Linux Essentials exam available on OnVUE in Spanish

Candidates can now take their Linux Professional Institute (LPI) Linux Essentials exam in Spanish online. LPI has been offering its Linux Essentials and LPIC-1 exams in English through the Pearson VUE OnVUE testing system since 31 May 2020. Further languages are being added since then. LPIC-1 exams are available online in Spanish since February 2021.

“Since I joined LPI in 2020 we have been receiving requests from our partners and the Latin American community to have it available in Spanish, this will allow many candidates to take the exam without the fear of doing it in a language different from the one they know. Today we complete the combo of Linux Essentials Learning Materials and Exam in Spanish for the whole community,” said Juan Ibarra, Partner Success Manager at Linux Professional Institute.

A note for the candidates

The OnVUE online proctoring platform is available in the English language only, and is monitored by proctors who can be expected to understand English. Candidates are expected to have a quiet, private location, a reliable computer with a camera, and a stable Internet connection. Currently, only the Windows and MacOS operating systems are supported. As a Linux certification body, we understand that many of our applicants prefer the system they have been studying and working with. We will continue to encourage Pearson VUE to make OnVUE testing available on Linux systems too.

Source: lpi.org

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SFD 2021: An 11-hour community gathering

To be honest, we didn’t know what to expect.

In retrospect, the year 2020 may have been a very odd year for Linux Professional Institute (LPI) to get initially involved with international Software Freedom Day (SFD). After all, this has typically been a day when Linux user groups, open source advocates, schools and others celebrate the day with local events. Some do open houses, some stage “Installfests” (bring your computer and people will help you load Linux on it or help with support), others do training or just informal ask-me-anything (AMA) gatherings.

Indeed, it has always struck me that the open source world has taken the 70s phrase, “Think Global, Act Local” very seriously to heart. LPI couldn’t be what it is without staff, friends, partners and exam takers in almost every country and territory. I still recall LPI being part of the World Summit on the Information Society conference in 2003, promoting open source with a diverse contingent from a dozen countries. We gave out thousands of Linux CDs and even ran an exam lab. But we also had the Geneva Linux Users Group there to provide guidance to local diplomats (and keep the bar fridge well stocked).

We were hoping for a similar global/local vibe for SFD 2021, but the virus had other ideas. I, and most of you, haven’t been to another country or even a local event since early 2020.

When we first contacted the Digital Freedom Foundation, creators of SFD, in late 2020 we were hopeful that there might be a return of in-person events in 2021, but it was not to be. To be sure, we committed that LPI was going to be a major participant one way or the other. However, the year has been filled with lockdowns, ever-changing advice on masks, vaccinations and mobility. As it turns out the world wasn’t ready – YET! – for a return to safe, face-to-face gatherings on September 18, the date of this year’s event.

Given what had confronted us, LPI stepped up to the challenge. Helmed by our über-composed events manager Kaitlin Edwards, we assembled a team to determine what could be done. Talking to LPI partners, user groups and others in our community, it became clear that in-person events were off-limits this year. So we did the next-best thing: we spoke to some of the expertise and advocates in our Linux and open source communities, and we staged a global, virtual, SFD open-house.

The result, thanks to the team’s tireless efforts, was an 11-hour marathon of talks, demonstrations, panel discussions and even some AMA time, co-hosted by Kaitlin and me. We had good attendance throughout, and because of the sheer duration of the program had something to offer in every timezone. Best of all, we were about to keep the program diverse, with participants in 14 different countries and multiple languages. And six of the presenters were women.

While it was quite the task in keeping all this working smoothly, I also had the opportunity to take in the sessions myself. We were able to bring in something at all levels, from beginner to expert, covering not only technical but also legal and social issues surrounding open source. And it wasn’t even all about Linux, thanks to Deb Goodkin’s presentation on BSD.

Of course there was something missing, given the inability to shake hands or make eye contact with the audience. The world is slowly opening up again, and LPI is already planning to attend some of the in-person open source conferences scheduled for later this year. Our commitment to SFD is serious and multi-year, and we now have a year of lessons to learn from. I’m looking forward to building on this beginning, to really live the global/local character of open source, and to seeing you join us September 17, Software Freedom Day 2022!

If you missed Linux Professional Institute's Software Freedom Day 2021 activities, you will soon find the recordings on our YouTube channel.

Source: lpi.org

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Steps Toward a Great Career in Free and Open Source Software, Part 1

A career in free and open source software can be not only satisfying, but financially rewarding. You feel the excitement of being part of intense, goal-directed communities and of furthering projects that benefit people around the world.

Because free software is independent of any particular company, you can find a new employer when it’s necessary to change jobs—and move geographically too, because the same popular free software tools can be found everywhere. (Yes, some free software projects are maintained by single firms, but "expats" from those firms can be widely found, and there are opportunities elsewhere for people who know the software.)

According to the 2020 Open Source Jobs Report from the Linux Foundation, hiring managers are 70% more likely to hire computer professionals if they know open source cloud technologies. Meanwhile, the market is begging for more people with open source skills: 93% of hiring managers report difficulty finding them.

In the early days, free software contributors would have to work in a cubicle eight hours a day for some easily forgettable company that paid the bills, then help out at some cool free software project at night. Non-programmers had almost no role to play in free software. Maybe they could use a free software tool here and there, but most of the tools were for programmers and system administrators. Only in the mid-2000 decade did jobs for non-programmers—marketing, community management, etc.—became recognized and rewarded roles.

