Taking the Linux+ LX0-101 exam Friday

All, I am taking the Linux+ LX0-101 (part1) on Friday. I've read the first have of Roderick smith's book, Linux+ Complete Study Guide, made lots of notes, and I've been using linux as my only OS at home for a while.

I am a little worried though. I can answer the practice questions that he presents in his book on a consistent basis, to the point that if the exam questions are like his examples, I should be fine. However, some other sites I've visited have demo practice tests, and the questions seem insane!

I feel like I have a firm grasp of what I need, but I am worried that I am going to show up and get 60 'trick' questions in a row. Has anyone taken the practice questions from the Smith book and the test itself? If so, how do they stack up?

Rob

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jaymurtii

Useless you are a avid linux user, and have read more than one linux book, Roderick Smith book is not enough, imho, to pass the test. I like the book "Linux Command-Line and Shell Scripting", and would line-up the LPIC objectives with this book, linuxcbt - kornshell, rhel6 and debian5 or 6, are also good as well(if you are going the linux course)

rotsaprob

With a score of 660, I passed. Woohoo!

The exam was thorough, and I was a bit nervous because it's the first certification I have ever taken. I'll accept a 660 for sure, even though I wanted a score in the 700's.

I used more that Roderick Smith's book though. I watched some videos online, have been using the command line for quite some time, and took some free practice exams I found through links in this forum.

I think I will do better on the next part, since I now know how the testing is conducted.

brownwrap

Well, congratulations to you. I have just started studying Linux+ again, after completing a couple of work related certs.

cyberguypr

Right on, congrats!

jaymurtii

Good Deal!

Bl8ckr0uter

Well done. When do you plan to do 102?

capitalsown

Congratulations!
I'm planning on taking the test soon and was wondering if you could share what videos you watched.
Also, out of curiosity, how long do you estimate you've been using the command line and how beneficial do you think your command line experience was?
How much do you think Roderick's book helped (you got a 660, passing is 500, do you think you could have passed without the videos or experience)?
How much of the test was multiple choice vs other entry formats?
I apologize for all my questions, these tests just make me nervous and I just want to make sure I am prepared.

rotsaprob

Capitalsown,

I've been using command-line off and on for a little more than a year. For the past couple years I have installed many different flavors of linux, leaning toward the Debian distros and those based on Debian. But as I began prepping for the test (a few months ago), I made a decision to do everything from the command line that I possibly could, which was, well, everything. If I didn't know how to do something from the command line, I googled it.

Roderick's book helped because it was thorough. I did all the exercises, and I tried and became familiar with all the commands through use. For instance, I tarred and untarred a lot of tarballs. I used cpio, rpm, yum, dpkg, grep, etc. My rationale was: I didn't want to just pass a test, I wanted to learn how to do these things because I want to advance at work to a position where I AM doing these things daily. I formatted my laptop HD and made Linux Mint the OS. I installed Red Hat on a separate box so that I had both going at the same time.

As far as the videos go, they helped, but I still found that actually DOING the commands is what cemented it into my mind.

As for the test itself, I am not sure how much we're allowed to talk about it, so I will be brief. It was a mix of multiple choice, multiple answer, and fill in the blank (these counted for about 15 of the 60 questions).

I definitely recommend that you take the exam objectives, and work through them, using all resources you have (books, video, google, etc.), and actually DO the commands from the command line until you're comfortable with them.

The exam itself says recommended experience is: "CompTIA A+, CompTIA Network+ and at least 12 months of Linux administration experience". I don't have either of those other certs, but I am very familiar with PC hardware, having created many desktops in the past, and I still act as the tech for most of my family members. I worked a Tech Support role for 2.5 years at a telecom company where I had to work with technicians on the phone installing servers, and telephony circuits (T1's, flex T's, telephony boards, etc.) so I am familiar with a lot of networking components as well.

And, I guess this is important as well, I believe Linux to be the best OS available, and I've become an avid fan over the past years, to the point that when I buy laptops, pc's, I buy them with the intention of converting them to Linux boxes.

