Contents

Acknowledgments

About the Author

Table of Exercises

CompTIA Certification

Introduction

The Exam Objectives

Assessment Test

Answers to the Assessment Test

Part I: Exam 1

Chapter 1: Exploring Linux Command-Line Tools

Understanding Command-Line Basics

Using Streams, Redirection, and Pipes

Processing Text Using Filters

Using Regular Expressions

Summary

Exam Essentials

Review Questions

Chapter 2: Managing Software

Package Concepts

Using RPM

Using Debian Packages

Converting Between Package Formats

Package Dependencies and Conflicts

Managing Shared Libraries

Managing Processes

Summary

Exam Essentials

Review Questions

Chapter 3: Configuring Hardware

Configuring the Firmware and Core Hardware

Configuring Expansion Cards

Configuring USB Devices

Configuring Hard Disks

Designing a Hard Disk Layout

Creating Partitions and Filesystems

Maintaining Filesystem Health

Mounting and Unmounting Filesystems

Summary

Exam Essentials

Review Questions

Chapter 4: Managing Files

Using File Management Commands

Managing File Ownership

Controlling Access to Files

Managing Disk Quotas

Locating Files

Summary

Exam Essentials

Review Questions

Chapter 5: Booting Linux and Editing Files

Installing Boot Loaders

Understanding the Boot Process

Dealing with Runlevels and the Initialization Process

Using Alternative Boot Systems

Editing Files with Vi

Summary

Exam Essentials

Review Questions

Part II: Exam 2

Chapter 6: Configuring the X Window System, Localization, and Printing

Configuring Basic X Features

Configuring X Fonts

Managing GUI Logins

Using X for Remote Access

X Accessibility

Configuring Localization and Internationalization

Configuring Printing

Summary

Exam Essentials

Review Questions

Chapter 7: Administering the System

Managing Users and Groups

Tuning User and System Environments

Using System Log Files

Maintaining the System Time

Running Jobs in the Future

Summary

Exam Essentials

Review Questions

Chapter 8: Configuring Basic Networking

Understanding TCP/IP Networking

Understanding Network Addressing

Configuring Linux for a Local Network

Diagnosing Network Connections

Summary

Exam Essentials

Review Questions

Chapter 9: Writing Scripts, Configuring Email, and Using Databases

Managing the Shell Environment

Writing Scripts

Managing Email

Managing Data with SQL

Summary

Exam Essentials

Review Questions

Chapter 10: Securing Your System

Administering Network Security

Administering Local Security

Configuring SSH

Using GPG

Summary

Exam Essentials

Review Questions

Appendix A: Answers to Review Questions

Appendix B: About the Additional Study Tools

Index

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CompTIA Certification

It Pays to Get Certified

In a digital world, digital literacy is an essential survival skill. Certification proves you have the knowledge and skill to solve business problems in virtually any business environment. Certifications are highly valued credentials that qualify you for jobs, increased compensation, and promotion.

Certification Helps Your Career

CompTIA Linux+ Powered by LPI certification is held by many IT staff members in organizations—25 percent of IT staff within a random sampling of U.S. organizations within a cross section of industry verticals have earned CompTIA Linux+ certification.

CompTIA Linux+ Powered by LPI Validates the fundamental knowledge and skills required of junior Linux administrators. The exams cover system architecture, GNU and UNIX commands, user interfaces and desktops, and Linux installation and package management.

Candidate Job Roles Includes junior Linux administrator, junior network administrator, systems administrator, Linux database administrator, and web administrator.

Dual Certification If you choose, certification in CompTIA Linux+ Powered by LPI, attained by passing CompTIA exams LX0-101 and LX0-102, enables you to become certified in LPIC-1 as well.

Starting Salary The average salary for CompTIA Linux+ Powered by LPI certification holders is $76,000 (USD).

Mandated/Recommended by Organizations Worldwide Companies such as Dell, HP, IBM, Lenovo, and Xerox recommend or require CompTIA Linux+ Certification.

CompTIA Career Pathway

CompTIA offers a number of credentials that form a foundation for your career in technology and allow you to pursue specific areas of concentration. Depending on the path you choose to take, CompTIA certifications help you build upon your skills and knowledge, supporting learning throughout your entire career.

Steps to Certification

Four Steps to Getting Certified and Staying Certified

Join the Professional Community

The free IT Pro online community (http://itpro.comptia.org) provides valuable content to students and professionals.

