Tag Archives: LInux Foundation

LFCA Exam, Resources, and Training

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Linux Foundation Certified IT Associate (LFCA)

Exam Overview

Since I announced I was part of the team of individuals who helped develop the new Linux Foundation Certified IT Associate (LFCA) exam. I have been bombarded with questions. The majority of these questions I simply will not answer. The Linux Foundation maintains a separation between exam developers and trainers to protect the integrity of the certification.

However, many have asked questions about where to find materials to prepare for the certification, since a specific training course wasn’t released along side the exam. To those questions, I would mention that the Linux Foundation offers free introduction courses that are linked right on the exam page. These same courses have topics that cover the vast majority of the listed exam domain subjects.

Nonetheless exam its self is 60 multiple choice questions with an exam time of 90 minutes. Its also proctored virtually by PSI, alongside all of the other Linux Foundation exams. To support those taking the exam, I pulled together the exam domains, voucher, and handbook links to provide them bellow in a single place. I also provided a list of the free courses listed on the LFCA training page. Additionally, I re-ordered the courses based on pervious experience with the training materials and how the topics listed in the courses map to the exam domain subjects.

LFCA Exam Domains

The following is the full list of the exam domains and subjects covered directly from the certification documentations.

  1. Linux Fundamentals – 20%
    1. Linux Operating System
    2. File Management Commands
    3. System Commands
    4. General Networking Commands
  2. System Administration Fundamentals – 20%
    1. System Administration Tasks
    2. Networking
    3. Troubleshooting
  3. Cloud Computing Fundamentals – 20%
    1. Cloud Computing Fundamentals
    2. Performance / Availability
    3. Serverless
    4. Cloud Costs and Budgeting
  4. Security Fundamentals – 16%
    1. Security Basics
    2. Data Security
    3. Network Security
    4. System Security
  5. DevOps Fundamentals – 16%
    1. DevOps Basics
    2. Containers
    3. Deployment Environments
    4. Git Concepts
  6. Supporting Applications and Developers – 8%
    1. Software Project Management
    2. Software Application Architecture
    3. Functional Analysis
    4. Open-source Software and Licensing

Free Training from the Linux Foundation

These core courses offer roughly 120 hours of free material that relate directly to the exam domains.

  • Introduction to Linux – An introduction course to help build up the foundational Linux, system administration, and security knowledge listed in the core exam domains.
  • Basics of Cloud Computing – An introduction course that covers cloud infrastructure and the technologies that drive delivery. This course relates to the Cloud Computing Fundamentals exam domain.
  • DevOps Fundamentals – An introduction course to the principles and practices of development operations (DevOps). This course relates directly to the DevOps fundamentals exam domain.

These additional recommended courses that relate to one or more exam domains and provide additional detail.

  • Introduction to Kubernetes – An more in-depth dive into Kubernetes as a tool for containerized infrastructure. Highly recommended for those looking to break into the cloud space and/or purpose the CKA Exam.
  • Open Source Licensing – Open source software is now everywhere and the licensing can be very confusing at first. This course offers a clear and concise coverage of licensing, for those who may not encounter it often.
  • Beginners Guide to Software Development – This next course provides a basic introduction into the key concepts for open source software development. This course will give those who don’t develop software often, just enough to be dangerous.

LFCA Exam and Resources

  • LFCA Exam Voucher – This is the official Linux Foundation Certified IT Associate (LFCA) training page to purchase the exam voucher. This includes a retake if you don’t pass the exam on the first attempt.
  • LFCA Handbook – Exam specific handbooks are provided for all Linux Foundation exams and LFCA is no exception. Reading through the handbook will answer common questions regarding the exam, provide an introduction to the exam environment, and help calm some of the pre-exam nerves.

CKA Exam Review, Tips, and Resources

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CKA Exam Overview

The Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA) exam is the premiere certification to demonstrate a candidates skills with Kubernetes. The exam consists of a set of 15-20 multi-part real world tasks, which must be completed within 2 hours. The exam takes place in a live, multi-cluster Kubernetes environment. Candidates are only given command line access to the exam environment and are expected to have the efficiency to complete the majority of the tasks. Based on my CKA Exam review and experience, I believe this is one of the most rigorous exams I have encountered yet.

