102-500: Linux Administrator - 102 (LPIC-1 102)

The world’s largest and most recognized Linux certification

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

Try Sample Exam

The LPIC-1 is designed to reflect current research and validate a candidate's proficiency in real world system administration. The objectives are tied to real-world job skills, which we determine through job task analysis surveying during exam development.

LPI LPIC-1 Exam Summary:

Exam Name	LPIC-1 Linux Administrator
Exam Code	102-500
Exam Price	$200 (USD)
Duration	90 mins
Number of Questions	60
Passing Score	500 / 800
Sample Questions	LPI LPIC-1 Sample Questions
Practice Exam	LPI 102-500 Certification Practice Exam

LPI 102-500 Exam Syllabus Topics:

Topic	Details
Shells and Shell Scripting
Customize and use the shell environment	Weight: 4 Description: Candidates should be able to customize shell environments to meet users' needs. Candidates should be able to modify global and user profiles. Key Knowledge Areas: ◉ Set environment variables (e.g. PATH) at login or when spawning a new shell. ◉ Write Bash functions for frequently used sequences of commands. ◉ Maintain skeleton directories for new user accounts. ◉ Set command search path with the proper directory. The following is a partial list of the used files, terms and utilities: ◉ . ◉ source ◉ /etc/bash.bashrc ◉ /etc/profile ◉ env ◉ export ◉ set ◉ unset ◉ ~/.bash_profile ◉ ~/.bash_login ◉ ~/.profile ◉ ~/.bashrc ◉ ~/.bash_logout ◉ function ◉ alias
Customize or write simple scripts	Weight: 4 Description: Candidates should be able to customize existing scripts, or write simple new Bash scripts. Key Knowledge Areas: ◉ Use standard sh syntax (loops, tests). ◉ Use command substitution. ◉ Test return values for success or failure or other information provided by a command. ◉ Execute chained commands. ◉ Perform conditional mailing to the superuser. ◉ Correctly select the script interpreter through the shebang (#!) line. ◉ Manage the location, ownership, execution and suid-rights of scripts. The following is a partial list of the used files, terms and utilities: ◉ for ◉ while ◉ test ◉ if ◉ read ◉ seq ◉ exec ◉ || ◉ &&
User Interfaces and Desktops
Install and configure X11	Weight: 2 Description: Candidates should be able to install and configure X11. Key Knowledge Areas: ◉ Understanding of the X11 architecture. ◉ Basic understanding and knowledge of the X Window configuration file. ◉ Overwrite specific aspects of Xorg configuration, such as keyboard layout. ◉ Understand the components of desktop environments, such as display managers and window managers. ◉ Manage access to the X server and display applications on remote X servers. ◉ Awareness of Wayland. The following is a partial list of the used files, terms and utilities: ◉ /etc/X11/xorg.conf ◉ /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/ ◉ ~/.xsession-errors ◉ xhost ◉ xauth ◉ DISPLAY ◉ X
Graphical Desktops	Weight: 1 Description: Candidates should be aware of major Linux desktops. Furthermore, candidates should be aware of protocols used to access remote desktop sessions. Key Knowledge Areas: ◉ Awareness of major desktop environments ◉ Awareness of protocols to access remote desktop sessions The following is a partial list of the used files, terms and utilities: ◉ KDE ◉ Gnome ◉ Xfce ◉ X11 ◉ XDMCP ◉ VNC ◉ Spice ◉ RDP
Accessibility	Weight: 1 Description: Demonstrate knowledge and awareness of accessibility technologies. Key Knowledge Areas: ◉ Basic knowledge of visual settings and themes. ◉ Basic knowledge of assistive technology. The following is a partial list of the used files, terms and utilities: ◉ High Contrast/Large Print Desktop Themes. ◉ Screen Reader. ◉ Braille Display. ◉ Screen Magnifier. ◉ On-Screen Keyboard. ◉ Sticky/Repeat keys. ◉ Slow/Bounce/Toggle keys. ◉ Mouse keys. ◉ Gestures. ◉ Voice recognition.
Administrative Tasks
Manage user and group accounts and related system files	Weight: 5 Description: Candidates should be able to add, remove, suspend and change user accounts. Key Knowledge Areas: ◉ Add, modify and remove users and groups. ◉ Manage user/group info in password/group databases. ◉ Create and manage special purpose and limited accounts. The following is a partial list of the used files, terms and utilities: ◉ /etc/passwd ◉ /etc/shadow ◉ /etc/group ◉ /etc/skel/ ◉ chage ◉ getent ◉ groupadd ◉ groupdel ◉ groupmod ◉ passwd ◉ useradd ◉ userdel ◉ usermod