Today, there are lots of jobs in free software—diverse types of jobs. This article lists the following steps people take to build careers in free and open source software:

◉ Educate yourself.

◉ Get a GNU/Linux system.

◉ Be an advocate for free software.

◉ Learn a programming language.

◉ Contribute to a community.

◉ Build up contributions on GitHub or GitLab.

◉ Get certifications.

This article will cover the first four steps, and a second article in the series will cover the rest.

Educate Yourself

Here's a reality check: free software requires study. Why? First, its developers usually don't invest the effort that proprietary companies do to make simple user interfaces and user experiences. (Let me hasten to say that some user-focused projects such as KDE and GNOME have made impressive achievements.) Some conventions could baffle you at first.

As for documentation—let me assure you that documentation for both proprietary and free software is equally bad. Believe me, I've spent a long career trying to improve them. Besides the official documentation—which is normally perfunctory—There are lots of blogs postings and white papers online, and some are quite good. But most are studded with confusing passages and distractions, and nearly all the writing about free software gets outdated fast.

So don’t stint—invest in books on the topics you're interested in. Do the exercises diligently. Try out new things.

One of your goals should be to move from consumer to producer of information. Get onto forums for the tools that interest you, and learn their culture and conventions so you can smoothly join conversations. The joys and benefits of community membership will be discussed in a later section.

Get a GNU/Linux System

If you want to talk to free software developers and advocates, being comfortable with their terms and interests, you must know the GNU/Linux operating system. There's plenty of free software that runs on other systems, but the community generally revolves around GNU/Linux. (I'll use Linux as shorthand for the system in the rest of this article.)

If you're a lifelong Windows or Mac user, don't fret: after all, this is free software. It's ubiquitous and open to all. You can get familiar with the tools, concepts, and community of Linux gradually.

What if you don't own a computer at all? Linux will be your entry point to computing. Many philanthropic organizations exist to provide people with computer systems running Linux and other free software. Some organizations take old computers whose users are ready to upgrade. Dedicated hackers load free software on the discarded computers and offer them to people who need them. One example is the Huayra project in Argentina, which loads Linux into notebooks distributed to students.

If you have a personal computer running Windows, install Windows Subsystem for Linux. Microsoft joined the Linux community many years ago. They knew very well that many Windows users want to run programs available on Linux, and (like you) want to learn Linux. So Microsoft released this virtual environment where you can play with Linux.

If you run macOS on an Apple computer, transitioning to Linux may be even easier. Apple's macOS operating system runs on a kernel called Darwin, based on the same Unix roots as Linux. The most important tools that run on Linux have been ported to macOS, although the versions that run on macOS may not be as up-to-date or as carefully tested as the Linux versions. It's valuable, for instance, to familiarize yourself with some free text editor—Vim is probably the most popular—and you can do so on both macOS and Windows Subsystem for Linux. 

As soon as you can, however, start running Linux itself. Many of the activities Linux users and developers discuss, notably in regard to administering systems, require special tools and processes on different operating systems. You can't understand Linux without plunging your hands deep into it.

Besides, by running Linux every day you throw in your lot with the free software community. Let's not paint too rosy a picture: as a Linux user, you get used to activities such as searching for a free software tool that can connect with some proprietary service all your friends and colleagues are using. Well, such struggles will make you an even more ardent proponent of freedom for all.

Be an Advocate for Free Software

Many predicted in the 1980s that free software would crowd out proprietary software—and in some areas of programming it has. But proprietary software is still the top choice in some sectors, and one reason is that many people are still gripped with an ill-informed fear of free software. I recently talked to a very intelligent and idealistic programmer with some 40 years experience who spouted the same misinformation that we've been fighting during those same 40 years (for instance, that you can't get support for free software).

When you use free software, talk about your experiences with friends and colleagues. File a change request when important services aren't accessible from Linux systems or when institutions require documents in Word formats.

Be honest with your contacts. You want to advocate for the free software you respect, but you want them to be aware of potential stumbling blocks, such as the ones I just cited. People have to realize that freedom doesn't come easily.

Learn a Programming Language

Being a professional programmer is a very special discipline, and many people (including me, I have to admit) lack the right type of thinking to design large-scale programs. But a little programming language learning is not a dangerous thing, so long as you understand your limitations. Programming skill is a goal to aspire to.

The best way to learn programming is through a mixture of classes, published books, and hands-on practice as part of a free software community. If you don’t have access to classes and books—because of financial constraints, geographic location, lack of time, or some other reason—seek creative ways to get them. For instance, many communities have set up projects such as Girls Who Code, to train people who otherwise might not get access. Publishers donate computer books to libraries and non-profits who distribute them to interested readers; some of these books are outdated but still might suffice for a beginner.

If you know something about programming, you can better understand the pressures on free software, and the demands it makes on developers, testers, and users. This knowledge is useful not only for doing your own programming, but to contribute to advocacy and outreach, documentation, and project management.

Just pick up a little Python or JavaScript (or some other language that may be all the rage at a given moment). You'll learn the basic disciplines of programming, such as looking for things that could go wrong and planning for future enhancements. You can understand what's holding up some software releases or why security problems exist.

And don't assume that you have to settle for superficial knowledge. We'll see in a later section what you can accomplish if you become a good programmer.

The four steps covered in this article put you in a position to work with others and contribute to the world of free software. The second article in this series will take you through three more steps toward a career in free and open source software.

