The Linux Foundation is a tech consortium that standardizes Linux, supports its growth, and maintains its commercial usage all over the world. In addition, this giant offers a number of high-end certificates that revolve around various scopes pertinent to the IT sector.

Linux Foundation Certification Overview

In all, this vendor offers IT certificates related to such domains as System Administration, Networking, Blockchain, Cloud as well as Containers, System Engineering, DevOps & Site Reliability, and the like. All of these categories hold at least one or several affiliated certifications. And if we take the System Administration scope, for example, here, you’ll come across five distinct designations from the entry to the advanced level. These, in particular, are the following:

• Linux Foundation Certified IT Associate or LFCA;
• Linux Foundation Certified System Administrator or LFCS;
• Linux Foundation Certified Engineer or LFCE;
• LFCS-JP, the Japanese version of the Linux Foundation Certified System Administrator;
• LFCE-JP, the Japanese variant of the Linux Foundation Certified Engineer.

Now that you know this, let us concentrate on one of the most prominent certifications offered by the Linux Foundation, the Linux Foundation Certified System Administrator.

About LFCS Certification

This certificate will showcase your talent as a jack of all trades in designing, configuring, and managing a system installation as well as show your potential employers that you understand the basics of networking, logging, monitoring, API object primitives, storage application lifecycle, troubleshooting, and security. An intermediate-tier certification such as this is the best way for individuals who are new to Linux to demonstrate their capability. Once gained, this qualification has a validity period of three years. After this, you can sit for the same exam to recertify or achieve a higher-level designation, in which case your LFCS validation will automatically renew once you have passed a higher-level test.

How to Certify?

In order to obtain such a certificate, you need to pass a two-hour-long LFCS online exam. The test format is performance-based, and you will be given tasks done on the command-line of on-the-job scenarios faced by sysadmins in the real world. Also, servers are provided for you to use during the actual test, which will be made available within a web-based exam console. Thus, you have the option of either selecting Ubuntu 18 or CentOS 7. As this is a proctored exam you will be monitored via streaming audio, video, and screen sharing, plus, you will need to score at least 66% to pass. Since being a System Administrator means you need to possess a whole range of knowledge from networking to programming, an exam like this is split into six domains:

• Essential commands. Under such a topic, you will need to have a thorough understanding of evaluating and comparing basic file content and system features.
• Operation of running systems. Here, you will need to show you can manage software and know how to safely boot, reboot, and change different operating modes, or shut down a system when necessary. Furthermore, you might be tested on verifying the availability and managing key processes as well as resources.
• Networking. When dealing with this tested area, you will be measured on the configuration of networks and network services.
• User and group management. Managing & creating user environments and user accounts is a skill you will need to process to show you can handle system-wide environment profiles.
• Service configuration. This domain will test your ability to configure servers such as DNS, SSH, HTTP, IMAP & IMAPS, etc.
• Storage management. Such a portion focuses on how you can design and configure storage spaces and file systems.

Preparation Options for LFCS Test

If you are a registered member, you can gain access to a variety of benefits provided by the Linux Foundation. Firstly, as a member, you are provided access to the Certification Preparation Guide that includes both free and paid study resources, tips and tricks to keep in mind, and a checklist of all the domains as well as competencies that you will face in the real evaluation. Furthermore, the Linux Foundation Certification Exams: Candidate Handbook will deliver all the details about the final LFCS test. Then, it is highly recommended that you take the Essentials of Linux System Administration (LFS201) training course before you sit for the LFCS exam. The topics you will learn throughout this training are directly associated with the domains tested by the official LFCS evaluation, therefore, taking such a course will substantially increase your understanding of Linux and ease the process to get the LFCS certification. Thus, there, you will familiarize yourself with such notions as Linux Filesystem Tree Layout, DPKG, APT, system monitoring, the control of processes, I/O scheduling, RAID, Kernel modules, etc. When it comes to its details, this is an online class that is self-paced for your convenience. Plus, hands-on labs and assignments are provided to assess your standing in terms of Linux skills and knowledge. However, note that it is beneficial if you know the basics of Linux before taking this course. As the LFCS is not an easy test, for further practice you can take the LFCS Practice Questions and work with the Latest Linux Foundation Certified System Administrator Exam Questions book by IT Success for extra knowledge. This book from Amazon contains preparation questions with full details about the final LFCS exam. Besides, these sample items are accompanied by exhibits of correct answers provided and verified by industry experts. Finally, with the help of such a resource, you will also have the ability to practice drag & drop and multiple-choice questions that you might get tested on like in the real LFCS exam.

Conclusion

The Linux Foundation has a lot to offer you when it comes to reliable IT knowledge and prestigious certifications. So, if you’re now taking steps in this field and Linux, in particular, choosing the Linux Foundation Certified System Administrator or LFCS designation will be considered a great move. Even though obtaining such a certificate seems difficult as it involves passing one intermediate-level exam, your odds of success are above average as the certification vendor has developed tons of preparation materials for your mastery of Linux and LFCS test. Good luck!