• Career IT job resources
  • Where to start in IT
  • Career assessments
  • Salary trends
  • U.S. job board
• Forums on networking, security, computing, and cutting-edge technologies
• Access to blogs written by industry experts
• Current information on cutting-edge technologies
• Access to various industry resource links and articles related to IT and IT careers

Content Seal of Quality

This courseware bears the seal of CompTIA Approved Quality Content. This seal signifies this content covers 100 percent of the exam objectives and implements important instructional design principles. CompTIA recommends multiple learning tools to help increase coverage of the learning objectives.

Why CompTIA?

Global Recognition CompTIA is recognized globally as the leading IT nonprofit trade association and has enormous credibility. Plus, CompTIA’s certifications are vendor-neutral and offer proof of foundational knowledge that translates across technologies.

Valued by Hiring Managers Hiring managers value CompTIA certification because it is a vendor- and technology-independent validation of your technical skills.

Recommended or Required by Government and Businesses Many government organizations and corporations either recommend or require technical staff to be CompTIA certified (for example, Dell, Sharp, Ricoh, the U.S. Department of Defense, and many more).

Three CompTIA Certifications Ranked in the Top 10 In a study by DICE of 17,000 technology professionals, certifications helped command higher salaries at all experience levels.

How to Obtain More Information

Visit CompTIA online Visit http://www.comptia.org to learn more about getting CompTIA certified.

Contact CompTIA Call 866-835-8020 ext. 5 or email questions@comptia.org.

Join the IT Pro Community Visit http://itpro.comptia.org to join the IT Pro community to get relevant career information.

Connect with Us Learn more about us via LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, and YouTube.

Table of Exercises

Senior Acquisitions Editor: Jeff Kellum

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Copyright © 2013 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana

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Acknowledgments

Although this book bears my name as author, many other people contributed to its creation. Without their help, this book wouldn’t exist, or at best would exist in a lesser form. Jeff Kellum was the acquisitions editor and so helped get the book started. Alexa Murphy, the developmental editor, and Eric Charbonneau, the production editor, oversaw the book as it progressed through all its stages. Ross Brunson and Kevin Glendenning were the technical editors who checked the text for technical errors and omissions—but any mistakes that remain are my own. Kim Wimpsett, the copy editor, helped keep the text grammatical and understandable. The proofreader, Candace Cunningham, checked the text for typos. I’d also like to thank Neil Salkind and others at Studio B, who helped connect me with Wiley to write this book.

About the Author

Roderick W. Smith is a Linux consultant and author. He has written more than 20 books on Linux, FreeBSD, and computer networking, including Linux Essentials, the LPIC-2 Study Guide, and Linux Administrator Street Smarts (all from Sybex). He can be reached at rodsmith@rodsbooks.com.

Introduction

Why should you learn about Linux? It’s a fast-growing operating system, and it is inexpensive and flexible. Linux is also a major player in the small and mid-sized server field, and it’s an increasingly viable platform for workstation and desktop use as well. By understanding Linux, you’ll increase your standing in the job market. Even if you already know Windows or Mac OS and your employer uses these systems exclusively, understanding Linux will give you an edge when you’re looking for a new job or you’re looking for a promotion. For instance, this knowledge will help you to make an informed decision about if and when you should deploy Linux. The Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA) promotes the Linux+ exam as an introductory certification for people who want to enter careers involving Linux. The exam is meant to certify that an individual has the skills necessary to install, operate, and troubleshoot a Linux system and is familiar with Linux-specific concepts and basic hardware.

The purpose of this book is to help you pass the Linux+ exams (LX0-101 and LX0-102) updated in 2012. Because these exams cover basic Linux installation, configuration, maintenance, applications, networking, and security, those are the topics that are emphasized in this book. You’ll learn enough to get a Linux system up and running and to configure it for many common tasks. Even after you’ve taken and passed the Linux+ exams, this book should remain a useful reference.

In 2010, CompTIA announced a partnership with Linux Professional Institute, the organization behind the popular LPI Certification (LPIC) program. With this partnership, CompTIA offers the LPIC Level 1 exams under the Linux+ umbrella. The exams and the exam objectives are identical for the two programs; however, Linux+ candidates have the option of receiving their LPIC-1 as well as the Novell Certified Linux Administrator certification by passing the CompTIA Linux+ exams.

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What Is Linux?