Automate system administration tasks by scheduling jobs	Weight: 4 Description: Candidates should be able to use cron and systemd timers to run jobs at regular intervals and to use at to run jobs at a specific time. Key Knowledge Areas: ◉ Manage cron and at jobs. ◉ Configure user access to cron and at services. ◉ Understand systemd timer units. The following is a partial list of the used files, terms and utilities: ◉ /etc/cron.{d,daily,hourly,monthly,weekly}/ ◉ /etc/at.deny ◉ /etc/at.allow ◉ /etc/crontab ◉ /etc/cron.allow ◉ /etc/cron.deny ◉ /var/spool/cron/ ◉ crontab ◉ at ◉ atq ◉ atrm ◉ systemctl ◉ systemd-run
Localisation and internationalisation	Weight: 3 Description: Candidates should be able to localize a system in a different language than English. As well, an understanding of why LANG=C is useful when scripting. Key Knowledge Areas: ◉ Configure locale settings and environment variables. ◉ Configure timezone settings and environment variables. The following is a partial list of the used files, terms and utilities: ◉ /etc/timezone ◉ /etc/localtime ◉ /usr/share/zoneinfo/ ◉ LC_* ◉ LC_ALL ◉ LANG ◉ TZ ◉ /usr/bin/locale ◉ tzselect ◉ timedatectl ◉ date ◉ iconv ◉ UTF-8 ◉ ISO-8859 ◉ ASCII ◉ Unicode
Essential System Services
Maintain system time	Weight: 3 Description: Candidates should be able to properly maintain the system time and synchronize the clock via NTP. Key Knowledge Areas: ◉ Set the system date and time. ◉ Set the hardware clock to the correct time in UTC. ◉ Configure the correct timezone. ◉ Basic NTP configuration using ntpd and chrony. ◉ Knowledge of using the pool.ntp.org service. ◉ Awareness of the ntpq command. The following is a partial list of the used files, terms and utilities: ◉ /usr/share/zoneinfo/ ◉ /etc/timezone ◉ /etc/localtime ◉ /etc/ntp.conf ◉ /etc/chrony.conf ◉ date ◉ hwclock ◉ timedatectl ◉ ntpd ◉ ntpdate ◉ chronyc ◉ pool.ntp.org
System logging	Weight: 4 Description: Candidates should be able to configure rsyslog. This objective also includes configuring the logging daemon to send log output to a central log server or accept log output as a central log server. Use of the systemd journal subsystem is covered. Also, awareness of syslog and syslog-ng as alternative logging systems is included. Key Knowledge Areas: ◉ Basic configuration of rsyslog. ◉ Understanding of standard facilities, priorities and actions. ◉ Query the systemd journal. ◉ Filter systemd journal data by criteria such as date, service or priority. ◉ Configure persistent systemd journal storage and journal size. ◉ Delete old systemd journal data. ◉ Retrieve systemd journal data from a rescue system or file system copy. ◉ Understand interaction of rsyslog with systemd-journald. ◉ Configuration of logrotate. ◉ Awareness of syslog and syslog-ng. Terms and Utilities: ◉ /etc/rsyslog.conf ◉ /var/log/ ◉ logger ◉ logrotate ◉ /etc/logrotate.conf ◉ /etc/logrotate.d/ ◉ journalctl ◉ systemd-cat ◉ /etc/systemd/journald.conf ◉ /var/log/journal/
Mail Transfer Agent (MTA) basics	Weight: 3 Description: Candidates should be aware of the commonly available MTA programs and be able to perform basic forward and alias configuration on a client host. Other configuration files are not covered. Key Knowledge Areas: ◉ Create e-mail aliases. Configure e-mail forwarding. Knowledge of commonly available MTA programs (postfix, sendmail, exim) (no configuration). Terms and Utilities: ◉ ~/.forward ◉ sendmail emulation layer commands ◉ newaliases ◉ mail ◉ mailq ◉ postfix ◉ sendmail ◉ exim
Manage printers and printing	Weight: 2 Description: Candidates should be able to manage print queues and user print jobs using CUPS and the LPD compatibility interface. Key Knowledge Areas: ◉ Basic CUPS configuration (for local and remote printers). ◉ Manage user print queues. ◉ Troubleshoot general printing problems. ◉ Add and remove jobs from configured printer queues. The following is a partial list of the used files, terms and utilities: ◉ CUPS configuration files, tools and utilities ◉ /etc/cups/ ◉ lpd legacy interface (lpr, lprm, lpq)
Networking Fundamentals
