Fellow Linux Professionals, As you have followed in recent press releases and announcements while working with our program, LPI has released our first exam toward Level 1 LPI Certification. With the success and interest in this program, we are excited to begin working on our second level of certification, the LPIC-2. Development of our second level of certification is now beginning, working consecutively as our LPIC-1 team finishes implementing the additional exams to complete LPIC-1. Attached you will find two documents. First is our initial proposal for the overall job description for our Level 2 certification candidates. Second, is the draft of the LPIC-2 Development Plan To summarize we will take the following steps: 1) Improve the job description via discussion on this mailing list. 2) Collect relevant tasks amongst members of this mailing list. 3) Complete a Job Analysis Survey of the collected tasks. 4) Complete the Job Analysis Report. 5) Write Objectives based on the JA results with a small team of writers. 6) Improve/Review/Comment on the written objectives via mailing list. 7) Write test items via both a team of writers and public reviewed input. 8) Screen and review written and submitted test items. 9) Construct Exam 10) Deploy Exam, starting with a Validation Period. We have no begun the first step of the above processes, with this email, containing the first public draft of the LPI LPIC-2 Job Description. Please review the attached job description. We would appreciate your views, comments, and suggestions on the area of your expertise. Your input is crucial to the success of the LPI project, and your willingness to participate is highly respected by the staff members of the LPI team. I personally think you for your participation at this level of the LPIC-2 development process. As a new addition to the LPI team, I greatly look forward with working with you to make the community supported LPI Certification project a success. - Kara ------------------------------------------------------------- Kara J. Pritchard, RHCE Phone: 217-698-1694 Asst. Director for Program Development Linux Professional Institute [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------------------------------------------
Summary Job Description A level 2 system administrator should have a wide variety of talents, ranging from defined technical capability to established communications skills. In the professional business, the level 2 candidate will be expected to maintain a higher degree of inter-personal and communication skills as well as provide services beyond his certifiable technical knowledge such as research, proposal, documentation, training, and project management. This level of responsibility requires a high level of technical competance which can be measured by technical performance testing. While the LPIC-2 goal cannot test social and management skills needed to fill level 2 sysadmin positions, its goal is to certify the technical skills that are required. A Level 2 sysadmin should be comfortable with advanced levels of Linux system administration. A Level 2 candidate should be comfortable with large networks, working with multiple dedicated servers and workstations dedicated to these tasks, as well as managing them, securing them, and maintaining all the services required to do so. In Level 1, LPI covered the essentials to creating and maintaining a Linux workstation. In Level 2, LPIC should address advanced topics such as installation engineering and system resource managements of not only individual workstations, but servers. SPECIFIC TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS At Level 2, candidates are expected to have proven proficiency in a number of categories, including topics which are covered to a full extent within Level 1. A level of high proficiency should be found in: User Administration, Network Administration, Kernel Maintenance, Network Services, Remote System Administration , Security, and more. TOPIC 1: User Administration Many topics within User Administration have been covered in the Level 1 exam. In level 2, LPIC needs to cover the engineering, management, and maintenance of the systems required for network users. Administration of authentication policies, remote user access to things such as ftp, telnet, and secure connections. The skills used in User Administration are essential to the foundation of all Linux sysadmins. These mastered skills will not be tested specifically during advanced levels of certification, but are required to complete the tasks that will be involved. TOPIC 2: Network Administration Network Administration was covered during the Level 1 exam. While network connectivity was certainly covered, services used to administer, maintain, debug and create this capability were not addressed. In level 2, candidates should be well versed in network administration tools such as ifconfig, route, netstat, whois, nslookup, dig and be capable to use them efficiently when designing, implementing, investigating and debugging network related issues. In Level 1, candidates are familiar with interfacing with popular networking services such has HTTP, FTP, file servers, etc. In level 2, however, candidates must be proficient in the configuration, troubleshooting, and maintenance of the equipment