Linux is a clone of the Unix operating system (OS) that has been popular in academia and many business environments for years. Formerly used exclusively on large mainframes, Unix and Linux can now run on small computers—which are actually far more powerful than the mainframes of just a few years ago. Because of its mainframe heritage, Unix (and hence also Linux) scales well to perform today’s demanding scientific, engineering, and network server tasks.

Linux consists of a kernel, which is the core control software, and many libraries and utilities that rely on the kernel to provide features with which users interact. The OS is available in many different distributions, which are collections of a specific kernel with specific support programs.

Why Become Linux Certified?

Several good reasons to get your Linux certification exist. There are four major benefits:

Relevance The exams were designed with the needs of Linux professionals in mind. This was done by performing surveys of Linux administrators to learn what they actually need to know to do their jobs.

Quality The exams have been extensively tested and validated using psychometric standards. The result is an ability to discriminate between competent administrators and those who must still learn more material.

Neutrality CompTIA is an organization that doesn’t itself market any Linux distribution. This fact removes the motivation to create an exam that’s designed as a way to market a particular distribution.

Support The exams are supported by major players in the Linux world.

How to Become Certified

The certification is available to anyone who passes the two required exams: LX0-101 and LX0-102. You don’t have to work for a particular company. It’s not a secret society.

The exam is administered by Pearson VUE. The exam can be taken at any Pearson VUE testing center. If you pass, you will get a certificate in the mail saying that you have passed. Contact (877) 551-PLUS (551-7587) for Pearson VUE contact information.

To register for the exam with Pearson VUE, call (877) 551-PLUS (551-7587), or register online at www.vue.com/comptia. However you do it, you’ll be asked for your name, mailing address, phone number, employer, when and where you want to take the test (i.e., which testing center), and your credit card number (arrangement for payment must be made at the time of registration).

As noted above, if you take and pass the CompTIA Linux+ exams, you do have the option of also obtaining your LPIC-1 certification from LPI, as well as your Novell Certified Linux Administrator (CLA) certification at the same time. All that is required is authorization to submit your information to LPI. You are given this option at the testing site.

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Who Should Buy This Book

Anybody who wants to pass the certification exams may benefit from this book. This book covers the material that someone new to Linux will need to learn the OS from the beginning, and it continues to provide the knowledge you need up to a proficiency level sufficient to pass the two exams. You can pick up this book and learn from it even if you’ve never used Linux before, although you’ll find it an easier read if you’ve at least casually used Linux for a few days. If you’re already familiar with Linux, this book can serve as a review and as a refresher course for information with which you might not be completely familiar. In either case, reading this book will help you to pass the exams.

This book is written with the assumption that you know at least a little bit about Linux (what it is, and possibly a few Linux commands). I also assume you know some basics about computers in general, such as how to use a keyboard, how to insert a disc into an optical drive, and so on. Chances are, you have used computers in a substantial way in the past—perhaps even Linux, as an ordinary user, or maybe you have used Windows or Mac OS. I do not assume that you have extensive knowledge of Linux system administration, but if you’ve done some system administration, you can still use this book to fill in gaps in your knowledge.

As a practical matter, you’ll need a Linux system with which to practice and learn in a hands-on way. Neither the exams nor this book covers actually installing Linux on a computer from scratch, although some of the prerequisites (such as disk partitioning) are covered. You may need to refer to your distribution’s documentation to learn how to accomplish this task. Alternatively, several vendors sell computers with Linux pre-installed.

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How This Book Is Organized

This book consists of 10 chapters plus supplementary information: an online glossary, this introduction, and the assessment test after the introduction. The chapters are organized as follows:

