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The Linux Professional Institute(LPI)
 Certification for Linux

The Linux Professional Institute (LPI) certifies Linux® system administrators at three levels:

• Certification level 1 (Junior level)
• Certification level 2 (Advanced level)
• Certification level 3 (Senior level)

To attain certification level 1, you must pass LPIC-1 exams 101 and 102.
To attain certification level 2, you must pass LPIC-2 exams 201 and 202.
To attain certification level 3, you must pass LPIC-3 exam 301 ("core") and have an active certification level 2. You may also need to pass additional specialty exams at the senior level.

The LPI certification program is designed to certify the competency of system administration using the Linux operating system and its associated tools. It is designed to be distribution neutral, following the Linux Standard Base and other relevant standards and conventions. The Linux Professional Institute does not endorse any third-party exam preparation material or techniques in particular. The name of the certification awarded by LPI is somewhat strange --  Linux Professional Institute Certified (LPIC). But name is not that important. It's the content that matter. 

IBM has good series of LPIC tutorials. The LPIC-1 tutorials (for exams 101 and 102) are authored by Ian Shields. The LPIC-2 tutorials (for exams 201 and 202) are authored by David Mertz and Brad Huntting, individually or together. The LPIC-3 tutorials (for exam 301) are authored by Sean Walberg.

• Ian Shields, Ph.D. works on a multitude of Linux projects for the developerWorks Linux zone. He is a Senior Programmer at IBM at the Research Triangle Park, NC. He joined IBM in Canberra, Australia, as a Systems Engineer in 1973, and has since worked on communications systems and pervasive computing in Montreal, Canada, and RTP, NC. He has several patents and has published several papers. His undergraduate degree is in pure mathematics and philosophy from the Australian National University. He has an M.S. and Ph.D. in computer science from North Carolina State University. Browse his published papers and other interests at his personal Web page. You can contact Ian at ishields@us.ibm.com.
   
• David Mertz, Ph.D. is Turing complete, but probably would not pass the Turing Test. For details on his life, see his personal Web page. He's been writing the developerWorks columns Charming Python and XML Matters since 2000. Check out his book Text Processing in Python. You can contact David at mertz@gnosis.cx.
   
• Brad Huntting has been doing UNIX systems administration and network engineering for about 14 years at several companies. He is currently working on a Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics at the University of Colorado in Boulder, and pays the bills by doing UNIX support for the Computer Science department. You can contact Brad at huntting@glarp.com.
   
• Sean Walberg has been working with Linux and UNIX since 1994 in academic, corporate, and Internet service provider environments. He has written extensively about systems administration over the past several years. You can contact Sean at sean@ertw.com.

Old News

[Dec 21, 2009] IBM developerWorks 10 important Linux developments everyone should know about

Linux Professional Institute certification

In 2000, LPI announced the availability of test 1a, the first exam in its new Linux administrator certification program, a program that now consists of seven tests across three certification levels. developerWorks published its first series of LPI exam-prep tutorials by Daniel Robbins in 2002, and we've kept up with it ever since.

Why it matters: You can argue about the value of certifications, but the fact that employers were looking for a consistent measure of Linux expertise was one of many signs that Linux had arrived.

What we've written about it:

• LPI exam prep tutorials
• Roadmap for LPIC-1

Papers and Info

• The ``Linux Certification'' mail archive by date

• Dan York's 6-part article in Linux Gazette on certification issues. 

  • Creating a Linux Certification Program LG #33

  • Creating a Linux Certification Program - The Next Step LG #34

  • Creating a Linux Certification Program, Part 3 LG #35

  • Creating a Linux Certification Program, Part 4 LG #37

  • Creating a Linux Certification Program Part 5 LG #40

  • Creating A Linux Certification Program Part 6 LG #41

Overview of LPI Certification Program 

• Linux Professional Institute Program

• LPIC Level 1
  exams:
  • T1: General Linux
  • T2: Distribution specific Linux
• LPIC Level 2
  exams:
  • T3: Advanced administration
  • T4: Linux internals
• LPIC Level 3
  exams:
  • T5: Specializations

LPIC Level 1

Suitable tasks:

• can work at the Unix command line
• performs easy maintenance tasks: help out users, add users to a larger system, backup & restore, shutdown & reboot
• can install and configure a work station (incl. X) and connect it to the LAN, or a stand-alone PC via modem to the Internet.

• This is somewhat heavier than the SAGE "Novice" level: we aim beyond the power-user & helpdesk level. It is about at the "prerequisites" level of the RedHat training program.
• Configuring and compiling a new kernel is not required though awareness of this functionality is included.

Exams:

T1: General Linux

• Unix (GNU variety)
• TCP/IP Networking
• X
• PC,Linux specifics: hardware, boot, kernel, modules, filesystem types

T2: Distribution-specific Linux

• know the way in the file system hierarchy
• straightforward install and configuration
• package management
• know about init, logging, simple sysadmin tools

Possible distribution specific exams:

• T2a: Caldera
• T2b: Debian
• T2c: RedHat
• T2d: Slackware
• T2e: S.u.S.E.

LPIC Level 2

Suitable tasks:

• Administers a small to medium-sized site: can plan, implement, maintain, keep consistent, secure, and troubleshoot a small mixed (MS, Linux) network:
  • LAN server (samba)
  • Internet Gateway (firewall, proxy, mail, news)
  • Internet Server (webserver, simple CGI?)
• Supervises 0 to some assistants
• Advices management on automation and purchases

Exams:

T3. Advanced administration (not Linux specific)

• track & solve problems
• write shell scripts with `sh` and `sed`
• thorough understanding of (Inter)networking

T4. Linux internals

• monitor processes, peruse loggings, boot sequence
• decide if and when the Linux kernel should be upgraded, and apply official kernel patches to the current source tree, configure from existing .config, compile, and install the new Linux kernel and modules.
• resolve version problems of libraries, programs; install bugfixes & upgrades
   

LPIC Level 3

Suitable tasks:

• Designs and implements solutions to complex automation problems, like multi-site enterprises, heavy-duty Internet sites, custom solutions.
• Initiates projects and has a budget to implement them.
• Supervises some assistants.
• Acts as a consultant to higher management.

Exams:

T5: Specialization in at least two of the following elective exams:

• T5a: Windows Integration (working together with NT-server, many Win'9x clients)
• T5b: Internet Server (listserv's, newsserver, FTP, HTTP; DNS, ISP, NFS; perl scripting)
• T5c: Database Server
• T5d: Security, Firewalls, Encryption
• T5e: Kernel Internels & Device drivers (C language); Creating distribution packages.