motivation group for folks studying and taking the LX0-101 and 102 in 3 to 4 months.

I've been studying for a few months now. I'm hoping to take the 101 exam before the end of the year.

I read through the Linux+ in a Nutshell book and the CompTIA Linux+ study guide. I'm now working through Linux Academy. I've been hitting about 80% on practice tests, so I think I'll be ready soon.

Going to sit for 101 in about a week or two. Went through LinuxAcademy and read the very dry / boring Sybex Linux+ book. Going to review the Sybex book at a high level, then practice test with SelfTestSoftware.

stryder144

I am currently studying for the first test. I will keep tabs on this thread. Thanks, linuxarco, for starting it.

Just picked up the SelfTestSoftware module for 101. $69 for 30 day unlimited online access. Need to work a bit on System Architecture (startup process, run levels, boot managers - LILO and GRUB) and Package Management - they seemed to ask a lot of questions surrounding DPKG and RPM, less on the actual package managers themselves.

I am being badgered at work to take this test. It was something I wanted to do, but I don't like being forced to do it. We have CBT Nuggets here, viewed those videos, I went through the LinuxAcademy via Udemy, I read the Nutshell book, but lots of the obscure stuff isn't sticking. For example the other day I took a practice test and it wanted to know how to get to the end of the line in vi. I wrote in "Shift A". The answer was "$". I have been using vi for over thirty years and never used $.

Shift A takes you to the end of the line and then enters insert mode. $ just takes you to the end of the line.

Did the question specify that you needed to edit the line as well?

I agree there is some obscure stuff, and there seems to be a huge discrepancy in some of these 'Authorized' study materials. I'm using the Sybex Linux+ book as a reference; so for example:

One question was asking about Advanced Linux Sound Architecture (ALSA) and what command to use to configure it. The book has a two sentence 'Note' that aplay is an audio command that works with ALSA drivers - that's it. I don't recall seeing this in Linux Academy either.

Another one was asking about how to configure LILO (/etc/lilo.conf) - The book has a paragraph that acknowledges the existence of LILO, and makes mention of it several times when discussing boot loader principles - talks nothing about how to configure it, or even acknowledges the existence of such a file.

Fortunately, I'm not one to rely on a single source of information (and you really can't for these type of exams) but I would at least hope that there would be at least some mention of these items, especially if they can be expected to show up on the test.

I've heard other people talk about similar things. I also heard that the Linux in a Nutshell book has a lot of incorrect answers in their practice questions.

I agree, you have to use multiple sources to study from and actually use the commands yourself to see how it works.

The man pages are your friend also

Here's a nice little RPM **** sheet:

Linux rpm **** sheet

we have good participation. ok as far as me I am using cbt nuggets which are very good, I am able to follow along with the virtual instructor using my ubuntu or centos vm. I just finished database I was able to install using the command apt-get and did a few commands but was not able to build the db the way he has it in the video. anyway I have 16 more videos to go through, I am also using the comptia linux+ study guide ebook. after I finish the cbt's next will be various practice exams material. I think what would be good is a virtual lab, we can do some exam based exercises, we can use go to meeting or some other free desktop sharing app. u guys let me know what you think?

5ekurity wrote: »

The man pages are your friend also

You don't have the man pages or smart phones for the test. which is just one more reason I don't like the tests. Yesterday we had a machine that would boot up and then drop its network connection. One of my co-workers plug the error in his smart phone and finds if we added a line to grub, a feature would be disabled which was a bug in that version of the kernel. That is real world.

mrhaun03 wrote: »

Shift A takes you to the end of the line and then enters insert mode. $ just takes you to the end of the line.

Did the question specify that you needed to edit the line as well?

I don't recall the exact wording, but that is the only way I ever use it. I can't think of another reason why I would want to be at the end of the line. Or execute commands within vi, another question I see often.

brownwrap wrote: »

You don't have the man pages or smart phones for the test. which is just one more reason I don't like the tests. Yesterday we had a machine that would boot up and then drop its network connection. One of my co-workers plug the error in his smart phone and finds if we added a line to grub, a feature would be disabled which was a bug in that version of the kernel. That is real world.

good thing to keep in mind, tests are bench marks, door openers, mandatory qualifications. Just like folks who get a certificate or a college degree or a diploma it says that person took the time to study there craft. yup I know a lot of tests and college course could or are out dated, and some or most may not be used in real world production environments, and there are many folks without the paper who are 10x more skilled. But it does feel good to get the paper it builds confidence and know how and you learn concepts and steps on getting your task done I hope

I agree with what you have to say linuxarco about opening doors. I guess I am irritated that I have to get the certification to satisfy some DOD requirement. And I found this out after the fact. It is not enough that I am certified in Solaris. They act like that doesn't count, but it counted for the Army when I was supporting Sun equipment. This is a no win for me, I have to get it. But we use Red Hat here, there Is a Cray running Suse. No where do we use Debian or any flavors of it, along with the package management that I am trying to memorize.

Well, just scheduled for this Friday. Feeling pretty good about much of the exam topics. Especially with Linux, there is such an overabundance of data that you need to absorb with no reference points during the exam (of course).

I just purchased both vouchers, but didn't schedule anything yet. I was supposed to turn in my test dte today, but I don't feel ready.

Yeah I understand how you feel; some of the more obscure / less used commands I haven't really gotten into - just focused on a lot of the more commonly used commands and options especially as it pertains to package management.

Verities

Good luck to all of you, Linux + is absolutely achievable in that time frame.

5ekcurity, let us know how the exam went. Good luck!

Thanks mrhaun, happy to report that I passed! Not a great passing score (580) but still got it done! While I can't go into the details of the questions for obvious reasons, there wasn't nearly as much of a focus on package management as I was anticipating (YMMV however). There were also some weird / obscure questions about things I know were not mentioned in the various study mediums I used (Sybex Linux+ / some TestOut / Linux Academy / SelfTestSoftware).

That all being said, I would recommend anyone taking the exam to spend the $69 on the 30 day practice exam from SelfTestSoftware - I feel that helped prepare me the most for gauging what to expect as far as content was concerned.

good job a pass is a pass!

I don't want to see this thread die. How are people progressing?

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almost finished with the cbt, I had a good challenge last night the mta cbt is using the mail command it did not go into how to setup mail on ubuntu so I posted on linux sites and googled around and found and followed steps but it still was not working, I kept googling around and found the answer and fixed. I had to edit the # vi /etc/hosts

how about you guys how is it coming?

What CBTs are you using?

linuxarco wrote: »

good job a pass is a pass!

I'm about 50% of way through the Linux Academy course. I've been hitting about 80% on each section's quiz.

Started on 102. Attempting to leverage TestOut and the Sybex book (the book is so terribly dry though, it's difficult to focus and actually absorb the information). I renewed my LinuxAcademy subscription for another month, goal is to have this knocked out in 30 days or less. Perhaps a bit ambitious, but I really need to get moving on this.

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Nice. That's how I feel about the 101. Hopefully I can get it knocked out soon. It's to hard with an 18-month old at home.

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I can respect that; I'm getting my schooling done before the wife and I start our family. I have a Belgian Malinois that is like a toddler though, she's about a year and a half old