• Chapter 1, “Exploring Linux Command-Line Tools,” covers the basic tools you need to interact with Linux. These include shells, redirection, pipes, text filters, and regular expressions.
• Chapter 2, “Managing Software,” describes the programs you’ll use to manage software. Much of this task is centered around the RPM and Debian package management systems. The chapter also covers handling shared libraries and managing processes (that is, running programs).
• Chapter 3, “Configuring Hardware,” focuses on Linux’s interactions with the hardware on which it runs. Specific hardware and procedures for using it include the BIOS, expansion cards, USB devices, hard disks, and the partitions and filesystems used on hard disks.
• Chapter 4, “Managing Files,” covers the tools used to manage files. This includes commands to manage files, ownership, and permissions, as well as Linux’s standard directory tree and tools for archiving files.
• Chapter 5, “Booting Linux and Editing Files,” explains how Linux boots up and how you can edit files in Linux. Specific topics include the GRUB Legacy and GRUB 2 boot loaders, boot diagnostics, runlevels, and the Vi editor.
• Chapter 6, “Configuring the X Window System, Localization, and Printing,” describes the Linux GUI and printing subsystems. Topics include X configuration, managing GUI logins, configuring location-specific features, enabling accessibility features, and setting up Linux to use a printer.
• Chapter 7, “Administering the System,” describes miscellaneous administrative tasks. These include user and group management, tuning user environments, managing log files, setting the clock, and running jobs in the future.
• Chapter 8, “Configuring Basic Networking,” focuses on basic network configuration. Topics include TCP/IP basics, setting up Linux on a TCP/IP network, and network diagnostics.
• Chapter 9, “Writing Scripts, Configuring Email, and Using Databases,” covers these miscellaneous topics. Scripts are small programs that administrators often use to help automate common tasks. Email, of course, is an important topic for any computer user, particularly on Linux, which often runs an email server for local or remote use. Linux can run databases that help you store and retrieve information, and these tools can be very important ones on many Linux systems.
• Chapter 10, “Securing Your System,” covers security. Specific subjects include network security, local security, and the use of encryption to improve security.

Chapters 1 through 5 cover the LX0-101 exam, while Chapters 6 through 10 cover the LX0-102 exam. These make up Part I and Part II of the book, respectively.

Each chapter begins with a list of the exam objectives that are covered in that chapter. The book doesn’t cover the objectives in order. Thus, you shouldn’t be alarmed at some of the odd ordering of the objectives within the book. At the end of each chapter, you’ll find a couple of elements you can use to prepare for the exam:

Exam Essentials This section summarizes important information that was covered in the chapter. You should be able to perform each of the tasks or convey the information requested.

Review Questions Each chapter concludes with 20 review questions. You should answer these questions and check your answers against the ones provided after the questions. If you can’t answer at least 80 percent of these questions correctly, go back and review the chapter, or at least those sections that seem to be giving you difficulty.

The review questions, assessment test, and other testing elements included in this book are not derived from the actual exam questions, so don’t memorize the answers to these questions and assume that doing so will enable you to pass the exam. You should learn the underlying topic, as described in the text of the book. This will let you answer the questions provided with this book and pass the exam. Learning the underlying topic is also the approach that will serve you best in the workplace—the ultimate goal of a certification.

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To get the most out of this book, you should read each chapter from start to finish and then check your memory and understanding with the chapter-end elements. Even if you’re already familiar with a topic, you should skim the chapter; Linux is complex enough that there are often multiple ways to accomplish a task, so you may learn something even if you’re already competent in an area.

Additional Study Tools

Readers of this book can access a Web site that contains several additional study tools, including the following:

Readers can access these tools by visiting http://www.sybex.com/go/linuxplus2e.

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Sample Tests All of the questions in this book will be included, including the Assessment Test at the end of this introduction and the 200 from the review sections at the end of each chapter. In addition, there are two 50-question bonus exams. The test engine runs on Windows, Linux, and Mac OS.

Electronic Flashcards The additional study tools includes 150 questions in flashcard format (a question followed by a single correct answer). You can use these to review your knowledge of the exam objectives. The flashcards run on both Windows and Linux.

Glossary of Terms as a PDF File In addition, there is a searchable glossary in PDF format, which can be read on all platforms that support PDF.

Conventions Used in This Book

This book uses certain typographic styles in order to help you quickly identify important information and to avoid confusion over the meaning of words such as on-screen prompts. In particular, look for the following styles

• Italicized text indicates key terms that are described at length for the first time in a chapter. (Italics are also used for emphasis.)
• A monospaced font indicates the contents of configuration files, messages displayed at a text-mode Linux shell prompt, filenames, text-mode command names, and Internet URLs.
• Italicized monospaced text indicates a variable—information that differs from one system or command run to another, such as the name of a client computer or a process ID number.
• Bold monospaced text is information that you’re to type into the computer, usually at a Linux shell prompt. This text can also be italicized to indicate that you should substitute an appropriate value for your system. (When isolated on their own lines, commands are preceded by non-bold monospaced $ or # command prompts, denoting regular user or system administrator use, respectively.)

In addition to these text conventions, which can apply to individual words or entire paragraphs, a few conventions highlight segments of text:

A note indicates information that’s useful or interesting but that’s somewhat peripheral to the main text. A note might be relevant to a small number of networks, for instance, or it may refer to an outdated feature.

