LPIC-1 Linux Professional Institute Certification Study Guide. Richard Blum

Unix operating system (OS) that has been popular in academia and many business environments for years. Formerly used exclusively on large mainframes, Unix and Linux can now run on small computers, which are actually far more powerful than the mainframes of just a few years ago. Because of its mainframe heritage, Unix (and hence also Linux) scales well to perform today's demanding scientific, engineering, and network server tasks.

      Linux consists of a kernel, which is the core control software, and many libraries and utilities that rely on the kernel to provide features with which users interact. The OS is available in many different distributions, which are collections of a specific kernel with specific support programs.

      Why Become Linux Certified?

      Several good reasons to get your Linux certification exist. There are four major benefits:

      Relevance

      The exams were designed with the needs of Linux professionals in mind. Surveys of Linux administrators were performed to learn what they actually needed to know to do their jobs.

      Quality

      The exams have been extensively tested and validated using psychometric standards. The result is an ability to discriminate between competent administrators and those who must still learn more material.

      Neutrality

      LPI is an organization that doesn't itself market any Linux distribution. This fact removes the motivation to create an exam that's designed as a way to market a particular distribution.

      Support

      Major players in the Linux world support the exams.

      How to Become Certified

      The certification is available to anyone who passes the two required exams: 101-400 and 102-400 (often referred to as simply 101 and 102). You don't have to work for a particular company. It's not a secret society.

      Pearson VUE administers the exam. The exam can be taken at any Pearson VUE testing center. If you pass, you will get a certificate in the mail saying that you have passed.

      To register for the exam with Pearson VUE, call [phone] or register online at www.vue.com. However you do it, you'll be asked for your name, mailing address, phone number, employer, when and where you want to take the test (that is, which testing center), and your credit card number (arrangement for payment must be made at the time of registration).

      Who Should Buy This Book

      Anybody who wants to pass the certification exams may benefit from this book. This book covers the material that someone new to Linux will need to learn the OS from the beginning, and it continues to provide the knowledge you need up to a proficiency level sufficient to pass the two exams. You can pick up this book and learn from it even if you've never used Linux before, although you'll find it an easier read if you've at least casually used Linux for a few days. If you're already familiar with Linux, this book can serve as a review and as a refresher course for information with which you might not be completely familiar. In either case, reading this book will help you pass the exams.

      This book is written with the assumption that you know at least a little bit about Linux (what it is and possibly a few Linux commands). We also assume that you know some basics about computers in general, such as how to use a keyboard, how to insert a disc into an optical drive, and so on. Chances are that you have used computers in a substantial way in the past – perhaps even Linux, as an ordinary user, or maybe you have used Windows or Mac OS. We do not assume that you have extensive knowledge of Linux system administration, but if you've done some system administration, you can still use this book to fill in gaps in your knowledge.

      As a practical matter, you'll need a Linux system with which to practice and learn in a hands-on way. Neither the exams nor this book covers actually installing Linux on a computer from scratch, although some of the prerequisites (such as disk partitioning) are covered. You may need to refer to your distribution's documentation to learn how to accomplish this task. Alternatively, several vendors sell computers with Linux preinstalled.

      How This Book Is Organized

      This book consists of 10 chapters plus supplementary information: an online glossary, this introduction, and the assessment test after the introduction. The chapters are organized as follows:

      ● Chapter 1, “Exploring Linux Command-Line Tools,” covers the basic tools that you need to interact with Linux. These include shells, redirection, pipes, text filters, and regular expressions.

      ● Chapter 2, “Managing Software,” describes the programs that you'll use to manage software. Much of this task is centered around the RPM and Debian package management systems. The chapter also covers handling shared libraries and managing processes (that is, running programs).

      ● Chapter 3, “Configuring Hardware,” focuses on Linux's interactions with the hardware on which it runs. Specific hardware and procedures for using it include the BIOS, expansion cards, USB devices, hard disks, and the partitions and filesystems used on hard disks.

      ● Chapter 4, “Managing Files,” covers the tools used to manage files. This includes commands to manage files, ownership, and permissions as well as Linux's standard directory tree and tools for archiving files.

      ● Chapter 5, “Booting Linux and Editing Files,” explains how Linux boots up and how you can edit files in Linux. Specific topics include the GRUB Legacy and GRUB 2 boot loaders, boot diagnostics, runlevels, and the vi editor.

      ● Chapter 6, “Configuring the X Window System, Localization, and Printing,” describes the Linux GUI and printing subsystems. Topics include X configuration, managing GUI logins, configuring location-specific features, enabling accessibility features, and setting up Linux to use a printer.

      ● Chapter 7, “Administering the System,” describes miscellaneous administrative tasks. These include user and group management, tuning user environments, managing log files, setting the clock, and running jobs in the future.

      ● Chapter 8, “Configuring Basic Networking,” focuses on basic network configuration. Topics include TCP/IP basics, setting up Linux on a TCP/IP network, and network diagnostics.

      ● Chapter 9, “Writing Scripts, Configuring Email, and Using Databases,” covers these miscellaneous topics. Scripts are small programs that administrators often use to help automate common tasks. Email, of course, is an important topic for any computer user, particularly on Linux, which often runs an email server for local or remote use. Linux can run databases that help you store and retrieve information, and these tools can be very important ones on many Linux systems.

      ● Chapter 10, “Securing Your System,” covers security. Specific subjects include network security, local security, and the use of encryption to improve security.

      Chapters 1 through 5 cover the 101-400 exam, while Chapters 6 through 10 cover the 102-400 exam. These make up Part I and Part II of the book, respectively.

      What's Included in the Book

      We've