Fundamentals of internet protocols	Weight: 4 Description: Candidates should demonstrate a proper understanding of TCP/IP network fundamentals. Key Knowledge Areas: ◉ Demonstrate an understanding of network masks and CIDR notation. ◉ Knowledge of the differences between private and public "dotted quad" IP addresses. ◉ Knowledge about common TCP and UDP ports and services (20, 21, 22, 23, 25, 53, 80, 110, 123, 139, 143, 161, 162, 389, 443, 465, 514, 636, 993, 995). ◉ Knowledge about the differences and major features of UDP, TCP and ICMP. ◉ Knowledge of the major differences between IPv4 and IPv6. ◉ Knowledge of the basic features of IPv6. The following is a partial list of the used files, terms and utilities: ◉ /etc/services ◉ IPv4, IPv6 ◉ Subnetting ◉ TCP, UDP, ICMP
Persistent network configuration	Weight: 4 Description: Candidates should be able to manage the persistent network configuration of a Linux host. Key Knowledge Areas: ◉ Understand basic TCP/IP host configuration. ◉ Configure ethernet and wi-fi network using NetworkManager. ◉ Awareness of systemd-networkd. The following is a partial list of the used files, terms and utilities: ◉ /etc/hostname ◉ /etc/hosts ◉ /etc/nsswitch.conf ◉ /etc/resolv.conf ◉ nmcli ◉ hostnamectl ◉ ifup ◉ ifdown
Basic network troubleshooting	Weight: 4 Description: Candidates should be able to troubleshoot networking issues on client hosts. Key Knowledge Areas: ◉ Manually configure network interfaces, including viewing and changing the configuration of network interfaces using iproute2. ◉ Manually configure routing, including viewing and changing routing tables and setting the default route using iproute2. ◉ Debug problems associated with the network configuration. ◉ Awareness of legacy net-tools commands. The following is a partial list of the used files, terms and utilities: ◉ ip ◉ hostname ◉ ss ◉ ping ◉ ping6 ◉ traceroute ◉ traceroute6 ◉ tracepath ◉ tracepath6 ◉ netcat ◉ ifconfig ◉ netstat ◉ route
Configure client side DNS	Weight: 2 Description: Candidates should be able to configure DNS on a client host. Key Knowledge Areas: ◉ Query remote DNS servers. ◉ Configure local name resolution and use remote DNS servers. ◉ Modify the order in which name resolution is done. ◉ Debug errors related to name resolution. ◉ Awareness of systemd-resolved. The following is a partial list of the used files, terms and utilities: ◉ /etc/hosts ◉ /etc/resolv.conf ◉ /etc/nsswitch.conf ◉ host ◉ dig ◉ getent
Security
Perform security administration tasks	Weight: 3 Description: Candidates should know how to review system configuration to ensure host security in accordance with local security policies. Key Knowledge Areas: ◉ Audit a system to find files with the suid/sgid bit set. ◉ Set or change user passwords and password aging information. ◉ Being able to use nmap and netstat to discover open ports on a system. ◉ Set up limits on user logins, processes and memory usage. ◉ Determine which users have logged in to the system or are currently logged in. ◉ Basic sudo configuration and usage. The following is a partial list of the used files, terms and utilities: ◉ find ◉ passwd ◉ fuser ◉ lsof ◉ nmap ◉ chage ◉ netstat ◉ sudo ◉ /etc/sudoers ◉ su ◉ usermod ◉ ulimit ◉ who, w, last
Setup host security	Weight: 3 Description: Candidates should know how to set up a basic level of host security. Key Knowledge Areas: ◉ Awareness of shadow passwords and how they work. ◉ Turn off network services not in use. ◉ Understand the role of TCP wrappers. The following is a partial list of the used files, terms and utilities: ◉ /etc/nologin ◉ /etc/passwd ◉ /etc/shadow ◉ /etc/xinetd.d/ ◉ /etc/xinetd.conf ◉ systemd.socket ◉ /etc/inittab ◉ /etc/init.d/ ◉ /etc/hosts.allow ◉ /etc/hosts.deny
Securing data with encryption	Weight: 4 Description: The candidate should be able to use public key techniques to secure data and communication. Key Knowledge Areas: ◉ Perform basic OpenSSH 2 client configuration and usage. ◉ Understand the role of OpenSSH 2 server host keys. ◉ Perform basic GnuPG configuration, usage and revocation. ◉ Use GPG to encrypt, decrypt, sign and verify files. ◉ Understand SSH port tunnels (including X11 tunnels). The following is a partial list of the used files, terms and utilities: ◉ ssh ◉ ssh-keygen ◉ ssh-agent ◉ ssh-add ◉ ~/.ssh/id_rsa and id_rsa.pub ◉ ~/.ssh/id_dsa and id_dsa.pub ◉ ~/.ssh/id_ecdsa and id_ecdsa.pub ◉ ~/.ssh/id_ed25519 and id_ed25519.pub ◉ /etc/ssh/ssh_host_rsa_key and ssh_host_rsa_key.pub ◉ /etc/ssh/ssh_host_dsa_key and ssh_host_dsa_key.pub ◉ /etc/ssh/ssh_host_ecdsa_key and ssh_host_ecdsa_key.pub ◉ /etc/ssh/ssh_host_ed25519_key and ssh_host_ed25519_key.pub ◉ ~/.ssh/authorized_keys ◉ ssh_known_hosts ◉ gpg ◉ gpg-agent ◉ ~/.gnupg/