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A tip provides information that can save you time or frustration and that may not be entirely obvious. A tip might describe how to get around a limitation or how to use a feature to perform an unusual task.

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Warnings describe potential pitfalls or dangers. If you fail to heed a warning, you may end up spending a lot of time recovering from a bug, or you may even end up restoring your entire system from scratch.

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Real World Scenario

A real world scenario is a type of sidebar that describes a task or example that’s particularly grounded in the real world. This may be a situation I or somebody I know has encountered, or it may be advice on how to work around problems that are common in real, working Linux environments.

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The Exam Objectives

Behind every computer industry exam you can be sure to find exam objectives—the broad topics in which exam developers want to ensure your competency. The official exam objectives are listed here. (They’re also printed at the start of the chapters in which they’re covered.)

Exam objectives are subject to change at any time without prior notice and at CompTIA’s sole discretion. Please visit CompTIA’s Web site (http://certification.comptia.org/home.aspx) for the most current listing of exam objectives.

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Exam LX0-101 Objectives

The following are the areas in which you must be proficient in order to pass the LX0-101 exam. This exam is broken into four topics (101–104), each of which has three to eight objectives. Each objective has an associated weight, which reflects its importance to the exam as a whole. The four main domains are

101 System Architecture

101.1 Determine and Configure hardware settings (Chapter 3)

• Enable and disable integrated peripherals
• Configure systems with or without external peripherals such as keyboards
• Differentiate between the various types of mass storage devices
• Set the correct hardware ID for different devices, especially the boot device
• Know the differences between coldplug and hotplug devices
• Determine hardware resources for devices
• Tools and utilities to list various hardware information (e.g., lsusb, lspci, etc.)
• Tools and utilities to manipulate USB devices
• Conceptual understanding of sysfs, udev, hald, dbus
• The following is a partial list of the used files, terms, and utilities: /sys, /proc, /dev, modprobe, lsmod, lspci, lsusb

101.2 Boot the System (Chapter 5)

• Provide common commands to the boot loader and options to the kernel at boot time
• Demonstrate knowledge of the boot sequence from BIOS to boot completion
• Check boot events in the log file
• The following is a partial list of the used files, terms and utilities: /var/log/messages, dmesg, BIOS, bootloader, kernel, init

101.3 Change runlevels and shutdown or reboot system (Chapter 5)

• Set the default run level
• Change between run levels including single user mode
• Shutdown and reboot from the command line
• Alert users before switching run levels or other major system events
• Properly terminate processes
• Knowledge of basic features of systemd and Upstart
• The following is a partial list of the used files, terms and utilities: /etc/inittab, shutdown, init, /etc/init.d, telinit

102 Linux Installation and Package Management

102.1 Design hard disk layout (Chapter 3)

• Allocate filesystems and swap space to separate partitions or disks
• Tailor the design to the intended use of the system
• Ensure the /boot partition conforms to the hardware architecture requirements for booting
• Knowledge of basic features of LVM
• The following is a partial list of the used files, terms and utilities: / (root) filesystem, /var filesystem, /home filesystem, swap space, mount points, partitions

102.2 Install a boot manager (Chapter 5)

• Providing alternative boot locations and backup boot options
• Install and configure a boot loader such as GRUB Legacy
• Perform basic configuration changes for GRUB 2
• Interact with the boot loader
• The following is a partial list of the used files, terms, and utilities, /boot/grub/menu.lst, grub.cfg and other variations, grub-install, MBR, superblock

102.3 Manage shared libraries (Chapter 2)

• Identify shared libraries
• Identify the typical locations of system libraries
• Load shared libraries
• The following is a partial list of the used files, terms and utilities, ldd, ldconfig, /etc/ld.so.conf, LD_LIBRARY_PATH

102.4 Use Debian package management (Chapter 2)

• Install, upgrade and uninstall Debian binary packages
• Find packages containing specific files or libraries which may or may not be installed
• Obtain package information like version, content, dependencies, package integrity and installation status (whether or not the package is installed)
• The following is a partial list of the used files, terms and utilities: /etc/apt/sources.list, dpkg, dpkg-reconfigure, apt-get, apt-cache, aptitude

102.5 Use RPM and YUM package management (Chapter 2)

• Install, re-install, upgrade and remove packages using RPM and YUM
• Obtain information on RPM packages such as version, status, dependencies, integrity and signatures
• Determine what files a package provides, as well as find which package a specific file comes from
• The following is a partial list of the used files, terms and utilities: rpm, rpm2cpio, /etc/yum.conf, /etc/yum.repos.d/, yum, yumdownloader