CKA Exam Review

The Linux Foundation (LF) and The Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF) really brought their “A” game, when partnering to develop this exam. Not only is Kubernetes as a technology not very old, its still very much not mainstream. Nonetheless the packaged course work and exam itself provides a robust set of base knowledge that can probably lay the foundation for the start of a career at a modern company or startup. Or if your current company is trying to harness the cost saving power of moving to containerization in the cloud, this exam is also a good starting place.

Preparing for the CKA Exam

When it comes to preparing for the exam, you need to build a strong foundational knowledge through training and/or hands on experience. Part of the rigor of this exam is the sear fact that you will basically be typing non-stop for 2 hours straight in order to successfully complete the exam. If your not very comfortable completing tasks with kubectl, your not likely to pass the exam. When you believe your ready, I’d recommend running through some more practice questions. Just to build up your comfort and efficiency with kubectl commands.

I can’t stress enough, how much pressure is felt during these multi-part tasks as the clock ticks away. You will want to be able to complete the majority of the tasks quick enough to have time to check your work and than work through a few of the task you aren’t as sure about. Use your time wisely and use the CKA exam review feature that’s built into the exam platform. It allows you to mark items for review and add notes, so you can easily come back later.

Get used to the structure of the official kubernetes.io documentation and kubectl command line help. Even though there are tons of resources and communities for Kubernetes administration. These other resources are not available during the exam. So during exam perpetration, only use the official documentation. Limiting yourself, will only help improve familiarity and comfort as you work through more challenging exam tasks.

CKA Exam Resources

  • Kubernetes the hard way – This is a great step by step guide to, setup Kubernetes manually. Highly recommended you work through a manual setup of Kubernetes from scratch at least once. There will likely be exam tasks around installing or fixing base services.
  • The Linux Foundations Official Course – This is the most robust general knowledge based course I’ve seen. If you want to learn Kubernetes and how to do almost anything with it, get the CKA + CKAD combo package.
  • CKA with Practice Tests – The top rated Udemy course for CKA. I highly recommend this course for those who may have some work experience with Kubernetes and want a course that teaches what is directly related to the exam. Its also worth while to pick up this course for the practice tests and exercises alone.
  • CKA and CKAD Instructions – Review the exam instructions and information multiple times, before sitting for the exam. Not only do the exam instructions provide guidance as to what is required during the exam. But it also provides important information about about the exam environment and tips for using the exam platform.
  • Kubernetes Documentation Tasks – These are the administration task guides as laid out by the Kubernetes developers. Not only should you be comfortable completing the majority of these tasks, but these task guides could prove to be a valuable resource during the exam.
  • CKAD Exercises – Although not all exercises directly relate to the CKA exam, they offer a wide range of items to build comfort with the Kubernetes command line tools. What I like about these exercises is each represents an item that may be contained within an exam task. If your unsure, it provides the most direct way to complete the prompt in a hidden field.

CKA Exam Tips and Tricks

  1. Try to do everything with kubectl in order to increase your speed and accuracy. The majority (70-80%) of the exam should be completable with kubectl commands alone.
  2. ALWAYS run the context command at the top of every task, before completing any of the work. If your ever not sure, just run it again. A correct solution to an exam task, completed in the wrong context, likely wont be scored.
  3. The new exam interface is optimized to copy and paste custom strings, such as names, labels, metadata, etc. Utilize the feature heavily in order to avoid type-o’s during the exam.
  4. Read the task fully before beginning work. Things may need to be completed in a certain order or on certain nodes in order to fully complete the question.
  5. Above all priorities your time wisely. You are aloud to utilize the Kubernetes online and system documentation during the exam. But if you don’t know how to efficiently complete the prompt once you have fully read the task, then move on and come back to the task later.

Linux Administration Certifications: LPIC 1 and LFCS

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LPIC 1 and LFCS

TLDR; The LPIC 1 and LFCS certifications can both be used to validate your skills, however the LFCS provides a robust and uniquely hands-one, testing approach.

