Now that the LPI level 1 exams are nearing completion, it is time we start defining the next level of certification. Thusfar we have been discussing the higher levels only in fairly vague outlines. The general idea is that after the first (basic, junior) level, there will be a a second (advanced) and a third (senior, specialist, expert level). Although we have a good definition where the first level ends, we need to work on the scope and content of the second level, and where that ends and the third level begins. From the overall definition on our website (http://www.lpi.org/c-process.html#LPIC2), the LPIC-1 sysadmin will be able to install a Linux workstation; the LPIC-2 should be able to manage a network; whereas the LPIC-3 expert should have in-depth knowledge of some specialist fields; specifically: =============================================================================== LPIC Level 2 ============ Suitable tasks: --------------- * Administers a small to medium-sized site: can plan, implement, maintain, keep consistent, secure, and troubleshoot a small mixed (MS, Linux) network: - LAN server (samba) - Internet Gateway (firewall, proxy, mail, news) - Internet Server (webserver, simple CGI?) * Supervises 0 to some assistants * Advices management on automation and purchases Requirements: ------------- To complete Level 2, candidates must complete: * The T3 exam * The T4 exam Exams: ------ * T3. Advanced administration (not Linux specific) - track & solve problems - write shell scripts with `sh` and `sed` - thorough understanding of (Inter)networking * T4. Linux optimization - monitor processes, peruse loggings, boot sequence - decide if and when the Linux kernel should be upgraded, make a custom kernel (apply patches, configure, compile and install) - resolve version problems of libraries & programs; install bugfixes & upgrades LPIC Level 3 ============ Suitable tasks: --------------- * Designs and implements solutions to complex automation problems, like multi-site enterprises, heavy-duty Internet sites, custom solutions. * Initiates projects and has a budget to implement them. * Supervises some assistants. * Acts as a consultant to higher management. Requirements: ------------- To complete Level 3, candidates must complete: * Any two of the T5x exams =============================================================================== So the first task is to improve and expand these definitions: 1) What will the typical jobs be? SAGE describes Novice, Junior, Advanced, and Senior general sysadmins. We aimed for just an advanced general system|network administrator, and for specialized experts beyond. Is this still a useful and workeable venue? Note that we have tried not to be so arrogant as to aim testing for the very highest, enterprise-wide IT officers: they will need to know more than just Linux, and probably don't care about getting certified anyway. 2) What will be the content of the jobs, what will the tasks be? From the first job analysis we still have over a hundred tasks that had a high rate and were not included in the first level. This is not enough for the remaining two levels (for the first level alone we used about 300 tasks). We probably need to do another Job Task Analysis (JTA). This has to be based on higher-level tasks, and should be evaluated by sysadmins who actually have worked at these levels. So we need to: a) get a list of high-level tasks b) find a sufficient number of advanced sysadmins to rate them c) define what goes into level2, and what remains for level 3 Note that we do not need to define the specific exams already, but just the content of the levels. For the first level we were too early in fixing exam content, and had to re-order that to obtain balanced exams in the end. 3) To get to 2a, we first need to define some organisation of content. For the first JTA, we came up with a theoretical structure of 14 topic areas, each sub-divided into several sub-topics. Distinctions were not always clear however, and we should not impose too much structure beforehand on the jobs we are trying to analyze. Is our initial division into 14 topic areas still relevant for the higher-level JTA? The areas are: 1) Hardware & Architecture 2) Installation & Package Management 3) GNU & Unix commands 4) Devices, Filesystems, FHS 5) Kernel 6) Runlevels (boot, init, shutdown) 7) Text Editing, Processing, Printing 8) Documentation 9) Shells, Scripting, Programming, Compiling 10) X 11) Administrative Tasks 12) Networking Fundamentals 13) Networking Services 14) Security All distribution-specific issues, mainly about installation, and (interactive) maintenance tools, supposedly are covered in the T2x exams of level 1. So do we still need Area 2) for the higher levels? Creating packages from a programs source code may be a task suited for high-level Linux sysadmins, but maybe only for level 3 . The areas 7, 9, and 14 have not yet been fully covered in level 1 (in overall content, not to mention depth). For the higher levels the focus will probably be on areas 12, 13, 14 . To give some ideas, let me outline an alternative, more fine-grained division into areas that I started using for teaching Linux. It was designed more towards teaching different concepts, rather than to categorize tasks (which usually require combined skills and knowledge); hence it may be less suitable for our effort. 1) Hardware [ 2) Install preparation] [ 3) Installation] [ 4) Package Management] 5) Disk & Filesystem Management 6) Process Management 7) File Management 8) User & Group Management 9) X 10) Kernel 11) Runlevels 12) Logging 13) Archiving & Backup 14) Networking Fundamentals 15) Name Resolution 16) Networking Services: NFS SMB DHCP inetd Mail News HTTP 17) Security {18) Documentation} {19) Editing} 20) Printing {21) Shell Skills} 22) Regular Expressions & Filters 23) Scripting & Programming Topics between brackets deal with installation, and that should essentially have been covered in level 1; topics between braces mainly deal with user-level issues that are implicit in level 1 too. Please tell us about your ideas on all this. -- #>!$!%(@^%#%*(&(#@#*$^@^$##*#@&(%)@**$!(&!^(#((#&%!)%*@)(&$($$%(@#)&*!^$)^@*^@) Tom "thriving on chaos" Peters NL-1062 KD nr 149 tel. +31-204080204 Amsterdam e-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] ________________________________________________________________________ This message was sent by the linux-cert-program mailing list. To unsubscribe: echo unsubscribe | mail -s '' [EMAIL PROTECTED]