103 GNU and Unix Commands

103.1 Work on the command line (Chapter 1)

• Use single shell commands and one line command sequences to perform basic tasks on the command line
• Use and modify the shell environment including defining, referencing and exporting environment variables
• Use and edit command history
• Invoke commands inside and outside the defined path
• The following is a partial list of the used files, terms and utilities: ., bash, echo, env, exec, export, pwd, set, unset, man, uname, history

103.2 Process text streams using filters (Chapter 1)

• Send text files and output streams through text utility filters to modify the output using standard UNIX commands found in the GNU textutils package
• The following is a partial list of the used files, terms and utilities: cat, cut, expand, fmt, head, od, join, nl, paste, pr, sed, sort, split, tail, tr, unexpand, uniq, wc

103.3 Perform basic file management (Chapter 4)

• Copy, move and remove files and directories individually
• Copy multiple files and directories recursively
• Remove files and directories recursively
• Use simple and advanced wildcard specifications in commands
• Using find to locate and act on files based on type, size, or time
• Usage of tar, cpio, and dd
• The following is a partial list of the used files, terms and utilities: cp, find, mkdir, mv, ls, rm, rmdir, touch, tar, cpio, dd, file, gzip, gunzip, bzip2, file globbing

103.4 Use streams, pipes and redirects (Chapter 1)

• Redirecting standard input, standard output and standard error
• Pipe the output of one command to the input of another command
• Use the output of one command as arguments to another command
• Send output to both stdout and a file
• The following is a partial list of the used files, terms and utilities: tee, xargs

103.5 Create, monitor and kill processes (Chapter 2)

• Run jobs in the foreground and background
• Signal a program to continue running after logout
• Monitor active processes
• Select and sort processes for display
• Send signals to processes
• The following is a partial list of the used files, terms and utilities: &, bg, fg, jobs, kill, nohup, ps, top, free, uptime, killall

103.6 Modify process execution priorities (Chapter 2)

• Know the default priority of a job that is created
• Run a program with higher or lower priority than the default
• Change the priority of a running process
• The following is a partial list of the used files, terms and utilities: nice, ps, renice, top

103.7 Search text files using regular expressions (Chapter 1)

• Create simple regular expressions containing several notational elements
• Use regular expression tools to perform searches through a filesystem or file content
• The following is a partial list of the used files, terms and utilities: grep, egrep, fgrep, sed, regex(7)

103.8 Perform basic file editing operations using vi (Chapter 5)

• Navigate a document using vi
• Use basic vi modes
• Insert, edit, delete, copy and find text
• The following is a partial list of the used files, terms and utilities: vi, /, ?, h, j, k, l, i, o, a, c, d, p, y, dd, yy, ZZ, :w!, :q!, :e!

104 Devices, Linux Filesystems, Filesystem Hierarchy Standard

104.1 Create partitions and filesystems (Chapter 3)

• Use various mkfs commands to set up partitions and create various filesystems such as: ext2, ext3, xfs, reiserfs v3, vfat
• The following is a partial list of the used files, terms and utilities: fdisk, mkfs, mkswap

104.2 Maintain the integrity of filesystems (Chapter 3)

• Verify the integrity of filesystems
• Monitor free space and inodes
• Repair simple filesystem problems
• The following is a partial list of the used files, terms and utilities: du, df, fsck, e2fsck, mke2fs, debugfs, dumpe2fs, tune2fs, xfs tools (such as xfs_metadump and xfs_info)

104.3 Control mounting and unmounting of filesystems (Chapter 3)

• Manually mount and unmount filesystems
• Configure filesystem mounting on bootup
• Configure user mountable removeable filesystems
• The following is a partial list of the used files, terms and utilities: /etc/fstab, /media, mount, umount

104.4 Manage disk quotas (Chapter 4)

• Set up a disk quota for a filesystem
• Edit, check and generate user quota reports
• The following is a partial list of the used files, terms and utilities: quota, edquota, repquota, quotaon

104.5 Manage file permissions and ownership (Chapter 4)

• Manage access permissions on regular and special files as well as directories
• Use access modes such as suid, sgid and the sticky bit to maintain security
• Know how to change the file creation mask
• Use the group field to grant file access to group members
• The following is a partial list of the used files, terms and utilities: chmod, umask, chown, chgrp

