Hi all,

I am a semi newbie...relatively comfortable with the command line, but not upto a sysadmin level or anything. After going through these forums, I feel that I should get some sort of linux certification. Since I dont want to be tied to one specific distro, I feel that the SAIR , LPI or CompTIA Linux+ certifications will be useful.

However which of the above should I start off with.

Also which distro would be the best to learn for the certifications...I was thinking of Slackware as that is supposed to be the most unix-like distro out there.

Another thing is that I do not have any hardware experience at all. Is it very essential to know how to put a pc together to pass these certifications? How essential is programming knowledge of C/C++ (also which I do not know).

Basically what I am asking is : 1. Will a certification be of use to a person with my background (low-intermediate user in Linux).
2. If yes which of the certifications will be suitable for me.
3. Which books/sites will be useful for the same?
4. Which distro will be most suitable for learning for the exams.

Thanks and regards,

quo

quo,

I can only speak for Linux+ (which I’ve passed). I intend to do LPI some day, but since LPI revised their tests there aren’t really any new books on the market that are targeted to the revised test objectives. If anyone knows of one, please correct me.

For Linux+, you do not need to know any programming. You do, however, need to have pretty solid basic PC troubleshooting skills. Since this is a CompTIA test (the A+ people) they fully expect you to know how to troubleshoot PC hardware, including boot problems, SCSI configuration, best practices, etc… You’re not tested on how to put a PC together per se, but it’s assumed that you know PC hardware pretty well.

Linux+ is considered an entry-level cert, so I’d start with that one. By itself it’s not that useful, but as part of a portfolio of certs it’s nice to have. I’ve recently become an AIX admin. While my Linux cert wouldn’t have gotten me hired for that job from outside (I was promoted from within) it sure didn’t hurt when they were trying to figure out who to spend money on for further training and career advancement.

The book that I used as a study guide was by Drew Bird and Mike Harwood. It was a pretty good. The title was Linux+ Certification Study Guide:

·Hardcover: 720 pages ; Dimensions (in inches): 2.13 x 9.38 x 7.70
·Publisher: McGraw-Hill Osborne Media; Book and CD-ROM edition (December 13, 2001)
·ISBN: 0072134925

This is the info from Amazon. Note that it’s old at this point, but I passed the cert about two years ago. I don’t think the test has changed since then, but check CompTIA’s web site to make sure.

You’re probably not ready for LPI yet at this point. The SAIR cert is not really that popular anymore, so I wouldn’t bother with that one personally.

As to distros, I use and love Slackware. You’ll learn more about how Linux works from Slack than any other distro. I’m also an AIX admin and I can tell you that if you use Slack and want to move to commercial *NIX someday, Slack will prepare you better than most other distros.

Hope this helps. Good luck.

You don't have to know a thing about C/C++ to become Linux certified. A basic knowlege of bash programming is essential. Which you can get from the Linux Documentation Project's Bash Programming Intro HOWTO

1. Yes
2. My recommendation is LPI
3. IBM developerWorks LPI tutorials. The others on the IBM site are great too!
http://www-106.ibm.com/developerwork.../tutorials.jsp
4. Any major one (Fedora, Red Hat, Slackware, SuSE, Mandrake, Debian, and some others) is fine. Just use the commmand line.

You need to use Red Hat and Debian some time in your life not just for the cert but for the fact that alot of business use these distros. In the same way Slack prepares you better for Unix Administration, nearly every business(that uses Linux) uses Red Hat, SuSE, or Debian, and youre gonna need to know how to use their packaging system and distro specific commands.

I am presently working one the LPI certification. I can't say what is or is not a good training material as I havn't taken the test yet.

I'm working through the O'Riley LPI book. I'm also reading the LPI Bible. I've read through IBM's Developwerworks LPI material, but I've found that the book cover things in much more in depth. When I read developerworks I feel smart, if I read the books I feel stupid. Which is correct? Probably a little of both.

As to the distribution to learn, all the materials I've read are geared toward 2 distributions: Debian and RedHat.

Cheers,

MrKnisely

hai i m student intrested in doing a linux cert i like to get to kow about the debian distro and using the utilities like apt and deselect i feel that redhat distro is for lamers
please advise

My only advice is to not call people lamers because of the distro they use.

Don't rule out Red Hat because you feel it is for lamers. If you are in the market for a job, you may find that many of your potential employers use Red Hat for many of the reasons that you may choose to use something else.
With Novells purchase of SuSE you may start to see these two leading the pack in job oppurtunities.

I keep Red Hat, actually Fedora, around to be up to date in it, because nearly every business uses it, but yes, it is lame.

Use an rpm based system, does not have to be Redhat. You don't need to know debian inside out but you should at least know the APT package manager and some of the other differences between Debian and the other distributions. I took the exam a few years ago, and although it's not distribution specific there are questions on the test that do require a knowledge of Debian specifically, and Redhat. These makeup a small portion of the test though, and if you get a good review book, and are very familiar with any Linux distribution you should be fine. Any of the distributions that don't make it too easy for you are good in my opinion. Gentoo is my personal favorite because you are well rewarded by the effort you put into learning about your system.

so what's the linux+ certification test like? are there any sample tests i could look at? or is there some list of tasks to know before taking the test?

You can look at the CompTIA objectives for Linux+ to get an idea of what to expect --> Linux+ Objectives. They have two PDFs you can download also which I posted below.

http://www.comptia.org/certification...objectives.pdf
http://www.comptia.org/certification...ifications.pdf

You can find practice exams all over the net. Go sign up at TechExams.net for a free practice exam. Also download the Transcenders demo for Linux+.

The Oreilly book, LPI Cert in a Nutshell, or something like that, worked very well for me. The format was much better than most of the other books I looked at, and just about everything in the book was on the exam in one form or another.