jang and the "LPIC-1 Study Guide 2'nd Ed" by Smith. I'm hesitant to recommend the Jang book. The questions on the test were not as easy as the ones presented in that book. Plus, the Jang book is a little on the dry side. This combined with some of the less exciting material can make it feel like you just got hit with a tranq dart.

The Sybex (Smith) book is definitely the one to get. The explanations are more comprehensive and his writing style just flows more naturally. You can tell the amount of time each author put into their respective book. There are several blatant errors in the Jang book; a couple of which were in the assessment questions!

I see users in the forum ask what a persons occupation and years of experience are. So I will include that I am a Linux Admin within the hosting industry and have approximately 3 years OTJ experience with Linux Administration.

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Comments

brucewhunter

I am going to start studying for the 102 exam now and will most likely take it 3 weeks to a month from now. QUOTE wrote:

Congrats - I'm going on this adventure in two weeks as well. Have you decided on any material for 102?

NightShade03

Congrats on the pass! I have been putting off the 101 until I can take the 102 and 101 together. I have found the LPI in a Nutshell book pretty good, however the newer version isn't out yet and the 2006 edition is out of order for the exams. If you don't mind jumping chapters for studying the book is really good.

UnixGuy

Congrats !!

upadte your certifications list now

LinuxG33k

brucewhunter wrote: »

Congrats - I'm going on this adventure in two weeks as well. Have you decided on any material for 102?

Thanks! What material have you been using? I am going to continue using the Sybex book by Smith and I am thinking of getting the "Nutshell" book that Nightshade recommends.

Nightshade03, I read somewhere on the forums that the Nutshell book has content relevant to the LPIC-2 cert as well, is that true?

I will probably attempt the LPIC-2 next but haven't found any published materials.. which stinks. I found a few online guides but would really like to have a book as well.

NightShade03

The 102 exam is really things that a linux admin would know (or should know) and I'm guessing that it why there are not many books for it. I would image that they would think you'd know the topic or read the man pages and hunt the internet for the answer.

The nutshell book has the 102 material in it, but again it is from 2006 so there are a few topics missing and everything is out of order. There is also this site:

The LPIC-2 Exam Prep

Which seems to be an attempt of some people to make a makeshift book to help study for the exam.

twodogs62

cat /usr/congrats!!!!!

Thanks for tips on books, I have the Jang book. I'll look at the other suggestions.

varelg

Congradulations LinuxG33k! Well done!!
I passed 101 a while ago (September) and initially planned to sit 102 before New Year but I postponed (projects waiting). A bit surprised that you found the exam to be harder than expected. I expected something much more rigorous.
it is really sad how proper prep material is lacking for this cert, infact for the whole LPIC family of certs. Maybe an open invitation for those that passed to sit down and write a guide?
"Red Hat Deployment Guide" is something I am reading these days and it seems quite relevant as a prep material for any Linux cert. Language not too technical but no begginers fluff either. And it's a free download from the Red Hat site.
And thank you LinuxG33k for sharing your expirience with the two guides currently on the market. It seems you are better off compiling your own study material than rely mainly on those guides.
Keep us posted on your 102 progress and what cert will be in your sights after LPIC-1.

LinuxG33k

Thanks varelg! Good luck with the second exam, are you planning on going for the LPIC-2? Keep us posted as well. I sit the second exam (102) this Wednesday and I will be sure to post the results.

>"A bit surprised that you found the exam to be harder than expected. I >expected something much more rigorous."

I assumed it would be trivial, so when I say "harder than expected" I mean "not ridiculously easy" (I studied 1 week). Quite a bit more rote memorization of arcane options than I originally expected. There wasn't a single concept that I wasn't already aware of, but I did have to study the lesser-used command options.

I will definitely be going for the LPIC-2 next. I'd hate for possible employers to see LPIC-1 on my resume and assume it's the upper limit of my abilities, that would be an unfortunate assumption on their part.

varelg

Yes, 101 isn't trivial and it does require memorization but I was kind of prepared for that and consulted man pages more than online guides (outdated unfortunately). On the other hand, those that passed 102 say that it's easier than 101 in that retrospect, a lot more understanding of the underlying concepts is required and much less knowledge of particular commands and their options. What they also say is to know config files well.
As far as LPIC-2, I am afraid completing my Level 1 cert completes my LPIC journey as well. RHCE is on my sight, before it was Novell but now you get Novell's CLA by completing LPIC-1. RH cut the hours of the exam, now it's 3 hours instead of 5+ (my biggest gripe about this exam, my second biggest gripe being the schedule of the exam itself- not when you are ready but when they are ready for you

or maybe I have wrong info). And no, I am not going to their classes, really absurd amount of money. At least the prep literature is out there and I don't have to compile my own study material (at least not as much as for LPIC) I've noticed a consensus among other RHCE candidates that Red Hat Deployment Guide+Jang's RHCE guide+Ashgar Gori's guide is a sufficiently good combination for improving your chances to pass the exam. But I ceirtanly won't feel discouraged if I fail at the first attempt.
What motivates you LinuxG33k to go after LPIC-2?
twodogs62: I noticed that you have Linux+ cert, why are you going after LPI?

