Exam 102: Detailed Objectives

This is a required exam for LPI certification Level 1. It covers basic skills for the Linux Professional that are common to major distributions of Linux.

Each objective is assigned a weighting value. The weights range roughly from 1 to 10 and indicate the relative importance of each objective. Objectives with higher weights will be covered in the exam with more questions.

  • Shells, Scripting and Data Management
  • User Interfaces and Desktops
  • Administrative Tasks
  • Essential System Services
  • Networking Fundamentals
  • Security

Topic 105: Shells, Scripting and Data Management

105.1 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.

Terms and Utilities

  • /etc/profile
  • env
  • export
  • set
  • unset
  • ~/.bash_profile
  • ~/.bash_login
  • ~/.profile
  • ~/.bashrc
  • ~/.bash_logout
  • function
  • alias
  • lists

105.2 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.
  • 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.

Terms and Utilities

  • for
  • while
  • test
  • if
  • read
  • seq

105.3 SQL data management

  • Weight: 2
  • Description: Candidates should be able to query databases and manipulate data using basic SQL commands. This objective includes performing queries involving joining of 2 tables and/or subselects.

Key Knowledge Areas

  • Use of basic SQL commands.
  • Perform basic data manipulation.

Terms and Utilities

  • insert
  • update
  • select
  • delete
  • from
  • where
  • group by
  • order by
  • join

Topic 106: User Interfaces and Desktops

106.1 Install and configure X11

  • Weight: 2
  • Description: Candidates should be able to install and configure X11.

Key Knowledge Areas

  • Verify that the video card and monitor are supported by an X server.
  • Awareness of the X font server.
  • Basic understanding and knowledge of the X Window configuration file.

Terms and Utilities

  • /etc/X11/xorg.conf
  • xhost
  • DISPLAY
  • xwininfo
  • xdpyinfo
  • X

106.2 Setup a display manager

  • Weight: 2
  • Description: Candidates should be able setup and customize a display manager. This objective covers the display managers XDM (X Display Manger), GDM (Gnome Display Manager) and KDM (KDE Display Manager).

Key Knowledge Areas

  • Turn the display manager on or off.
  • Change the display manager greeting.
  • Change default color depth for the display manager.
  • Configure display managers for use by X-stations.

Terms and Utilities

  • /etc/inittab
  • xdm configuration files
  • kdm configuration files
  • gdm configuration files

106.3 Accessibility

  • Weight: 1
  • Description: Demonstrate knowledge and awareness of accessibility technologies.

Key Knowledge Areas

  • Keyboard Accessibility Settings
  • Visual Settings and Themes
  • Assistive Technology (ATs)

Terms and Utilities

  • Sticky/Repeat Keys
  • Slow/Bounce/Toggle Keys
  • Mouse Keys
  • High Contrast Desktop Themes
  • Large Print Desktop Themes
  • Screen Reader
  • Braille Display
  • Screen Magnifier
  • On-Screen Keyboard
  • Gestures
  • Orca
  • GOK
  • emacspeak

Topic 107: Administrative Tasks

107.1 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.

Terms and Utilities

  • /etc/passwd
  • /etc/shadow
  • /etc/group
  • /etc/skel
  • chage
  • groupadd
  • groupdel
  • groupmod
  • passwd
  • useradd
  • userdel
  • usermod

107.2 Automate system administration tasks by scheduling jobs

  • Weight: 4
  • Description: Candidates should be able to use cron or anacron 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.

Terms and Utilities

  • /etc/cron
  • /etc/at.deny
  • /etc/at.allow
  • /etc/crontab
  • /etc/cron.allow
  • /etc/cron.deny
  • /var/spool/cron/*
  • crontab
  • at
  • atq
  • atrm

107.3 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

  • Locale settings.
  • Timezone settings.

Terms and Utilities

  • /etc/timezone
  • /etc/localtime
  • /usr/share/zoneinfo
  • Environment variables
  • /usr/bin/locale
  • tzselect
  • tzconfig
  • date
  • iconv
  • UTF-8
  • ISO-8859
  • ASCII
  • Unicode

Topic 108: Essential System Services

108.1 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.
  • Knowledge of using the pool.ntp.org service

Terms and Utilities

  • /usr/share/zoneinfo
  • /etc/timezone
  • /etc/localtime
  • /etc/ntp.conf
  • date
  • hwclock
  • ntpd
  • ntpdate
  • pool.ntp.org

108.2 System logging

  • Weight: 2
  • Description: Candidates should be able to configure the syslog daemon. 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.