Read More: The Many Meanings of Linux, Part 2 of 2

Source: lpi.org

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The People Behind the Learning Portal: Marco Colombo, Learning Materials Author and Translator

The Linux Professional Institute (LPI) Learning Portal brings you cost-free teaching materials for teachers and students developed by Linux Professional Institute. Materials are written and translated into many different languages by members of an international community.

With this post, we get acquainted with Marco Colombo, an LPI certified professional who started his journey of developing LPI-related learning books years ago and is now part of the Learning Portal Team.

Marco, what is your academic and professional background?

I have a degree in Telecommunications Engineering, and I am currently working as a network administrator in an organization operating in higher education. I have always been a lover of technology and Linux, and I love to stay up to date, especially in the open source field. I do believe that in life you never stop learning and that you must always give the best of yourself, loving what you do.

When and how did you decide to use your skill in developing learning materials?

Immediately after earning the LPIC-1 certification.

The idea of collaborating with LPI in writing completely free educational material was undoubtedly a great way to put into practice what I learned during my certification journey, while allowing me to further hone my Linux skills. It's "Learn by Doing", quite literally!

While on my LPIC-1 certification journey, I started creating a series of exercises that could help me learn Linux. I decided to redesign the exercises into a series of questions and answers, perfectly matching the actual LPI exams. All that work became two, let’s call them "simulation books" for the 101-500 and 102-500 LPI exams. The books had quite a great success.

My vision behind them was to create educational material that could help anyone become an LPIC-1 certified professional. Each book consists of 250 questions and answers divided into 4 practice exams—simulating the actual exam—and 1 assessment test.

All the questions are explained step by step, so the reader can fully understand the general background to which each question refers. Now the books LPIC-1 101-500 Practice Exams and LPIC-1 102-500 Practice Exams are part of the official LPI Learning Materials too: Thank you, LPI!

What is your contribution, so far, to the Learning Portal, and what's next for you in this project?

Working on the Learning Portal, I have designed lessons for the Linux Essentials, LPIC-1, BSD Specialist, and Web Development certifications.

In the future, I would also like to contribute to the translation of the Learning Materials into Italian. The LPI Learning Portal is indeed a fascinating and engaging project.

Being a certified professional and a learning material writer makes you aware of the two sides of the coin: From this particular point of view, what is your advice to people studying for their LPI Exams?

My advice is: “practice, practice, practice!”

Of course you need to know, but you must make skills out of that knowledge: hence, you need to practice a lot. Because once you earn your Certification, you will have to face the actual work environment, and you need to be ready for it. Just stuffing in concepts is entirely useless, so: practice, practice, practice!

And how do you advise teachers and, more broadly, people involved in the use and even the production of Linux and open source learning material?

As I said, the LPI Learning Portal is an exciting project: I take this opportunity to invite teachers and Linux and lovers of open source to come forward and collaborate in the drafting of educational material that can help others. If each of us makes our knowledge available, the community will benefit a lot, in addition to empowering the community's individuals.

The LPI Learning Portal is a community, as you say: what is your experience so far, what tools and features do you use in the process? What can you tell us about the workflow? And what "opensourceness" can you recognize in a project about education?

The experience within the community is just brilliant. Each person who decides to collaborate is entrusted with a specific activity based on abilities and availability. The drafting, verification, and translation activities are expertly coordinated by professionals who are always ready to provide their invaluable help if needed.

Read the previous post: The People Behind the Learning Portal: Dr. Markus Wirtz - Manager Learning Materials

Source: lpi.org

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What is GNU/Linux?

Linux is an operating system: a series of programs that let you interact with your computer and run other programs.

An operating system consists of various fundamental programs which are needed by your computer so that it can communicate and receive instructions from users; read and write data to hard disks, tapes, and printers; control the use of memory; and run other software. The most important part of an operating system is the kernel. In a GNU/Linux system, Linux is the kernel component. The rest of the system consists of other programs, many of which were written by or for the GNU Project. Because the Linux kernel alone does not form a working operating system, we prefer to use the term “GNU/Linux” to refer to systems that many people casually refer to as “Linux”.

Linux is modelled on the Unix operating system. From the start, Linux was designed to be a multi-tasking, multi-user system. These facts are enough to make Linux different from other well-known operating systems. However, Linux is even more different than you might imagine. In contrast to other operating systems, nobody owns Linux. Much of its development is done by unpaid volunteers.

Development of what later became GNU/Linux began in 1984, when the Free Software Foundation began development of a free Unix-like operating system called GNU.

The GNU Project has developed a comprehensive set of free software tools for use with Unix™ and Unix-like operating systems such as Linux. These tools enable users to perform tasks ranging from the mundane (such as copying or removing files from the system) to the arcane (such as writing and compiling programs or doing sophisticated editing in a variety of document formats).

While many groups and individuals have contributed to Linux, the largest single contributor is still the Free Software Foundation, which created not only most of the tools used in Linux, but also the philosophy and the community that made Linux possible.

The Linux kernel first appeared in 1991, when a Finnish computing science student named Linus Torvalds announced an early version of a replacement kernel for Minix to the Usenet newsgroup comp.os.minix. See Linux International's Linux History Page.

Linus Torvalds continues to coordinate the work of several hundred developers with the help of a number of subsystem maintainers. There is an official website for the Linux kernel.