Does that help?

Thanks,

Rob

rotsaprob

Blackrouter,

I plan on taking the test when I am prepared. I figure it will take me a month or two to get through the material, then taking the practice tests until I score in the 90's.

Rob

capitalsown

Yes it does help, a lot actually. Thanks. I do have one more question, though. About how many questions do you think you answered correctly? I'm sorry, I'm just trying to get a good idea of what a passing exam feels like. It's just that it's scored on a scale of 200 to 800, and passing is 500. Since 200 is nothing right and 800 is everything right, then the passing score would basically be 300 on a scale of 0 to 600. Assuming it works out to be linear, then that would mean passing is only about 50% right, which seems very low for a passing exam grade.

lsud00d

capitalsown wrote: »

Yes it does help, a lot actually. Thanks. I do have one more question, though. About how many questions do you think you answered correctly? I'm sorry, I'm just trying to get a good idea of what a passing exam feels like. It's just that it's scored on a scale of 200 to 800, and passing is 500. Since 200 is nothing right and 800 is everything right, then the passing score would basically be 300 on a scale of 0 to 600. Assuming it works out to be linear, then that would mean passing is only about 50% right, which seems very low for a passing exam grade.

Hey man, I just replied to your PM, however the PM system is acting weird so let me know if you got it!

UnixGuy

Congrats !! +rep for the exam review

What are your career plans and certifications plans ?

Good job !!

N2IT

Thanks for the great write up. Awesome stuff!

No matter what I am studying I find myself swinging back to Linux for entertainment. It's a lot of fun and interesting.

UnixGuy

me too !!

N2IT wrote: »

...

No matter what I am studying I find myself swinging back to Linux for entertainment. It's a lot of fun and interesting.

N2IT

UnixGuy wrote: »

me too !!

I have a lot of time invested in the PMP, but I am almost at the point now where it's nothing but Linux. I'll fight through there is no question about it, but it's hard. I really want to dive into this Linux book and start to learn some real technical skills.

UnixGuy

I know the feeling ! get it over with the PMP man, then u have ur time

N2IT wrote: »

I have a lot of time invested in the PMP, but I am almost at the point now where it's nothing but Linux. I'll fight through there is no question about it, but it's hard. I really want to dive into this Linux book and start to learn some real technical skills.

rotsaprob

All,

It's been a while since I posted here, but I just passed part 2 of the Linux+ cert. So I am now finished with the cert. Woohoo!. I waited a while to take the second part because of some health issues my wife was having. I didn't have as much time dedicated to studying as I wanted. But I passed it this morning.

My next one is Network+, simply because my current job requires a good deal of networking troubleshooting, and I know a lot of the material (subnetting, etc.)

Rob

N2IT

Rob WTG great certification to have!

Ever think about moving on to another high level Linux certification? L-PIC 2 or Red Hat?

Zorodzai

Congrats.

In terms of networking have you considered the CCENT\CCNA path instead of Network+ ? Not that there's anything wrong with Network+ (I certified in 2002) but a lot of forum posts I have read seem to suggest it's better to get CCENT and progress to CCNA. Of course this all depends on how deeply you want to go into networking.....

varelg

Congrats rotsaprob, glad your hard work paid off.
In retrospect to what you wrote about your confidence in what you learned from the guides, one would rely on guides only as a start for some deeper research, say reading man pages of commands discussed and labbing what's learned. You also probably saw for yourself how straightforward questions were, something one could only wish for with other tech exams...
Hope you repeat your success with Net+, I wonder why you didn't go with that cert first and then for L+. I'd assume Net+ would be easier for you since you work with the subject of your study on daily basis.

Dakinggamer87

Congrats on pass!!

rotsaprob

All,

Just to fill you in, I now get to use my linux knowledge on a daily basis, because I moved to Denver a month ago when I accepted a support role for VMware. I love my new job, and during the interview process, I did explain that I had the Linux+.

I am still a fan of this cert, because it certainly helped me get the basics.

Rob