Exam Criteria Breakdown

Students must display an understanding of the following topics during the 101-500 test and should be able to prove competence in them by completing several activities in each critical area. The list of the subject to master for the exam is as follows:

• Unix and GNU commands

  The core testable component in this section is the command line with additional knowledge of using filters for processing text streams, handling basic file management, and utilizing redirects, pipes, and streams being crucial. Skills in basic process management, modifying process execution priorities, utilizing regular expressions in order to search text files, and basic file editing will also be assessed.

• System Architecture

  This domain focuses on the skills one should have to determine and configure the fundamental elements of specific system hardware, perform system booting, change boot targets and runlevels, and more. Additional knowledge includes the management of SysVinit runlevel and system, among other topics.

• Package Management and Linux Installation

  This section concerns designing hard disk layout, installing boot managers, and administering shared libraries. Performing package management using specific Debian tools, YUM, Zypper, and RPM are also the topics candidates must demonstrate knowledge of. Additionally, the exam will test students on their competency with the Linux guest system and the impact cloud computing and virtualization have on it.

• Linux Filesystems, Devices, and Hierarchy Standard for Filesystems

  Creating filesystems and partitions, maintaining their integrity, and controlling mounting and unmounting are the tested competencies for this domain. The candidate must know how to manage file ownership and permissions correctly, work with symbolic and hard links, including their creation and changing, and quickly find and move system files to their correct location.

Reference: https://www.lpi.org/our-certifications/lpic-1-overview

Prospective Job Roles and Salary Potential

On average, an LPIC-1 certification holder earns about $77,066 annually as stated by Payscale. This certificate alone prepares students for the following jobs:

• Linux Systems Administrator;
• Systems Administrator.
• Systems Engineer;
• Computer Scientist;

Exam Overview

During the LPI 101-500 exam, students will be tested on their knowledge of different topics ranging from hardware configuration to booting processes to virtualization, and more. The skills they validate are used in real-world situations which the exam will replicate, showing one’s competency in business environment scenarios.

The pattern of the LPI 101-500 exam includes 60 multiple-choice and fill-in-the-blank questions that should be answered within a 90-minute period. No prerequisites are set for it, and its cost is dependent on the applicant’s country of residence (with typical pricing is of about $200 USD). The languages available are English and Japanese.