Linux users have immense freedom of choice in their software. For example, Linux users can choose from a dozen different command line shells and several graphical desktops. This selection is often bewildering to users of other operating systems, who are not used to thinking of the command line or desktop as something that they can change.

Linux is also less likely to crash, better able to run more than one program at the same time, and more secure than many operating systems. With these advantages, Linux is the fastest growing operating system in the server market. More recently, Linux has begun to be popular among home and business users as well.

Source: debian.org

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LPIC 1 vs Linux+: Where to Start

If you're ready to set down the path of Linux specialization, there are several key certifications that will help you. While some exams are tailored to vendor-specific distributions, Red Hat certifications being the most notable, there are two that stand out in the vendor-neutral, entry-level space: CompTIA Linux+ and Linux Professional Institute (LPI) LPIC-1.

Until April 2019, CompTIA and the LPI had a partnership that guaranteed LPIC-1 certification to anyone who passed CompTIA's Linux+ exam. CompTIA's reasoning and the LPI's explanation diverge on a few details of their breakup, but that's not entirely the point here.

Here's what matters: which certification should you pursue? Is Linux+ or LPIC-1 right for you?

A Look at Linux+: A Breakdown

According to CompTIA, it's new Linux+ certification exam targets IT pros who use or will use Linux to manage everything from cars and smartphones to servers and supercomputers. It also will help candidates who work in enterprise environments that use Linux. The biggest change from the previous Linux+ exam is that it covers security in-depth, alongside new topics like kernel modules, cloud management, and DevOps.

If you're in the early stages of your system admin career and want to establish a solid groundwork for working in Linux environments, Linux+ is a great option. The fact that it's distro-neutral means that it's applicable to any Linux system, which will make you a valuable asset to wider range of organizations.

CompTIA is a well-known name in the IT certification industry. Their certifications certainly add a great deal of weight to a professional resume, especially in the United States, where their vendor-neutral certifications are easily recognizable. For U.S.-based IT professionals, especially those interested in working for organizations such as the Department of Defense, Linux+ offers attractive credibility. CompTIA certifications are DoD-approved.

Linux+ certification is also a great option for professionals who want to continue further down the CompTIA certification path, for example with cybersecurity certs like CySA+ and CASP+.

However, Linux+ does have its drawbacks. It's generally considered one of the easier IT certification exams, and many professionals believe that it doesn't carry the same weight as more prestigious certifications. Others claim that these faults result in an exam that doesn't indicate whether or not a professional is up to the task of Linux administration.

A Look at LPIC-1: The Breakdown

The LPIC-1 is the first certification in the Linux Professional Institute's multi-level Linux certification program. The LPIC-1 validates "the candidate's ability to perform maintenance tasks on the command line, install and configure a computer running Linux and configure basic networking."

Because the LPIC-1 certification requires two exams, it's generally regarded as more difficult than the CompTIA exam, as it casts a wider net and contains more extensive questions.

The LPIC-1 was released in 1999, making it the oldest available vendor-neutral Linux certification. The LPI is a non-profit organization that embodies Linux's open-source ethos. There are 175,000 certificate holders across over 180 countries, so this organization has unparalleled clout on a global scale. Put together, this makes the LPIC one of the world's most recognized certifications for Linux professionals, especially among the IT community itself.

LPIC-1 is also distro-neutral and ideal for IT professionals interested in pursuing positions such as system administrator, network administrator, and system engineer. Because the LPI embodies the community-driven nature of open-source software, this alignment makes LPIC-1 certification an even more attractive option.

Linux+ vs LPIC1: Which Should You Earn?

First, in a vacuum, we recommend the LPIC-1. We believe that LPI's position as a globally recognized body of Linux experts who strive to uphold the technology's foundational principles sets it apart from the competition. No matter where you are or what type of Linux environment you'll be working in, LPIC-1 certification will always be useful and relevant.

Secondly,  what are your career goals and desired trajectory? If you're a devoted Linux fan who wants to climb the LPIC ladder toward LPIC-3, then you'll want to start with LPIC-1. Another reason in LPIC-1's favor is if you're applying to positions outside the U.S. or want to work in IT, the hiring manager is more likely to have a tech background and therefore value LPI certifications.

If you're a U.S. professional, want to pursue a career that doesn't focus so heavily on Linux administration, or applying with an organization that isn't as IT-centric, then Linux+ may be a better option. In this case, the CompTIA certification will be more recognizable and provide a better pathway.

Final Thoughts

Linux is found in nearly every server room these days. Long gone are the days of it being a fad or an OS for hobbyists. In fact, many enterprises are now using Linux in some form or another. Even Microsoft has embraced Linux after years of dismissing open source technologies.

As a result, the demand for IT pros with Linux skills has increased rapidly in recent years. The best way to start building a Linux foundation is through certification — and you can't go wrong with LPIC-1 or Linux+. Start adding Linux to your IT skill set today.

Source: cbtnuggets.com

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date command in Linux with examples

date command is used to display the system date and time. date command is also used to set date and time of the system. By default the date command displays the date in the time zone on which unix/linux operating system is configured.You must be the super-user (root) to change the date and time.

Syntax:

date [OPTION]... [+FORMAT]
date [-u|--utc|--universal] [MMDDhhmm[[CC]YY][.ss]]

Options with Examples

1: date (no option) : With no options, the date command displays the current date and time, including the abbreviated day name, abbreviated month name, day of the month, the time separated by colons, the time zone name, and the year.

