LPIC-2 Exam 201
The LPIC-2 certification is the second level in a comprehensive professional certification program. It is comprised of two parts, and this is the initial segment of the LPIC-2 course. By completing this course, you will gain the skills necessary to proficiently handle advanced system administration tasks. These tasks encompass various areas such as the Linux kernel, system startup and upkeep, management of block storage and file systems, and networking.
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About this course
LPIC-2, also known as Linux Professional Institute Certification Level 2, is a certification program designed to validate advanced Linux administration and engineering skills. To obtain the LPIC-2 certification, candidates must pass two exams, starting with the LPIC-2 Exam 201.
The LPIC-2 Exam 201 is a computer-based exam that lasts for 90 minutes. It consists of 60 multiple-choice and fill-in-the-blank questions. The exam covers a wide range of topics related to Linux networking, security, and administration. Some of the areas covered in the exam include the kernel, booting, system initialization, storage devices and filesystems, networking configuration, DNS server configuration, web services, file sharing, network client management, e-mail services, and system security.
Who should attend?
The LPIC-2 Exam 201 is aimed at experienced Linux system administrators and engineers who have either obtained the LPIC-1 certification or possess equivalent knowledge and experience. The purpose of the LPIC-2 certification is to verify advanced-level Linux administration and engineering skills. Therefore, candidates should have a minimum of one year of practical experience in Linux system administration before taking the exam.
The LPIC-2 certification is specifically designed for professionals entrusted with the management of extensive Linux installations, the design and implementation of intricate Linux-based solutions, and the resolution of complex Linux issues. This includes individuals such as system administrators, network administrators, IT managers, and other IT professionals engaged in tasks related to Linux-based systems.
Learning Outcome
The LPIC-2 Exam 201 encompasses various learning objectives, which include:
- Kernel: Familiarizing oneself with kernel components, configuration, and the process of compiling and installing a kernel. Understanding kernel modules and their management.
- Booting: Managing the boot process, including boot loaders like GRUB and LILO. Troubleshooting boot-related issues and overseeing run levels and systemd.
- System Initialization: Understanding the init system and its components, such as SysVinit, Upstart, and systemd. Managing the init process, system services, and troubleshooting service failures.
- Storage Devices and Filesystems: Configuring, managing, and troubleshooting different types of storage devices and filesystems, including RAID, LVM, and encrypted filesystems.
- Networking Configuration: Configuring and managing network interfaces, routing tables, and network settings. Acquiring knowledge of network protocols like TCP/IP, DNS, and DHCP.
- DNS Server Configuration: Configuring and managing DNS servers, particularly BIND, and comprehending DNS zone management and DNSSEC.
- Web Services: Configuring and managing web servers such as Apache and Nginx. Understanding concepts like virtual hosting, SSL/TLS, and web application security.
- File Sharing: Configuring and managing file sharing services like Samba and NFS. Understanding file permissions, ACLs, and backup strategies.
- Network Client Management: Configuring and managing network clients, including aspects of authentication, authorization, and configuration management.
- E-mail Services: Configuring and managing e-mail servers, including SMTP, IMAP, and POP3. Grasping e-mail security measures and spam filtering techniques.
- System Security: Configuring and managing system security measures such as firewalls, SELinux, and AppArmor. Ensuring the security of network services.
These learning objectives cover a comprehensive range of topics related to the LPIC-2 Exam 201.
Prerequisites
To sit for the LPIC-2 Exam 201, candidates are required to have either obtained the LPIC-1 certification or possess equivalent knowledge and experience. The LPIC-1 certification serves as validation for fundamental knowledge and skills essential for Linux system administration. These include:
- System architecture
- Linux installation and package management
- GNU and Unix commands
- Devices, Linux filesystems, and the file system hierarchy standard
- Shells, scripting, and data management
- User interfaces and desktops
- Administrative tasks
- Essential system services
- Networking fundamentals
- Security
Hence, candidates preparing for the LPIC-2 Exam 201 should possess a strong grasp of the topics covered in the LPIC-1 certification. Furthermore, it is recommended that candidates have a minimum of one year of experience in Linux system administration before attempting the LPIC-2 certification.
Course Content
Topic 200: Capacity Planning
200.1 Measure and Troubleshoot Resource Usage
- Measure CPU usage.
- Measure memory usage.
- Measure disk I/O.
- Measure network I/O.
- Measure firewalling and routing throughput.
- Map client bandwidth usage.
- Match / correlate system symptoms with likely problems.
- Estimate throughput and identify bottlenecks in a system including networking.
200.2 Predict Future Resource Needs
- Use monitoring and measurement tools to monitor IT infrastructure usage.
- Predict capacity break point of a configuration.
- Observe growth rate of capacity usage.
- Graph the trend of capacity usage.
- Awareness of monitoring solutions such as Icinga2, Nagios, collectd, MRTG and Cacti
Topic 201: Linux Kernel
201.1 Kernel components
- Kernel 2.6.x, 3.x and 4.x documentation
201.2 Compiling a Linux kernel (weight: 3)
- /usr/src/linux/
- Kernel Makefiles
- Kernel 2.6.x, 3.x and 4.x make targets
- Customize the current kernel configuration.
- Build a new kernel and appropriate kernel modules.
- Install a new kernel and any modules.
- Ensure that the boot manager can locate the new kernel and associated files.
- Module configuration files
- Use DKMS to compile kernel modules.
- Awareness of dracut
201.3 Kernel runtime management and troubleshooting
- Use command-line utilities to get information about the currently running kernel and kernel modules.