I recently passed the LPIC 1 (Linux Professional Institute Certified System Administrator) and LFCS (Linux Foundation Certified System Administrator) certification exams. I’m now planning to pursue the LPIC 2 and LFCE certifications this coming year. Several individuals have approached me interested in hearing more about my experiences and some of big differences between the LPIC 1 and LFCS. I’ll attempt to address those questions here and also share my opinions on the perceived value in the market place today.

Big Differences

The biggest differences between the LPIC 1 and LFCS certifications, definitely come down to the testing methods they each use. The LPIC 1 is a standard multiple choice style examination, with a few fill the blank questions. The LPIC features two exams with 50 knowledge base and practical application question, over one and half hours. The LFCS on the other hand, is a interactive practical applications exam. Wherein the tester is given 40 practical multi-step tasks, within an actual Linux terminal, with two hours to complete as many as possible.

Another major difference between the LPIC 1 and LFCS is how the testing is conducted. The two LPIC 1 exams are proctored by Pearson Vue, so they take place in your standard testing center. Since it’s a standard multiple choice exam, in a standard testing center, you will receive your test results right after completing the exam. You are scored based on whether or not you select the correct answers to the exam questions and the respective weight in each of the tested categories. The LFCS is a online exam which utilizes a web cam, a screen share, a task portal, and a live connection to a Linux system to conduct the exam. Throughout the exam you have terminal access to your own Linux virtual machine, to complete your various tasks.  The entire system is graded upon completion and delays receiving your final score. Thus your score is based on whether each step of the tasks and the tasks themselves are completed correctly. Its also rumored, that points lost on one task can be recovered on others based on the methods used, cleanliness, and overall efficiency.

Difficulty Level

The difficulty level of the LPIC 1 and LFCS is heavily debated, however I think it comes down to how you study and your experience within the Linux terminal. That being said, the LPIC 1 is largely a test of base knowledge, so if one puts forth the time and effort to review some of the coursework out there, they shouldn’t have any problem completing the exam. I honestly don’t believe your experience in the Linux terminal is going to help you out anyone more then one of the official books. The exam is all about knowing the command names and what they do. On the other hand, the LFCS exam, and its largely based on weather or not you can complete a business operations related task, in a timely manner. There is no official book for the LFCS exam, although there is online coursework which introduces you to commands and then provides lab activities for completion all on your own. Having completed all of the online course work, I believe its likely sufficient to pass the exam. However I think the real world Linux experience would be quite a bit more useful during the LFSC exam, simple because your being indirectly scored on timeliness and efficiency. Addtionally, on top of having to understand what the names of commands are and what they do, one also needs to understand how to effectively use each command to successfully pass the LFSC exam. Overall I would say the LFCS is going to be far more difficult for those newer to Linux, if only because of more intimidating structure of the exam and the review of ones efficiency.

Market Value

When it comes to the market value of the LPIC 1 and LFCS certifications, I think the total value depends on your individual goals. For instances, if your goal is to get your foot in the door at a large institution, I would recommend the LPIC 1 since it has been around longer and thus has a greater chance of being recognized by a recruiter or HR. The LPIC 1 is also going to be better if your goal is to continue on and become more specialized within the Linux space. If your goal is instead to provide validation of your skills and experience to a future or current employer I would highly recommend the LFCS. In addition to the certification being run by the Linux Foundation themselves, they now have a partnership with Microsoft. This new partnership creates a great opportunity for those working within more diverse environments, by allowing for canadits to take both Linux foundation and Microsoft certifications to become specialized in mix environments and/or cloud. Overall I think if your really trying to project your worth to the market, the LPIC 1 is a better bet, simply because its been around longer and currently has more recognize then LFCS. However, I’d bet the LFCS will soon take its place at the top, due to the growing relationships being fostered by the Linux Foundation.

Honorable Mentions

Although I have not attempted these exams, because they are distribution specific, the OCA (Oracle Certified Administrator) and the RHCSA (Red Hat Certified System Administrator) both seem to have more visibility in the market place. This is likely due to the huge brand recognition associated with these respective certifications. If your already employed with an organization that mostly utilizes either of these distributions, they may provide more bang for your buck.