Read More: LPI Certifications

Command: 
$date
Output: 
Tue Oct 10 22:55:01 PDT 2017

Note : Here unix system is configured in pacific daylight time.

2: -u Option: Displays the time in GMT(Greenwich Mean Time)/UTC(Coordinated Universal Time )time zone.

Command: 
$date -u
Output :
Wed Oct 11 06:11:31 UTC 2017

3: –date or -d Option: Displays the given date string in the format of date. But this will not affect the system’s actual date and time value.Rather it uses the date and time given in the form of string.

Syntax:

$date --date=" string "

Command: 
$date --date="2/02/2010"
$date --date="Feb 2 2010"
Output: 
Tue Feb  2 00:00:00 PST 2010
Tue Feb  2 00:00:00 PST 2010

4: Using –date option for displaying past dates:

◈ Date and time of 2 years ago.

Command: 
$date --date="2 year ago"
Output: 
Sat Oct 10 23:42:15 PDT 2015

◈ Date and time of 5 seconds ago.

Command: 
$date --date="5 sec ago"
Output: 
Tue Oct 10 23:45:02 PDT 2017

◈ Date and time of previous day.

Command:
$date --date="yesterday"
Output: 
Mon Oct  9 23:48:00 PDT 2017

◈ Date and time of 2 months ago.

Command: 
$date --date="2 month ago"
Output: 
Thu Aug 10 23:54:51 PDT 2017

◈ Date and time of 10 days ago.

Command: 
$date --date="10 day ago"
Output: 
Sat Sep 30 23:56:55 PDT 2017

5: Using –date option for displaying future date:

◈ Date and time of upcoming particular week day.

Command: 
$date --date="next tue"
Output: 
Tue Oct 17 00:00:00 PDT 2017

◈ Date and time after two days.

Command: 
$date --date="2 day"
Output: 
Fri Oct 13 00:05:52 PDT 2017

◈ Date and time of next day.

Command: 
$date --date="tomorrow"
Output: 
Thu Oct 12 00:08:47 PDT 2017

◈ Date and time after 1 year on the current day.

Command: 
$date --date="1 year"
Output:
Thu Oct 11 00:11:38 PDT 2018

6: -s or –set Option: To set the system date and time -s or –set option is used.

Syntax:

$date --set="date to be set"

Command:
$date
Output: 
Wed Oct 11 15:23:26 PDT 2017
Command: 
$date --set="Tue Nov 13 15:23:34 PDT 2018"
$date
Output: 
Tue Nov 13 15:23:34 PDT 2018

7: –file or -f Option: This is used to display the date string present at each line of file in the date and time format.This option is similar to –date option but the only difference is that in –date we can only give one date string but in a file we can give multiple date strings at each line.

Syntax:

$date --file=file.txt

$cat >> datefile
Sep 23 2018
Nov 03 2019
Command:
$date --file=datefile
Output:
Sun Sep 23 00:00:00 PDT 2018
Sun Nov  3 00:00:00 PDT 2019

8: -r Option: This is used to display the last modified timestamp of a datefile .

Syntax:

$date -r file.txt

We can modify the timestamp of a datefile by using touch command.

$touch datefile

$date
Wed Oct 11 15:54:18 PDT 2017
//this is the current date and time
$touch datefile
//The timestamp of datefile is changed using touch command.
This was done few seconds after the above date command’s output.
$date
Wed Oct 11 15:56:23 PDT 2017
//display last modified time of datefile

9: List of Format specifiers used with date command:

%D: Display date as mm/dd/yy.     
%d: Display the day of the month (01 to 31).     
%a: Displays the abbreviated name for weekdays (Sun to Sat).
%A: Displays full weekdays (Sunday to Saturday).
%h: Displays abbreviated month name (Jan to Dec).
%b: Displays abbreviated month name (Jan to Dec).
%B: Displays full month name(January to December).
%m: Displays the month of year (01 to 12).
%y: Displays last two digits of the year(00 to 99).
%Y: Display four-digit year.
%T: Display the time in 24 hour format as HH:MM:SS.
%H: Display the hour.
%M: Display the minute.
%S: Display the seconds.

Syntax:

$date +%[format-option]

Examples:

Command: 
$date "+%D"
Output: 
10/11/17
Command: 
$date "+%D %T"
Output: 
10/11/17 16:13:27
Command: 
$date "+%Y-%m-%d"
Output: 
2017-10-11
Command:
$date "+%Y/%m/%d"
Output: 
2017/10/11
Command: 
$date "+%A %B %d %T %y"
Output: 
Thursday October 07:54:29 17

Source: geeksforgeeks.org

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LPI Releases LPIC-3 Security Version 3.0 Certification

Linux Professional Institute (LPI) has recently released version 3.0 of the LPIC-3 Security certification, which includes significant changes to the exam objectives. This release is part of a thoroughgoing update of the LPI C-3 certification program. The LPIC-3 certification series is the highest level offered by LPI and covers advanced open source topics in organizational computing infrastructure.

The new version of the exam updates all of the certification objectives to stay in sync with current changes in technology. “In addition to the usual updates, new content was added to the exam. The certification now includes the management of resource usage of individual applications. We have also added a new topic, ‘Threats and Vulnerability Assessment’, where candidates demonstrate an understanding of common security threats and the ability to confirm the effectiveness of their security measures,” says Fabian Thorns, Director of Product Development at LPI.

