Comp TIA Linux + Cert

[DevNull11]

I plain on studying up for the comp TIA Linux + cert over Thanksgiving break. I was wondering if there is any good free practice test online and if any one could point me to a good reference book.

[indigoshift]

I don't know if this helps you or not, but I'm learing a great deal at the LearnLinux site:

http://learnlinux.tsf.org.za/moodle/

[PilotJLR]

The Sybex Linux+ book by Roderick Smith is good. It doesn't cover every topic on the exam, but it's a good book overall.

[mips]

The compTIA stuff is not good.

Rather do a LPI or RedHat or something like that.

[l951b951]

The compTIA stuff is not good.

Rather do a LPI or RedHat or something like that.

Looking into Linux Certification. Anyone have any information to back this statement up? What's "not good"?

[mips]

Looking into Linux Certification. Anyone have any information to back this statement up? What's "not good"?


Honestly, compTIA offers very basic/elementary stuff. See it as very beginner/entry level stuff. Does not hold much clout in industry.

You can do the Ubuntu certification which also entitles you to the LPI certification as Ubuntu is based on the LPI with additional stuff.

http://www.lpi.org/en/lpi/english/certification
http://www.ubuntu.com/partners/certification/pro
https://www.redhat.com/training/rhce/courses/overview.html
http://www.novell.com/training/certinfo/howdoi.html
http://certification.comptia.org/linux/default.aspx

http://www.opengroup.org/platform/unix_certification/
http://www.sun.com/training/certification/solaris/index.xml
http://www-03.ibm.com/certify/certs/ax_index.shtml
http://www.hp.com/education/certification/index.html
http://www.sgi.com/support/custeducation/us/courses/index.html
http://www.sco.com/education/certification.html
http://www.sunhelp.org/unix-sysadmin-resources/sysadmin-training

Many of the above are vendor specific. Unless you work in such an environment ignore them for now but you might want to consider them later. Stay away from SCO, they are busy digging their own grave and not very popular. Stay away from SGI as it is a small niche market and I don't forsee the company being around for much longer.

Do the Ubuntu or LPI one and if you know you are going to work in a certain env like Red Hat then do that. For Unix consider the OpenGroup one.

IBM, SGI also use linux besides their own Unix OSs so linux makes sense as this seems to be a growing trend.

[l951b951]

Thanks for the reply mips. That last response was more informative than any I've found in a week of forum searching. I appreciate the frank explanation and the linky's too.

[sysop]

The compTIA stuff is not good.

Rather do a LPI or RedHat or something like that.

I don't think the CompTIA stuff "is not good". It depends on your needs and your level of involvement with Linux I think. The LPI is much more intense and beginning to become more of the "gold standard" for vendor neutral Linux certification, but I don't think any cert is the end all be all. Obviously, experience being the better of a cert. ;)

I sat the Linux+ (just this morning) and passed. I found it very challenging having had only 2 years of informal experience with Linux, and having studied for 2 months prior to sitting the exam. (I used a uCertify Practice Test (http://www.ucertify.com/certifications/CompTIA/linux-plus.html) and the Linux+ 2005 In Depth (http://safari.oreilly.com/1592007287) book. Both good resources together with some practical hands on.) The test covered lots of areas and was very in depth in many of those areas. Like the LPI certs it's CLI focused. I covered CLI command parameters, various daemon and GRUB/LILO bootloader configurations, user management, file systems, protocols, and very basic Linux security principals. Knowing the exact syntax was very important in a few areas, but the Linux+ also does a good job of getting you in the mind set of being able to find the information you need (i.e Man pages).

Just passing the Linux+ has boosted my confidence tremendously. I'm much better for it, and I'm able to troubleshoot and resolve issues now that I couldn't just over 2 months ago. For a Linux Guru this test is most likely a breeze, but for those that want/need a solid foundation in vendor neutral Linux, even before taking the LPI certs, I think Linux+ fits the bill. Now that I have that foundation I hope to sit the LPIC Level I in the future. Not to mention my employer, having seen my new Linux+, now seems to be more willing to allow me to setup some Linux boxes at work! 8-)

[intelligentfool]

Just out of curiosity, are the LPI exams still considered to be the "gold standard" for linux certs? I picked up a book and have read through the first 30 or 40 pages, and have already learned a ton of useful commands, a bit about regex, etc etc. I'm currently studying for my CCNP, but plan on studying for the LPIC-1 exams concurrently. I know my employer doesnt give 2 shits about linux (US federal contractor, nearly 100% MS for servers and desktops).... but i'm thinking the private sector would value linux admins much greater. plus as a network engineer i feel like i need to know linux well anyway, as part of the standard skillset.

anyway, any feedback from anyone that's recently been job hunting, and held the LPI cert would be interesting. or anyone else that can sheld some light on how the industry actually values this cert would be good too. i'll still study the material, its more of just a matter of wether i'll be paying the exam fee's or not.

[toupeiro]

Comp-TIA is good for starting out, but if you are doing it for the cert, their certs dont carry as much weight as others. as far as their hands on course-work, I was very happy with my experience. I took a three day Cisco course they offered a few years back to go over Spanning Tree, EIGRP and some other basics, and I found it to be very informational. Having a good, nerdy instructor helped, because he gave us more practical approaches to things that weren't covered in the course material.

I'm working towards my RHCE, as that is what my employer wants me to work on (and is going to pay for!).

[intelligentfool]

well, regarding my cisco certs, our contract requires 5 CCIE's to be on site, so there's no shortage of mentors around for networking studies.

as far as linux certs go, i'd be doing it mostly just to know it, but also so i could start getting more into linux server admin type duties (firewalls, proxy, web, etc), I dont have any real experience in a production environment on linux, so i figure the cert might help me get into that area.

[sandysandy]

hi

can anyone suggest a good certification course which has value in the market and also is fun to do.

has anyone done the ubuntu certification.

http://www.ubuntu.com/training/certificationcourses/professional/curriculum

regards