and services responsible for hosting these applications. Level 2 candidates should cover Apache, Samba, sendmail, autofs, and proxy. In addition, candidates should be introduced to network services such as NFS, NIS, POP3 and IMAP, FTP, DNS, and DHCP. Completing these topics in the Level 2 Network Administration topic will allow the advanced certification levels to focus on how these services work together to provide corporate enterprise solutions, as well as how these services work with other technologies. At Level 2, candidates will be expected to fully understand, install, configure, maintain and troubleshoot these services, but at level 3 will be required to engineer them into large scale network solutions, as well as fully customize, streamline, and implement them. Topic 3: Kernel Kernels were discussed in Level 1 to certify understanding of kernel operations, such as interfacing kernel options during boot, and more. In Level 2, candidates should be capable of customizing, compiling, and patching kernels. In addition, candidates should be familiar with kernel modules and how they interact with the system. For levels beyond Level 2, LPI will be able to focus on performance tuning, security tuning, and even kernel development. Topic 4: Remote System Administration Not discussed in Level 1 are methods of Remote System Administration. Remote administration requires extensive knowledge of command administration utilities over GUI utilities, as well as using X remotely. A Level 2 candidate should be comfortable doing remote administration tasks without having console access. Completing this level of certification working with Wide Area Networks, future levels will be able to focus on engineering WAN solutions, and integrating Linux based WAN solutions into multi-platform and advanced technology environments. Topic 5: Security In Level 1, candidates were expected to view system logs and such to evaluate security issues such as invalid logins, root hacks, and more. In level 2, candidates should be familiar with security access prevention using concepts such as tcp_wrappers, ipchains, and being able to evaluate system risks with unneeded services on a system with inetd and so forth. Completing this level of certification allows future certifications to focus on implementing network security devices using Linux, and engineering Linux based security options with other security technologies. Topic 6: Other Hardware Level 2 candidates are expected to be familiar with working with Linux on laptop and PCMCIA hardware including being able to affectively use APM to manage power consumption. A Level 2 candidate should be comfortable with non IDE hardware, such as SCSI interfaces. In addition, candidates should be accustomed to installing and using specialized peripherals such as cdrom writers, tape backup units, and more. This level of testing will allow advanced certification levels to incorporate user business strategies into corporate solutions. [Rev. 3 01-24-00]
LINUX PROFESSIONAL INSTITUTE LEVEL II DEVELOPMENT PLAN 1. DETERMINE PURPOSE FOR LEVEL Before formal test development can begin, LPI must finalize the intended purpose of the Level. This involves specifying in high level terms what a candidate with L2 certification should be able to do. It is also necessary to distinquish the purpose of L2 from the levels below and above. Recommended approach: Exam Dev staff prepare a detailed "job description" based upon previous discussions regarding L2. Present this publically on the mail list and seek comments. Revise and expand upon the description. 2. DEVELOP EXAM PLAN This involves making some decisions about the exams for the levels and beginning preparation of test blueprints. LPI needs to determine how many exams there will be, how long the exams should be, how many forms of each exam will be developed. the types of items intended for the exams, and other structural matters. Some thought should also be given to how content might be divided between the exams, but this need not be finalized until after the JA is complete. The psychometricians need to begin development of test blueprints at this time. Step 2 can be conducted in parallel with step 3. 3. CONDUCT JOB ANALYSIS All high quality exams are developed based upon a job analysis study (JA). The purpose of the JA is to identify the low-levels tasks that are performed by job incumbents indented to be covered by the examination program. The JA involves surveying subject matter experts (SME's) about the frequency and importance of tasks they perform. A total of 5 weeks will be required for this step. 3.1 Task Development The purpose of task development is to compose a maximally extensive list of task statements. Task statements are succinct expressions of a basic activity performed by a job incumbent. LPI will contract with 5 to 10 SME's in order to obtain task statements. The SME's will be asked to list activities they perform. Task lists submitted by SME's will be reviewed by other SME's, and LPI psychometricians will make the final decision about which task statements will be retained. As an additional check and as a way of encouraging community participation, LPI will publish the initial list of task statements and seek public comments and suggestions for editing, adding, and deleting tasks from the list. A total of 2.5 weeks should be allocated to this sub-step. This includes 1 weeks for initial task collection, .5 week for expert review, .5 week for public review, and .5 week to compile results. 