Read More: LPIC-3 303: Linux Enterprise Professional Security

The overall amount of content covered in the exam was not changed, as Thorns explains: “In version 3.0, the objectives related to FreeIPA, user authentication, and NFS were moved to the LPIC-3 Mixed Environment certification. These aspects are closely related to the topic of heterogeneous systems and are a perfect fit with the Mixed Environment certification.”

“LPIC-3 Security certified professionals are not just able to harden and defend Linux systems. They also have strong skills in technologies such as X.509 certificates, DNSSEC, and Virtual Private Networks, which are applicable to any kind of operating system. The practical experience in these technologies that we test and certify ensures that our alumni can implement security measures in Linux as well as support colleagues with different backgrounds in practical aspects of IT security,“ adds LPI’s Executive Director, G. Matthew Rice.

The LPIC-3 Security version 3.0 certification exams have been available in Pearson Vue testing centers and on the OnVUE online testing platform starting on Monday, September 27, 2021. The exam is initially available in English. A Japanese translation will be released soon. The exam objectives are available at the LPIC-3 overview site.

In 2021, all LPIC-3 certifications will be updated to version 3.0. Further information about the LPIC-3 updates can be found at https://new.lpi.org/lpic-3-version-3-update. 

Source: lpi.org

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Eleven reasons to switch from Windows to Linux

Today Microsoft releases its first major new version of Windows in more than six years, tagging this version of its flagship operating system with the number 11. The question is on the minds of millions: Windows 10? Or Windows 11?

Well, why not GNU/Linux instead!

The chance to move from Windows to Linux has intrigued computer users since Linux was launched in 1991. PCMag UK offers a nice introduction on how to switch. Here I present 11 reasons to switch to Linux now.

1. Avoid an Unnecessary, Expensive Hardware Upgrade

The hardware requirements for Windows have always strained desktop and laptop systems of their time, and Windows 11 lives up to this unsavory legacy. Many people are expected to need a new computer to run Windows 11—so much so that a mini-industry has grown up around gauging your system requirements.

Old graphic cards in particular may prove unfit for the new Windows. Another feature that may drive a lot of hardware upgrades is the required UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface) and Secure Boot capability.

Read More: 202-450: Linux Engineer - 202 (LPIC-2 202)

One of the recent articles covering the features and timing of Windows 11 asked why Microsoft is pushing a major upgrade whose feature set represents only a modest improvement over Windows 10. The article suggests that computer vendors are seeking more profit and pushed Microsoft to promote the sale of new PCs. All these purchases may fatten CEO bonuses, but you don’t have to be a party to the deal. Constant upgrades are a pernicious example of planned obsolescence, which environmentalists and consumer advocates have been decrying since at least the 1950s.

Linux has always been relatively lean, although it too has increased its memory and disk requirements as developers judiciously add features. Many computer users have stuck steadfastly with their old hardware and adopted Linux over the years as an alternative to an “upgrade” of dubious value to a new version of Windows.

2. Fight Toxic Waste

Buying a new computer when your old one is still serviceable is more than a burden on your wallet—it’s unnecessary waste for the planet and the people living on it. Computers contain a lot of dangerous chemicals that get foisted as toxic waste on low-income workers and inhabitants of developing nations. You don’t want to contribute to this any more than necessary.

3. Keep Your Right to Run the Programs You Want

Hardware and operating system vendors have been recommending Trusted Platform Module (TPM) technology for some time. Windows 11 is the first version of that operating system to have TPM version 2.0 required and built in.

TPM requires applications to be signed with keys certifying their origin, and enlists the computer’s hardware, firmware, and operating system to check the keys. Because many users get spoofed into downloading malware that masquerades as legitimate applications, TPM can protect these users.

But TPM also gives the operating system vendor complete control over what’s installed. And what will happen when governments stick their noses into the process, forcing vendors to block applications the governments don’t like?

For many people, handing control of their applications over to large institutions may be a reasonable trade-off for avoiding destructive programs. For a balanced assessment of the trade-off, I recommend law professor Jonathan L. Zittrain's book, The Future of the Internet and How to Stop It. 

Meanwhile, an alternative to TPM is to learn good computer hygiene, check certificates yourself, and stick to free software that is harder (although not impossible) to infect with malware.

4. Run Your Computer Without Surveillance

A particularly odd requirement for Windows 11 is a camera to record you. In addition to adding yet another expensive hardware feature to your shopping list, this requirement raises the question of what the operating system might be tracking.

In the pandemic-fueled age of videoconferencing, most of us appreciate being able to see our colleagues clearly. But what about people who don’t want every mole and face hair exposed? Many people who don’t enjoy high bandwidth turn off their cameras during teleconferences anyway. For these people, this requirement is unlikely to be a plus.

We don’t know whether Microsoft wants to track your facial expressions or behavior. Even if they don’t, camera information might be made available to applications and online services without your knowledge. We know that voice-driven devices such as Amazon’s Echo and Google Voice are collecting information from users. Facial information is equally valuable and can be interpreted by AI. Sure, it’s often wrong, but interpretations are certain to improve.

5. Avoid Conveniences That Lock You In

Computer vendors and services are constantly trying to sign you up for new services, and they often exploit compatibility and convenience to do so. Google integrates their suite of services, Apple makes it easy to link different Apple devices, and mobile phone vendors bundle apps you’re not allowed to delete. Microsoft knows the game at least as well as anyone.

