Linux Essentials Exam 010

Exam Objectives Version: Version 1.6

Exam Code: 010-160

About Objective Weights: Each objective is assigned a weighting value. The weights indicate the relative importance of each objective on the exam. Objectives with higher weights will be covered in the exam with more questions.

Topic 1: The Linux Community and a Career in Open Source

1.1 Linux Evolution and Popular Operating Systems

Weight: 2

Description: Knowledge of Linux development and major distributions.

Key Knowledge Areas:
-Distributions
-Embedded Systems
-Linux in the Cloud

The following is a partial list of the used files, terms and utilities:
-Debian, Ubuntu (LTS)
-CentOS, openSUSE, Red Hat, SUSE
-Linux Mint, Scientific Linux
-Raspberry Pi, Raspbian
-Android

1.2 Major Open Source Applications

Weight: 2

Description: Awareness of major applications as well as their uses and development.
Key Knowledge Areas:
-Desktop applications
-Server applications
-Development languages
-Package management tools and repositories

The following is a partial list of the used files, terms and utilities:
-OpenOffice.org, LibreOffice, Thunderbird, Firefox, GIMP
-Nextcloud, ownCloud
-Apache HTTPD, NGINX, MariaDB, MySQL, NFS, Samba
-C, Java, JavaScript, Perl, shell, Python, PHP
-dpkg, apt-get, rpm, yum

1.3 Open Source Software and Licensing
Weight: 1
Description: Open communities and licensing Open Source Software for business.
Key Knowledge Areas:
Open source philosophy
Open source licensing
Free Software Foundation (FSF), Open Source Initiative (OSI)

The following is a partial list of the used files, terms and utilities:
-Copyleft, Permissive
-GPL, BSD, Creative Commons
-Free Software, Open Source Software, FOSS, FLOSS
-Open source business models

1.4 ICT Skills and Working in Linux
Weight: 2
Description: Basic Information and Communication Technology (ICT) skills and working in Linux.
Key Knowledge Areas:
Desktop skills
Getting to the command line
Industry uses of Linux, cloud computing and virtualization

The following is a partial list of the used files, terms and utilities:
-Using a browser, privacy concerns, configuration options, searching the web and saving content
-Terminal and console
-Password issues
-Privacy issues and tools
-Use of common open source applications in presentations and projects

Topic 2: Finding Your Way on a Linux System

2.1 Command Line Basics
Weight: 3
Description: Basics of using the Linux command line.
Key Knowledge Areas:
-Basic shell
-Command line syntax
-Variables
-Quoting

The following is a partial list of the used files, terms and utilities:
-Bash
-echo
-history
-PATH environment variable
-export
-type

2.2 Using the Command Line to Get Help
Weight: 2
Description: Running help commands and navigation of the various help systems.
Key Knowledge Areas:
-Man pages
-Info pages

The following is a partial list of the used files, terms and utilities:
-man
-info
-/usr/share/doc/
-locate

2.3 Using Directories and Listing Files
Weight: 2
Description: Navigation of home and system directories and listing files in various locations.
Key Knowledge Areas:
-Files, directories
-Hidden files and directories
-Home directories
-Absolute and relative paths

The following is a partial list of the used files, terms and utilities:
-Common options for ls
-Recursive listings
-cd
-. and ..
-home and ~

2.4 Creating, Moving and Deleting Files
Weight: 2
Description: Create, move and delete files and directories under the home directory.
Key Knowledge Areas:
-Files and directories
-Case sensitivity
-Simple globbing

The following is a partial list of the used files, terms and utilities:
-mv, cp, rm, touch
-mkdir, rmdir

Topic 3: The Power of the Command Line

3.1 Archiving Files on the Command Line
Weight: 2
Description: Archiving files in the user home directory.
Key Knowledge Areas:
-Files, directories
-Archives, compression

The following is a partial list of the used files, terms and utilities:
-tar
-Common tar options
-gzip, bzip2, xz
-zip, unzip

3.2 Searching and Extracting Data from Files
Weight: 3
Description: Search and extract data from files in the home directory.
Key Knowledge Areas:
-Command line pipes
-I/O redirection
-Basic Regular Expressions using ., [ ], *, and ?

The following is a partial list of the used files, terms and utilities:
-grep
-less
-cat, head, tail
-sort
-cut
-wc

3.3 Turning Commands into a Script
Weight: 4
Description: Turning repetitive commands into simple scripts.
Key Knowledge Areas:
-Basic shell scripting
-Awareness of common text editors (vi and nano)

The following is a partial list of the used files, terms and utilities:
-#! (shebang)
-/bin/bash
-Variables
-Arguments
-for loops
-echo
-Exit status

Topic 4: The Linux Operating System

4.1 Choosing an Operating System
Weight: 1
Description: Knowledge of major operating systems and Linux distributions.
Key Knowledge Areas:
-Differences between Windows, OS X and Linux
-Distribution life cycle management

The following is a partial list of the used files, terms and utilities:
-GUI versus command line, desktop configuration
-Maintenance cycles, beta and stable

4.2 Understanding Computer Hardware
Weight: 2
Description: Familiarity with the components that go into building desktop and server computers.
Key Knowledge Areas:
-Hardware

The following is a partial list of the used files, terms and utilities:
-Motherboards, processors, power supplies, optical drives, peripherals
-Hard drives, solid state disks and partitions, /dev/sd*
-Drivers

4.3 Where Data is Stored
Weight: 3
Description: Where various types of information are stored on a Linux system.
Key Knowledge Areas:
-Programs and configuration
-Processes
-Memory addresses
-System messaging
-Logging

The following is a partial list of the used files, terms and utilities:
-ps, top, free
-syslog, dmesg
-/etc/, /var/log/
-/boot/, /proc/, /dev/, /sys/

4.4 Your Computer on the Network
Weight: 2
Description: Querying vital networking configuration and determining the basic requirements for a computer on a Local Area Network (LAN).
Key Knowledge Areas:
-Internet, network, routers
-Querying DNS client configuration
-Querying network configuration

The following is a partial list of the used files, terms and utilities:
-route, ip route show
-ifconfig, ip addr show
-netstat, ss
-/etc/resolv.conf, /etc/hosts
-IPv4, IPv6
-ping
-host

Topic 5: Security and File Permissions

5.1 Basic Security and Identifying User Types
Weight: 2
Description: Various types of users on a Linux system.
Key Knowledge Areas:
-Root and standard users
-System users

The following is a partial list of the used files, terms and utilities:
-/etc/passwd, /etc/shadow, /etc/group
-id, last, who, w
-sudo, su

5.2 Creating Users and Groups
Weight: 2
Description: Creating users and groups on a Linux system.
Key Knowledge Areas:
-User and group commands
-User IDs

The following is a partial list of the used files, terms and utilities:
-/etc/passwd, /etc/shadow, /etc/group, /etc/skel/
-useradd, groupadd
-passwd

5.3 Managing File Permissions and Ownership
Weight: 2
Description: Understanding and manipulating file permissions and ownership settings.
Key Knowledge Areas:
-File and directory permissions and ownership

The following is a partial list of the used files, terms and utilities:
-ls -l, ls -a
-chmod, chown

5.4 Special Directories and Files
Weight: 1
Description: Special directories and files on a Linux system including special permissions.
Key Knowledge Areas:
-Using temporary files and directories
-Symbolic links

The following is a partial list of the used files, terms and utilities:
-/tmp/, /var/tmp/ and Sticky Bit
-ls -d
-ln -s