LPIC-3

Status of LPIC-3 Development

The 301 and 302 exams have been completed and release in Q1 2007. THe 303 exam was launched in Q1 2009. The 304 exam was launched in Q1 2010.

We are currently working on gathering resource (people, funding, etc) to develop the next LPIC-3 exam. It will be the 305 and it will cover Mail and Messaging Services.

We also would like your comments on our work in progress, so feel free to Add a comment or Mail a comment.

What is LPIC-3

The LPIC-3 development is the continuation of the LPIC programme as described here. Where LPIC-1 and LPIC-2 were designed to certify junior and intermediate level administration skills, LPIC-3 is a more focused and high-level extension of this certification series.

The Minimally Qualified Candidate

This is a description of a Linux professional that is just barely qualified to pass the LPI Level 3 Linux exams. This hypothetical person is called the Minimally Qualified Candidate (MQC). Standards on the Level 3 exams should be set so that this person (and anyone more able) would pass but anyone less able would not pass.

An LPI certified Level 3 Linux professional (designated LPIC-3) should have the technical capability to perform system administration at the enterprise level. A LPIC-3 certification holder should be able to understand, plan roll-outs, install, configure, maintain and troubleshoot the technologies being tested. These technologies differ for each exam but the level of ability is at an enterprise level.

The LPIC-3 MQC typically (Yes, some of these bullets are specific to particular exams in the LPIC-3 series):

  * Has installed and maintained Linux on a number of computers for various purposes for a number of years.
  * Has integration experience with diverse technologies and operating systems.
  * Has professional experience as, or training for, an enterprise level Linux professional.  (Including having experience as a part of another role.)
  * Is comfortable with advanced and enterprise levels of Linux administration including installation, management, security, troubleshooting and maintenance.
  * Is able to use opensource tools to measure capacity planning and troubleshooting resource problems.
  * Has professional experience using Samba to integrate file and print services with Windows, including user management, domain control, security and performance tuning.
  * Has professional experience using LDAP to integrate with Unix services and Windows services, including Samba, PAM, email, Active Directory.
  * Is able to plan, architecture, design, build and implement a full environment using Samba and LDAP as well as measure the capacity planning and security of the services.
  * Is able create scripts in Bash or Perl or has knowledge of at least one system programming language (such as C).
  * Is able to design, deploy and manage highly available network services in a Virtualization environment.

Now that you have this information, please consider helping out with the LPIC-3 Job Tasks Analysis survey.

The Exams

Current Exams

During a period of consultation with some of LPI's partners, community members and Advisory Committees it became evident that two technology areas have a strong need for skills verification. These are the areas of authentication and file sharing services. More specifically:

The first two exams are broken into:

Exam	Major Topics
301	Authentication and naming, including: troubleshooting, integration with core network services, and capacity planning
302	Network file/print services, including: troubleshooting, and integration with core network services
303	Security
304	Virtualization and High Availability
305	Mail and Messaging Services (development is just commencing; Sep 2010)

Future LPIC-3 exams

Nothing is set in stone right now but as interest and resources become available, Here is a list of potential LPIC-3 exams. After the first three, the main topics of interest in our road map are:

Exam	Major Topics
306	Web Services

These 6 exams will form the core of the LPIC-3 Enterprise certification track. Other topics may be added as 'merit badges' (as Maddog and the boy scouts call them).

Development Process and Timelines

The development timeline for 305 is currently under development.

How To Help

If you would like to participate in the LPIC-3 exam and programme development (or any other exam development with LPI), please subscribe to the lpi-examdev mailing list:

   http://list.lpi.org/mailman/listinfo/lpi-examdev

Feel free to introduce yourself and describe what you would like to help with.

As well, we are looking for some dedicated SMEs (Subject Matter Experts) for the entire project. For more information on what is expected of a dedicated SME, please see below.

  * Help flesh out the LPIC-3 Task List
  * Vote on the importance of the Job Tasks
  * Help review the objectives
  * Help write new items for the exams
  * Take the Beta Exam.  Locations and dates for future beta exams will be post here

The LPIC-3 Team

What is asked of dedicated SMEs (Subject Matter Experts)

The tasks that we need some dedicated SMEs for are:

  * flesh out the LPIC-3 Task List with at least 40 tasks
  * write 25 items for the exams
  * review 50 items for clarity, technical accuracy, etc.

Who is involved

Have you helped out with the LPIC-3 exam development? Please add your name to the volunteer list to ensure that you get the recognition that you deserve for your help.

Role	Person	Country
Objective Coordinator	TBD
Dedicated SME	TBD
Dedicated SME	Timo Dotzauer	Germany
Dedicated SME	Bruno Gomes Pessanha	Brazil
Volunteer SME	Felipe Salum	Brazil
Volunteer SME	Bruno Guerreiro Diniz	Brazil
Volunteers	add your name here
	if you helped
Programme Lead	G. Matthew Rice	Canada
Tool Developer	Rick Delaney	Canada