Windows 11 is tightly integrated with Microsoft Teams, their collaboration suite. Teams is certainly rich with features: many people find it useful in the office. Other people find it overbearing and easy to get lost in. But the integration is the gentle snare that invites you to burrow deeper and deeper into the Microsoft universe and not to give competing services a try.

6. Run Your Computer Without a Microsoft Account

Another kind of gentle lock-in is requiring a Microsoft account to run Windows 11 Home. No, this isn’t a great burden, but why should you have to sign up for a service in order to run your computer?

7. Customize Your Desktop

Microsoft tends to lag as a desktop interface, and Windows 11 is reported to borrow a lot of features from the more highly regarded Apple Mac. But for sheer feature richness, you've got to experience the two desktops associated with Linux, KDE and GNOME.

These desktops can match any proprietary software for beauty and snazzy effects. They also provide docks, widgets, and all kinds of other convenient interface elements. They make everything customizable, so you can tune them to match your needs and increase your productivity.

8. Enjoy the Most Recent and Stable Versions of Free Software

It's time to get to know what the world of free and open source software has to offer. Not only can you download powerful replacements for expensive proprietary programs for free, you can become part of communities that determine the directions taken by upgrades. Most free and open source software is developed on Linux systems. Their most up-to-date and stable versions run on Linux. Why lag behind?

9. Increase Computing Diversity

As a corollary to the previous item, I have to admit that many useful applications and services run only on Windows or Macs, and not on Linux. But by running Linux you contribute to ecodiversity in computing. The more people who run Linux, the more likely it is for services and apps to support it—especially if you speak up to vendors and tell them not to exclude those who have devoted themselves to Linux.

10. Launch Your Skills as a Programmer

This is a software age, and even a little bit of programming skill can enhance your use of computers as well as your employability.  A few weeks spent learning some popular language helps you understand the challenges programmers face and what makes some programs better than others. A little more study, and you can start to contribute bug fixes and help projects in other ways.

Modern languages are not hard to learn, although it takes some study to reach a professional level. All these languages are easy to download and use on Linux. Thousands of libraries of powerful functions are waiting to be downloaded by a single command to your Linux computer.

11. Choose Computing Freedom

All the earlier reasons for installing Linux in this article lead up to this one. When you use Linux—or another free system, such as FreeBSD—computing is under your control. There are no barriers to your growth and exploration.

Running Linux, you are supporting freedom not only for yourself, but for millions around the world who need free and open source software because proprietary companies are not serving their needs. And in the age of software, free software promotes many other freedoms that we urgently need.

Source: lpi.org

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Arjang OÜ: Why we have been an LPI training partner for ten years

Arjang OÜ is a computer training school centered in Istanbul, Turkey. Our technical team consists of experienced trainers, developers, and system administrators. We have been delivering quality training both nationally and internationally.

Read More: LPI Certifications

We also have a certification system to evaluate students and certify them for what they have learned.

In the open source world, everything changes so fast. Our biggest challenge has been to update our course content and our grading system with updated questions. Keeping a dynamically evolving standard throughout all our content was not easy.

Therefore, we sought help outside. We were looking for a credible, distribution-neutral training system with solid certification. Linux Professional Institute (LPI) was the answer to our needs. LPI provides an accurate and up-to-date training system that is accepted worldwide.

We decided to work side by side with LPI in 2011. As an LPI Training Partner for ten years now, we have been able to further standardize our training and certification system.

Now with the extra time and energy we have, we also wish to contribute to LPI to create a better learning experience for anyone who is part of the broad LPI community. Thus, we have expanded to become a Platinum Partner.

Source: lpi.org

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LPIC-3 Mixed Environments 3.0 Introduction #05: 305 Linux Identity Management and File Sharing

This blog posting is the fifth and final in a series that helps you prepare for the new version 3.0 of the LPIC-3 Mixed Environments exam. In the previous posts we have learned a lot about managing identities for Windows systems. Even though Linux can be configured to use Active Directory too, a solution that manages identities as well as other system properties explicitly for Linux would allow a finer grade of control. FreeIPA is such a solution. In this post, we will set up a FreeIPA domain, let it manage a client, and establish a trust relationship to an Active Directory domain.

Setting up Virtual Machines for FreeIPA

Just as in last week’s article, you have to extend your lab environment by a few more virtual machines. Three new Linux VMs are recommended, two that become FreeIPA servers and one that joins the domain as a client. To keep track of how we use the virtual machines in this article, name them something like ipaserver1, ipaserver2, and ipaclient1. As usual, use your favorite Linux distribution but make sure it provides recent FreeIPA packages.

Read More: LPIC-3 300: Linux Enterprise Professional Mixed Environment

FreeIPA is the upstream project for Red Hat’s Identity Management product (IDM). Therefore a lot of the FreeIPA documentation that we will review this week is actually Red Hat’s IDM documentation. A good first piece to read is the first chapter of the ‘Planning Identity Management’ guide, which explains the principles and architecture of FreeIPA.

Installing the First FreeIPA Server

For our example lab, the FreeIPA domain has to use a different DNS zone from the one used by the existing Windows domain. The IDM documentation provides more details about choosing a good domain name. Make sure to configure your new VMs to use the right DNS zone.

Install the FreeIPA server packages on the two server virtual machines. Also install AD Trust support, which might be a dedicated package. Some additional preparations that usually are required are described in the IDM’s server preparation guide.

