The First Linux Certification (LPIC-1): How To

I recently earned my LPIC-1 certification (verify here). Here’s what I learned, in case you want to try it and aren’t sure where to start.

LPIC-1 is granted after passing two exams:

• Exam 101: more theory-oriented, with many general questions.
• Exam 102: more practice-oriented, with an emphasis on scripting, networking and security.

You can take these exams in any order, and the certification is awarded automatically once you’ve passed both. Higher levels require the lower-level certification first. For example, any LPIC-3 certification requires passing a total of 5 exams, again in any order.

The official route: book through a Pearson VUE test center. Buy an exam voucher (roughly EUR 150, subject to exchange-rate changes), then sit the exam on a computer in a controlled environment.

The alternative route: attend a conference that offers pen-and-paper exams. In Europe, you can register your seat on the LPI site and then attend that event. This is cheaper, and a good option if you’re going to the conference anyway.

I took both Exam 101 and Exam 102 at FOSDEM 2016 in Brussels, Belgium, on January 30 and 31.

This isn’t a school-style exam. To have a real chance of passing, you need:

1. Lots of practical experience. Knowing a handful of shell commands won’t be enough. Two to three years in a DevOps or sysadmin role is a sensible point to start preparing.
2. Preparation books. This book helped me fill some knowledge gaps. Note that there is no official course or exam support for any LPI exam.
3. Targeted practice. Work on your weak areas. Many questions cover everyday topics, but some can only be answered if you’re familiar with that specific area.

I can’t share any exam questions (and I don’t remember many anyway), but roughly:

• About half the questions cover normal day-to-day usage, which you should know if you currently work in a Linux-related role. They’re not easy, but they’re not impossible either.
• The other half is split across “expertise areas,” and you’ll probably need to master a few of them to pass. For example, you may need to know which file to edit, and what to put in it, to change how name resolution behaves.
• Questions carry different weights, so some contribute more to your score than others. I can’t tell which are which, and I doubt anyone outside LPI can.

Note: This is not a trivia exam. Every question is based on real-world scenarios you may have encountered at work. I suspect that lack of hands-on experience is the leading cause of failure.

I’ve already started preparing for level 2, which is certainly tougher. I haven’t yet decided on an exam date or how to take the two exams. I’ll post an update once I’m done. Thanks for reading!