104.6 Create and change hard and symbolic links (Chapter 4)

• Create links
• Identify hard and/or soft links
• Copying versus linking files
• Use links to support system administration tasks
• The following is a partial list of the used files, terms and utilities: ln

104.7 Find system files and place files in the correct location (Chapter 4)

• Understand the correct locations of files under the FHS
• Find files and commands on a Linux system
• Know the location and propose of important file and directories as defined in the FHS
• The following is a partial list of the used files, terms and utilities: find, locate, updatedb, whereis, which, type, /etc/updatedb.conf

Exam LX0-102 Objectives

The 102 exam comprises six topics (105–110), each of which contains three or four objectives. The six major topics are weighted as follows:

105 Shells, Scripting and Data Management

105.1 Customize and use the shell environment (Chapter 9)

• 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
• The following is a partial list of the used files, 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 (Chapter 9)

• 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
• The following is a partial list of the used files, terms, and utilities: for, while, test, if, read, seq

105.3 SQL data management (Chapter 9)

• Use of basic SQL commands
• Perform basic data manipulation
• The following is a partial list of the used files, terms, and utilities: insert, update, select, delete, from, where, group by, order by, join

106 User Interfaces and Desktops

106.1 Install and configure X11 (Chapter 6)

• 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
• The following is a partial list of the used files, terms, and utilities: /etc/X11/xorg.conf, xhost, DISPLAY, xwininfo, xdpyinfo, X

106.2 Setup a display manager (Chapter 6)

• 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
• The following is a partial list of the used files, terms, and utilities: /etc/inittab; plus xdm, kdm, and gdm configuration files

106.3 Accessibility (Chapter 6)

• Keyboard Accessibility Settings (AccessX)
• Visual Settings and Themes
• Assistive Technology (ATs)
• The following is a partial list of the used files, terms, and utilities: Sticky/Repeat Keys, Slow/Bounce/Toggle Keys, Mouse Keys, High Contrast/Large Print Desktop Themes, Screen Reader, Braille Display, Screen Magnifier, On-Screen Keyboard, Gestures (used at login, for example gdm), Orca, GOK, emacspeak

107 Administrative Tasks

107.1 Manage user and group accounts and related system files (Chapter 7)

• Add, modify and remove users and groups
• Manage user/group info in password/group databases
• Create and manage special purpose and limited accounts
• The following is a partial list of the used files, 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 (Chapter 9)

• Manage cron and at jobs
• Configure user access to cron and at services
• The following is a partial list of the used files, terms, and utilities: /etc/cron.{d,daily,hourly,monthly,weekly}, /etc/at.deny, /etc/at.allow, /etc/crontab, /etc/cron.allow, /etc/cron.deny, /var/spool/cron/*, crontab, at, atq, atrm

107.3 Localization and internationalization (Chapter 6)

• Locale settings
• Timezone settings
• The following is a partial list of the used files, terms, and utilities: /etc/timezone, /etc/localtime, /usr/share/zoneinfo, environment variables (LC_*, LC_ALL, LANG, TZ), /usr/bin/locale, tzselect, tzconfig, date, iconv, UTF-8, ISO-8859, ASCII, Unicode

108 Essential System Services

108.1 Maintain system time (Chapter 7)

• 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
• The following is a partial list of the used files, terms, and utilities: /usr/share/zoneinfo, /etc/timezone, /etc/localtime, /etc/ntp.conf, date, hwclock, ntpd, ntpdate, pool.ntp.org

108.2 System logging (Chapter 7)

• Syslog configuration files
• syslog
• standard facilities, priorities and actions
• The following is a partial list of the used files, terms, and utilities: syslog.conf, syslogd, klogd, logger

108.3 Mail Transfer Agent (MTA) basics (Chapter 9)

• Create e-mail aliases
• Configure e-mail forwarding
• Knowledge of commonly available MTA programs (postfix, sendmail, qmail, exim) (no configuration)
• The following is a partial list of the used files, terms, and utilities: ~/.forward, sendmail emulation layer commands, newaliases, mail, mailq, postfix, sendmail, exim, qmail

108.4 Manage printers and printing (Chapter 6)

• Basic CUPS configuration (for local and remote printers)
• Manage user print queues
• Troubleshoot general printing problems
• Add and remove jobs from configured printer queues
• The following is a partial list of the used files, terms, and utilities: CUPS configuration files, tools and utilities; /etc/cups; lpd legacy interface (lpr, lprm, lpq)