For the purpose of your lab, you should set up FreeIPA to become a certificate authority and a name server. The IDM installation documentation provides all the necessary steps. Eventually it boils down to running ipa-server-install with the correct options and providing some information that the command prompts for.

Once the setup is complete, the ipactl command is used to manage the various FreeIPA components. Make sure they are all running and ensure they are automatically started when the virtual machine boots.

Adding a Replica Server for Redundancy

Just as with Active Directory, FreeIPA domains usually run multiple servers for redundancy. We will add the second server as a replica to the domain we have just created. The IDM documentation provides guidance on how to prepare the virtual machine to become a replica.

In our case the virtual machine is not yet a member of the domain. The command ipa-replica-install therefore first joins the virtual machine to the domain as a client and then promotes it to a replica. The documentation for installing a replica provides more details. The credentials required to join the server to the domain can be interactively specified during the installation. Replication architecture can become complex, so consult the IDM documentation for details about planning a replication architecture.

Joining a Client to the Domain

You now have two IPA servers running, but you are still missing a client to manage. On the third new virtual machine, install the FreeIPA client package and work through the requirements for client setups.

The setup itself is performed with the ipa-client-install command. By default, the command runs interactively and asks for all required information. The client installation documentation explains the various options, including the ability to provide credentials during the setup or to create a one time password to join the client to the domain in advance.

Once the setup is complete, take a look at the /etc/openldap/ldap.conf and /etc/sssd/sssd.conf> files. Also check that the client can access the domain databases by looking up some domain user information, for example, by running id admin. From now on, FreeIPA can be used to manage the client.

Managing the Domain Resources

The actual interaction with FreeIPA happens through the ipa command. This utility is structured in a series of subcommands to manage the various resource types of a FreeIPA domain. Luckily, these subcommands follow a very specific structure that makes them easy to remember. The documentation contains an introduction that explains these patterns Remembering these patterns comes in particularly handy in an exam situation where it is important to get an idea of the purpose of a certain utility or recognize a specific command.

When working with FreeIPA, a Kerberos ticket is required. This ticket can be procured and managed using the regular Kerberos tools such as kinit or klist>. The ipa command supports management for all resources in the domain. The exam objectives explicitly mention the administration of users, user groups, role based access control, hosts, and host groups. Take special care on the lifecycle of the various resource types, because the concept of a staging user, for example, is unique to FreeIPA and does not exist in Active Directory.

Resources in FreeIPA can be also managed using a web interface. In this posting we focus on the command line, because this is the form of management you will be tested on in the exam. However, the web interface is still useful to confirm that the commands run successfully and to get an overview of the various options and properties of each managed resource.

FreeIPA offers centralized management for various services on all clients in a FreeIPA domain. Even though the exam objectives ask you only to be aware of these capabilities, it is still worth the time to test this setup for one of the various services, such as sudo.

Establishing a Trust Relationship to Active Directory

No matter how great Linux is, a lot of companies still run Windows systems and use Active Directory to manage these systems. Luckily, FreeIPA can establish a trust relationship with an Active Directory domain. This allows users managed in Active Directory to also log into Linux clients of the trusting IPA domain, including using single sign-on.

In order to set up the trust relationship, the domains need to be able to see each other in the DNS. There are various ways to achieve this, including the mutual configuration of DNS forward zones. Alternatively, each DNS server could be configured with A, AAAA, and NS records to delegate the respective zones to the correct name servers. Depending on the setup, it might be an alternative approach to have forward requests from both domains to an external recursive name server that forwards queries to the correct authoritative name server.

The ipa-adtrust-install command prepares the FreeIPA server and ipa trust-add finally sets up the trust. The IDM documentation explains the entire procedure and shows how to confirm that the setup succeeded.

Since Windows users have different properties from those of Linux users, Active Directory users may not have POSIX attributes such as the home directory path or the login shell. FreeIPA supports so-called ID views that add such attributes to users from another domain. These attributes remain within the FreeIPA domain and are effective only for IPA Linux clients.

Configuring NFSv4 Shares and Mounts

When sharing files between Linux systems, NFS is often used instead of SMB. The final subject on the exam covers the configuration of NFS shares and mounts, including some advanced features of NFSv4. Red Hat provides a good summary of how to configure NFS shares and how to mount NFS exports. The documentation also explains the role of the various NFS components and has a dedicated chapter on some of the advanced NFSv4 features such as authentication. 

The Linux-NFS wiki provides some more information on NFS ACLs, The wiki also summarizes the use of NFS and FreeIPA. The University of Michigan adds a good explanation of ID mapping in NFS as well as another good summary of the NFSv4 configuration.

That's It

This is the final blog post regarding the LPIC-3 Mixed Environment exam. I hope this series helped you to prepare for the exam and set up a playground to experiment with all the commands and options mentioned in the exam objectives, even if they weren’t discussed explicitly in this series. If you decide to prove your new skills by taking the LPIC-3 exam, I wish you the best of luck.

Finally, I cannot conclude this blog series without shoutouts to the Samba team and the folks at Red Hat. We have referenced the Samba Wiki and the FreeIPA/Red Hat IDM documentation a lot; both are excellent resources for the exam preparation. Thank you all for all your efforts you put in your development and documentation. You’re doing great work.

Read More: LPIC-3 Mixed Environments 3.0 Introduction #04: 304: Samba Client Configuration

Source: lpi.org

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