LinuxG33k

varelg wrote: »

RH cut the hours of the exam, now it's 3 hours instead of 5+ (my biggest gripe about this exam, my second biggest gripe being the schedule of the exam itself- not when you are ready but when they are ready for you or maybe I have wrong info). And no, I am not going to their classes, really absurd amount of money. At least the prep literature is out there and I don't have to compile my own study material (at least not as much as for LPIC) I've noticed a consensus among other RHCE candidates that Red Hat Deployment Guide+Jang's RHCE guide+Ashgar Gori's guide is a sufficiently good combination for improving your chances to pass the exam. But I ceirtanly won't feel discouraged if I fail at the first attempt.
What motivates you LinuxG33k to go after LPIC-2?
twodogs62: I noticed that you have Linux+ cert, why are you going after LPI?

The RHCE is the end goal for me as well. My reason for going for the LPIC-2 is partly as a means of preparing for the RHCE. There is a good amount of overlap with respect to the objectives. So when I study for the LPIC-2 I will be using the Jang book as well as online resources and squeezing in some practical labs as well. Also, by paying the money and having deadlines for the LPIC-2, it forces me to study and I will surely advance my skills in the process.

I haven't found many reviews or posts regarding the new 3 hour format. I imagine they had to cut something out to get it down that low. I hope they didn't just cram it all in a smaller time window! So I share your apprehension for sure.

What's your opinion of the Ashgar Gori guide? I saw it on Amazon but couldn't bring myself to pay for it just yet. Do you have a goal date in mind? I'm planning to sit the RHCE by August.

I too am foregoing their expensive courses. It would be great if my work was picking up the tab but that's not the case. The costs can be recouped through getting a better job with the RHCE, but you would need to make approximately $1.50 more per hour for a year just to break even. At $3000+ for the cram course you can afford to NOT take the course and pay for the $800 exam four times - though I plan on only taking it once.

NightShade03

LinuxG33k wrote: »

What's your opinion of the Ashgar Gori guide? I saw it on Amazon but couldn't bring myself to pay for it just yet. Do you have a goal date in mind? I'm planning to sit the RHCE by August.

I just bought the book a few weeks ago actually and I find it pretty good. I think the beginning material he covers though is all things from the LPIC-1 exam directly so if you have passed that exam or know that material you already know the first 9 Chapters of the book.

My only complaint is the "sample labs" which are get your friend to break x, y, and z on your computer and then you have to fix them.....not really helpful. The book is good overall though.

varelg

I have a deadline for 102 by june, but as far as RHCE haven't set it yet. Oh august would be ideal but it's not set in stone. Probably by the beggining of 2011...
Reading the NightShade03's response, it seems that the lack of prep material isn't the biggest problem. It's actually the lack of exam simulations so you could check your actual preparedness...

Bl8ckr0uter

LinuxG33k wrote: »

I haven't found many reviews or posts regarding the new 3 hour format. I imagine they had to cut something out to get it down that low. I hope they didn't just cram it all in a smaller time window! So I share your apprehension for sure.

I believe that they took the installation part off of the test. I would like to like to do the RHCE as well.

varelg

Since you have the Ashgar's book NightShade03, do you have the impression that he is only skimming the subjects? Looking at the table of contents available at amazon.com and how many pages are dedicated to each title to me it kind of looks like skimming.
On the other hand, I have similar impression with Jang's RHCE guide... but maybe I'm wrong...

NightShade03

I think yes and no. the issue is this (and it is similar for other large IT exams)...there are only so many pages in a book you can have. If he went into depth on each topic it would a) be spoon feeding which is a bad idea on any subject and b) the book would be like 5000 pages and $500.

I think he does a good job getting a reader started on each subject, providing a solid example, and showing you how to get the basics of all topics covered up and running. Like I said before if you have a basic understanding of linux administrator (Jr level) or have passed the LPIC-1 you can skip the first 10 chapters of this book. Also the CentOS/RedHat PDFs which detail installation and configuration cover everything listed in this book as well, although the book provides more examples.

I think a solid study plan would be the book (I find Jang kinda outdated and more compact then the Asghar book), the RedHat documentation, and hands on experience. They say that 24-36 months of linux administration on RedHat systems should be enough to get you through this exam.