109 Networking Fundamentals

109.1 Fundamentals of internet protocols (Chapter 8)

• 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
• Knowledge of the basic features of IPv6
• The following is a partial list of the used files, terms, and utilities: /etc/services, ftp, telnet, host, ping, dig, traceroute, tracepath

109.2 Basic network configuration (Chapter 8)

• Manually and automatically configure network interfaces
• Basic TCP/IP host configuration
• The following is a partial list of the used files, terms, and utilities: /etc/hostname, /etc/hosts, /etc/resolv.conf, /etc/nsswitch.conf, ifconfig, ifup, ifdown, route, ping

109.3 Basic network troubleshooting (Chapter 8)

• 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
• The following is a partial list of the used files, terms, and utilities: ifconfig, ifup, ifdown, route, host, hostname, dig, netstat, ping, traceroute

109.4 Configure client side DNS (Chapter 8)

• Demonstrate the use of DNS on the local system
• Modify the order in which name resolution is done
• The following is a partial list of the used files, terms, and utilities: /etc/hosts, /etc/resolv.conf, /etc/nsswitch.conf

110 Security

110.1 Perform security administration tasks (Chapter 10)

• 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
• The following is a partial list of the used files, terms, and utilities: find, passwd, lsof, nmap, chage, netstat, sudo, /etc/sudoers, su, usermod, ulimit

110.2 Setup host security (Chapter 10)

• Awareness of shadow passwords and how they work
• Turn off network services not in use
• Understand the role of TCP wrappers
• The following is a partial list of the used files, 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 (Chapter 10)

• Perform basic OpenSSH 2 client configuration and usage
• Understand the role of OpenSSH 2 server host keys
• Perform basic GnuPG configuration and usage
• Understand SSH port tunnels (including X11 tunnels)
• The following is a partial list of the used files, terms, and utilities: ssh, ssh-keygen, ssh-agent, ssh-add, ~/.ssh/id_rsa and id_rsa.pub, ~/.ssh/id_dsa and id_dsa.pub, /etc/ssh/ssh_host_rsa_key and ssh_host_rsa_key.pub, /etc/ssh/ssh_host_dsa_key and ssh_host_dsa_key.pub, ~/.ssh/authorized_keys, /etc/ssh_known_hosts, gpg, ~/.gnupg/*

Assessment Test

1. The following line appears in your X server’s mouse configuration area. What can you conclude?

Option      "Protocol" "PS/2"

A. The mouse is connected to the PS/2 hardware mouse port.

B. The mouse uses the PS/2 software communication standard.

C. The computer is an ancient IBM PS/2 system.

D. The mouse was designed for use with IBM’s OS/2.

E. A slash (/) is invalid in a protocol name, so the mouse won’t work.

2. How can you tell whether your system is using inetd or xinetd as a super server? (Select two.)

A. Type ps ax | grep inetd, and examine the output for signs of inetd or xinetd.

B. Type superserver to see a report on which super server is running.

C. Look for the /etc/inetd.conf file or /etc/xinetd.d subdirectory, which are signs of inetd or xinetd, respectively.

D. Examine the /etc/inittab file to see which super server is launched by init, which is responsible for this task.

E. Type netstat -a | grep inet and examine the output for signs of inetd or xinetd.

3. How does the lpc utility for CUPS differ from its counterpart in BSD LPD and LPRng?

A. The lpc utility is unique to CUPS; it doesn’t ship with BSD LPD or LPRng.

B. CUPS doesn’t ship with an lpc command, but BSD LPD and LPRng do.

C. CUPS’s lpc is much more complex than its counterpart in BSD LPD and LPRng.

D. CUPS’s lpc is much simpler than its counterpart in BSD LPD and LPRng.

E. The lpc utility is identical in all three of these printing systems.

4. What file would you edit to restrict the number of simultaneous logins a user can employ?

A. /etc/pam.d/login-limits

B. /etc/bashrc

C. /etc/security/limits.conf

D. /etc/inittab

E. /etc/passwd

5. Which of the following are required when configuring a computer to use a static IP address? (Select two.)

A. The IP address of the DHCP server

B. The hostname of the NBNS server

C. The computer’s IP address

D. The network mask

E. The IP address of the NTP server

6. What does the following command accomplish?

$ wc report.txt | tee wc

A. It launches the wc editor on both the report.txt and wc.txt files; each file opens in its own window.

B.report.txtwc