3.2 Job Analysis Survey Survey(s) containing each of the task statements will be prepared and administered to suitable job incumbents. This will be done using the web-based Job Analysis Survey System (JASS) which was used in Level I. Two (2) weeks should be allocated to this sub-step. 3.3 Data Analysis Psychometricians will analyze the data obtained from the JA surveys. Reports will be prepared to guide objective writers. One (.5) week should be allocated to this sub-step. 4. DEVELOP OBJECTIVES The purpose of this step is to write exam objectives based upon the results of the JA study. A total of 4 weeks will be required for this step. 4.1 Elaborate on Exam Structure At this time, LPI needs to divide content between the exams on this level. Content should be grouped into "Topics" as was done with Level I. Psychometricians will complete test blueprint at this time. One (1) weeks should be allocated to this sub-step. 4.2 Objective Drafting During this step, SME's will be contracted to write initial drafts of exam objectives. Objectives must be based upon the results of the JA study. LPI will contract with 5-10 SME's to write objectives for the level. One (1) weeks should be allocated to this sub-step. 4.3 Review/Revise Objectives Initial objective drafts will be critiqued by other SME's and LPI exam development staff. Edits will be made as needed to improve objectives. One (1) week should be allocated to this sub-step. 4.4 Public Review Objectives will be put into the web-based Program Objective Management System (POMS) which was used with Level 1. A period will be allocated for public comment on the objectives. Comments will be reviewed by exam development staff and changes will be made where appropriate. One (1) weeks should be allocated to this sub-step. 5. DEVELOP EXAMS At this step, the objectives developed in the previous step are used to write exam items. These items are scrutinized and the best are selected to appear on the live beta exam. The sub-steps in this step are performed in sequence, as was done with Level I. A total of 5 weeks will be required for this step. 5.1 Contract with SME's SME's will be hired to fill the roles of item writer, item screener, and item technical reviewer. 5-12 item writers will be hired, 3-4 screeners, and 6-10 reviewers. No time need be allocated to this task because it can be completed in parallel with the previous step. 5.2 Write Items The primary source of test items will be the SME's who are contracted to provide this service. SME's will be assigned certain topics to write for and told how many items to write for each topic. Compensation to contracted item writers will be based upon a fee to be paid for each item ultimately accepted by LPI. The web-based Test Item Processing System (TIPS) which was used with Level I will also be used. All members of the community will be invited to submit items through the TIPS interface. 5.3 Screen Items One SME or exam development staff person will screen each incoming item. Items that are deemed accurate, relevant, understandable, and non-redundant will be retained at this stage. Screeners may also edit items to improve wording. 5.4 Technical Review At least two SME's will review each item and make a recommendation about whether the item should be used on the exams. A total of 3.5 weeks should be allocated for 5.2 - 5.4. 5.5 Post Review Psychometricians will consider the recommendations provided by the reviewer about each item and make a final determination about whether the item is accepted or not. One-third (0.33) weeks should be allocated for this sub-step. 5.6 Assemble Forms Psychometricians will select among the approved items to fill the required number of test forms for each exam. One-third (0.33) weeks should be allocated for this sub-step. 5.7 Prepare forms for submission Exam development staff will convert the forms into a format that the outside test publishing vendor can accept. One-third (.33) week should be allocated for this sub-step. 6. PUBLISH EXAMS In this step, the tests are actually made available to candidates. About 12 weeks will be required to complete this step. 6.1 Publish Beta Versions The test publishing vender and the test delivery vender will make final preparations necessary to make the exams available to the public. The initial distribution of the exam will be in "beta" status and immediate score reports will not be provided. About 3 weeks will be required by the publishing vender to deploy. The beta will run about 4 weeks. 6.2 Conduct Beta and Cut-score Analysis After the beta exam forms have been administered to a sufficient number of examinees, psychometricians will use the itemmetric data generated to conduct validation research on the exams. Poor performing items will be dropped from the forms at this time. The surviving items will be republished, as described in the previous sub-step. Also at this time, a study will be performed to determine the required passing score for each exam. About 2 weeks will be required for this sub-step. 6.3 Publish "Final" Versions About 3 weeks will be required for this sub-step.