- Manually load and unload kernel modules.
- Determine when modules can be unloaded.
- Determine what parameters a module accepts.
- Configure the system to load modules by names other than their file name.
- /proc filesystem
- Content of /, /boot/, and /lib/modules/
- Tools and utilities to analyse information about the available hardware
- udev rules
Topic 202: System Startup
202.1 Customising system startup
- Systemd
- SysV init
- Linux Standard Base Specification (LSB)
202.2 System recovery
- BIOS and UEFI
- NVMe booting
- GRUB version 2 and Legacy
- grub shell
- boot loader start and hand off to kernel
- kernel loading
- hardware initialisation and setup
- daemon/service initialisation and setup
- Know the different boot loader install locations on a hard disk or removable device.
- Overwrite standard boot loader options and using boot loader shells.
- Use systemd rescue and emergency modes.
202.3 Alternate Bootloaders
- SYSLINUX, ISOLINUX, PXELINUX
- Understanding of PXE for both BIOS and UEFI
- Awareness of systemd-boot and U-Boot
Topic 203: Filesystem and Devices
203.1 Operating the Linux filesystem
- The concept of the fstab configuration
- Tools and utilities for handling swap partitions and files
- Use of UUIDs for identifying and mounting file systems
- Understanding of systemd mount units
203.2 Maintaining a Linux filesystem
- Tools and utilities to manipulate and ext2, ext3 and ext4
- Tools and utilities to perform basic Btrfs operations, including subvolumes and snapshots · Tools and utilities to manipulate XFS
- Awareness of ZFS
203.3 Creating and configuring filesystem options
- autofs configuration files
- Understanding of automount units
- UDF and ISO9660 tools and utilities
- Awareness of other CD-ROM filesystems (HFS)
- Awareness of CD-ROM filesystem extensions (Joliet, Rock Ridge, El Torito)
- Basic feature knowledge of data encryption (dm-crypt / LUKS)
Topic 204: Advanced Storage Device Administration
204.1 Configuring RAID
- Software RAID configuration files and utilities
204.2 Adjusting Storage Device Access
- Tools and utilities to configure DMA for IDE devices including ATAPI and SATA
- Tools and utilities to configure Solid State Drives including AHCI and NVMe
- Tools and utilities to manipulate or analyse system resources (e.g., interrupts)
- Awareness of sdparm command and its uses
- Tools and utilities for iSCSI
- Awareness of SAN, including relevant protocols (AoE, FCoE)
204.3 Logical Volume Manager
- Tools in the LVM suite
- Resizing, renaming, creating, and removing logical volumes, volume groups, and physical volumes
- Creating and maintaining snapshots
- Activating volume groups
205: Networking Configuration
205.1 Basic networking configuration
- Utilities to configure and manipulate ethernet network interfaces
- Configuring basic access to wireless networks
205.2 Advanced Network Configuration
- Utilities to manipulate routing tables
- Utilities to configure and manipulate ethernet network interfaces
- Utilities to analyse the status of the network devices
- Utilities to monitor and analyse the TCP/IP traffic
205.3 Troubleshooting network issues
- Location and content of access restriction files
- Utilities to configure and manipulate ethernet network interfaces
- Utilities to manage routing tables
- Utilities to list network states.
- Utilities to gain information about the network configuration
- Methods of information about the recognised and used hardware devices
- System initialisation files and their contents (Systemd and SysV init)
- Awareness of NetworkManager and its impact on network configuration
Topic 206: System Maintenance
206.1 Make and install programs from source
- Unpack source code using common compression and archive utilities.
- Understand basics of invoking make to compile programs.
- Apply parameters to a configure script.
- Know where sources are stored by default.
206.2 Backup operations
- Knowledge about directories that have to be included in backups
- Awareness of network backup solutions such as Amanda, Bacula, Bareos and BackupPC
- Knowledge of the benefits and drawbacks of tapes, CDR, disk or other backup media
- Perform partial and manual backups.
- Verify the integrity of backup files.
- Partially or fully restore backups.
206.3 Notify users on system-related issues
- Automate communication with users through logon messages.
- Inform active users of system maintenance
Certification
LPIC-2, offered by the Linux Professional Institute (LPI), is the second certification in their multi-level professional certification program. It validates a candidate’s proficiency in administering mixed networks of small to medium sizes.
Current Version: 4.5 (Exam codes 201-450 and 202-450)
Objectives: 201-450, 202-450
Prerequisites: To obtain the LPIC-2 certification, candidates must hold an active LPIC-1 certification.
Requirements: Successfully pass exams 201 and 202. Each exam consists of 60 multiple-choice and fill-in-the-blank questions and lasts for 90 minutes.
Validity Period: The certification remains valid for 5 years unless the exams are retaken or a higher level certification is achieved.
Cost: Visit the provided link for exam pricing in your country.
Exam Languages Available at VUE Test Centers: English, German, Japanese, Portuguese (Brazilian)
Exam Languages Available Online via OnVUE: English, Japanese
To become LPIC-2 certified, candidates must demonstrate the following abilities:
- Proficiently perform advanced system administration tasks, including tasks related to the Linux kernel, system startup, and maintenance.
- Competently manage block storage and file systems, as well as possess advanced networking and authentication skills. This includes managing firewalls and VPNs.
- Successfully install and configure fundamental network services such as DHCP, DNS, SSH, web servers, file servers using FTP, NFS, and Samba, and email delivery.
- Provide supervision to assistants and offer advice to management regarding automation and purchasing decisions.
At this time, this course is available for private class and in-house training only. Please contact us for any inquiries.