Key Knowledge Areas

  • syslog configuration files
  • syslog
  • standard facilities, priorities and actions

Terms and Utilities

  • syslog.conf
  • syslogd
  • klogd
  • logger

108.3 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, qmail, exim) (no configuration)

Terms and Utilities

  • ~/.forward
  • sendmail emulation layer commands
  • newaliases
  • mail
  • mailq
  • postfix
  • sendmail
  • exim
  • qmail

108.4 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.

Terms and Utilities

  • CUPS config files, tools and utils
  • /etc/cups
  • lpd legacy interface (lpr, lprm, lpq)

Topic 109: Networking Fundamentals

109.1 Fundamentals of internet protocols

  • Weight: 4
  • Description: Candidates should demonstrate a proper understanding of TCP/IP network fundamentals.

Key Knowledge Areas

  • Demonstrate an understanding network masks.
  • Knowledge of the differences between private and public "dotted quad" IP-Addresses.
  • Setting a default route.
  • Knowledge about common TCP and UDP ports (20, 21, 22, 23, 25, 53, 80, 110, 119, 139, 143, 161, 443, 465, 993, 995).
  • Knowledge about the differences and major features of UDP, TCP and ICMP.
  • Knowledge of the major differences between IPv4 and IPV6.

Terms and Utilities

  • /etc/services
  • ftp
  • telnet
  • host
  • ping
  • dig
  • traceroute
  • tracepath

109.2 Basic network configuration

  • Weight: 4
  • Description: Candidates should be able to view, change and verify configuration settings on client hosts.

Key Knowledge Areas

  • Manually and automatically configure network interfaces
  • Basic TCP/IP host configuration.

Terms and Utilities

  • /etc/hostname
  • /etc/hosts
  • /etc/resolv.conf
  • /etc/nsswitch.conf
  • ifconfig
  • ifup
  • ifdown
  • route
  • ping

109.3 Basic network troubleshooting

  • Weight: 4
  • Description: Candidates should be able to troubleshoot networking issues on client hosts.

Key Knowledge Areas

  • Manually and automatically configure network interfaces and routing tables to include adding, starting, stopping, restarting, deleting or reconfiguring network interfaces.
  • Change, view, or configure the routing table and correct an improperly set default route manually.
  • Debug problems associated with the network configuration.

Terms and Utilities

  • ifconfig
  • ifup
  • ifdown
  • route
  • host
  • hostname
  • dig
  • netstat
  • ping
  • traceroute

109.4 Configure client side DNS

  • Weight: 2
  • Description: Candidates should be able to configure DNS on a client host.

Key Knowledge Areas

  • Demonstrate the use of DNS on the local system.
  • Modify the order in which name resolution is done.

Terms and Utilities

  • /etc/hosts
  • /etc/resolv.conf
  • /etc/nsswitch.conf

Topic 110: Security

110.1 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.
  • Basic sudo configuration and usage.

Terms and Utilities

  • find
  • passwd
  • lsof
  • nmap
  • chage
  • netstat
  • sudo
  • /etc/sudoers
  • su
  • usermod
  • ulimit

110.2 Setup host security

  • Weight: 2
  • 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.

Terms and Utilities

  • /etc/nologin
  • /etc/passwd
  • /etc/shadow
  • /etc/xinetd.d/*
  • /etc/xinetd.conf
  • /etc/inetd.d/*
  • /etc/inetd.conf
  • /etc/inittab
  • /etc/init.d/*
  • /etc/hosts.allow
  • /etc/hosts.deny

110.3 Securing data with encryption

  • Weight: 3
  • Description: The candidate should be able to use puplic key techniques to secure data and communication.

Key Knowledge Areas

  • Perform basic OpenSSH 2 client configuration and usage.
  • Understand the role of OpenSSH
  • Perform basic GnuPG configuration and usage.
  • Understand SSH port tunnels (including X11 tunnels).

Terms and Utilities

  • ssh
  • ssh-keygen
  • ssh-agent
  • ssh-add
  • ~/.ssh/id_rsa
  • id_rsa.pub
  • ~/.ssh/id_dsa
  • id_dsa.pub
  • /etc/ssh/ssh_host_rsa_key
  • ssh_host_rsa_key.pub
  • /etc/ssh/ssh_host_dsa_key
  • ssh_host_dsa_key.pub
  • ~/.ssh/authorized_keys
  • /etc/ssh_known_hosts
  • gpg
  • ~/.gnupg/*
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