Linux Foundation Certified Systems Administrator (LFCS) journey
This morning I passed my Linux Foundation Certification Sysadmin certification with 81/100 after three attempts.
Along the way, I’ve picked up some tips I’d like to share:
- Hands-on Practice: No matter how confident you feel, hands-on practice is essential. Only by practicing and verifying can you identify any minor mistakes you might have made.
- Patience is Key: Slow down and be patient when preparing for the test and dealing with exam questions. Take the time to read through or search the man pages for information.
- Avoid Long Breaks After First Failure: If you don’t pass on your first attempt, avoid taking a long break before attempting the exam again. I had a 1.5-month break after my initial failure(due to other commitments), and returning to the study journey was challenging.
I also would like to share how I prepared for this exam and the online exam tips.
Key Resources:
- Udemy Course: Linux Foundation Certified Systems Administrator (LFCS)
- KodeKloud Labs: LFCS Course
- Killer.sh Simulation: LFCS Exam Simulator
LFCS Exam Sections and Focus Areas:
- Essential Commands: 25%
- Operational Deployment: 20%
- User and Group Management: 10%
- Networking: 12%
- Service Configuration: 20%
- Storage Management: 13%
After my second attempt, I received a score of 65, and Linux Foundation provided an analysis as below.
I focused on improving in the identified areas, and slowed myself down to recognise the elements I was not confident with. Then yesterday morning, the whole exam experience was an ease one.
To pass this exam, I did Kodekloud 32 labs and 4 mock exams multiple times, same as simulations until the score is 75/75, very recommend to read simulation solutions thoroughly and understand each step, then try out different ways to verify since it’s the most closest os to the exam.
For example, with networking part, use `iptables` to create rules(also feel free to try out with firewall-cmd), then delete them, then recreate with more parameters to see what’s the outcome looks like and verify the result with different servers. Also, how to make these rules permanent? Expand the platform as a practice lab, consider more scenarios and configure the rules. Then take notes you may forget or make mistakes.
The reason I am saying these is my first two PSI test experiences were both not pleasant, the screen is very small and was unable to copy paste easily. Only way to win self more time is to get more familiar with common parameters and know how to verify quickly. In my journey, PSI platform is definitely less user friendly compared with Pearson.
Apart from that, I have LFCS notes repo available here: https://github.com/cloudchristina/lfcs.
Also big thanks @W. Jenks Gibbons for sharing your previous LFCS experience, you are the only accessible blog along the way and it was very helpful. Thank you!
Good luck to anyone who is planning to take this exam, and you will definitely achieve more than what you would expect from it!
