![Close [x]](http://dw1.s81c.com/i/c.gif){kind=small}
Before you start
Learn what these tutorials can teach you and how you can get the most from them.
The Linux Professional Institute (LPI) certifies Linux system administrators at three levels: junior level (also called "certification level 1"), intermediate level (also called "certification level 2"), and senior level (also called "certification level 3"). To attain certification level 1, you must pass exams 101 and 102; to attain certification level 2, you must pass exams 201 and 202. To attain certification level 3, you must have an active intermediate level certification and pass exam 301 ("core"). You may also pass additional specialty exams at the senior level.
developerWorks offers tutorials to help you prepare for the four junior and intermediate certification exams. Each exam covers several topics, and each topic has a corresponding self-study tutorial on developerWorks. For LPI exam 102, the nine topics and corresponding developerWorks tutorials are:
| LPI exam 102 topic | developerWorks tutorial | Tutorial summary |
|---|---|---|
| Topic 105 |
LPI exam 102 prep: Kernel | Learn how to install and maintain Linux kernels and kernel modules. |
| Topic 106 |
LPI exam 102 prep: Boot, initialization, shutdown, and runlevels | Learn how to boot a system, set kernel parameters, and shut down or reboot a system. |
| Topic 107 |
LPI exam 102 prep: Printing | Learn how to manage printers, print queues and user print jobs on a Linux system. |
| Topic 108 |
LPI exam 102 prep: Documentation | Learn how to use and manage local documentation, find documentation on the Internet and use automated logon messages to notify users of system events. |
| Topic 109 |
LPI exam 102 prep: Shells, scripting, programming, and compiling | Learn how to customize shell environments to meet user needs, write Bash functions for frequently used sequences of commands, write simple new scripts, using shell syntax for looping and testing, and customize existing scripts. |
| Topic 111 | LPI exam 102 prep: Administrative tasks | (This tutorial.) Learn how to manage user and group accounts and tune user and system environments, configure and use system log files, automate system administration tasks by scheduling jobs to run at another time, back up your system, and maintain system time. See the detailed objectives below. |
| Topic 112 | LPI exam 102 prep: Networking fundamentals | Coming soon. |
| Topic 113 | LPI exam 102 prep: Networking services | Coming soon. |
| Topic 114 | LPI exam 102 prep: Security | Coming soon. |
To pass exams 101 and 102 (and attain certification level 1), you should be able to:
- Work at the Linux command line
- Perform easy maintenance tasks: help out users, add users to a larger system, back up and restore, and shut down and reboot
- Install and configure a workstation (including X) and connect it to a LAN, or connect a stand-alone PC via modem to the Internet
To continue preparing for certification level 1, see the developerWorks tutorials for LPI exams 101 and 102, as well as the entire set of developerWorks LPI tutorials.
The Linux Professional Institute does not endorse any third-party exam preparation material or techniques in particular. For details, please contact info@lpi.org.
Welcome to "Administrative tasks," the sixth of nine tutorials designed to prepare you for LPI exam 102. In this tutorial, you learn how to manage users and groups, set user profiles and environments, use log files, schedule jobs, back up your data, and maintain the system time.
This tutorial is organized according to the LPI objectives for this topic. Very roughly, expect more questions on the exam for objectives with higher weight.
| LPI exam objective | Objective weight | Objective summary |
|---|---|---|
| 1.111.1 User and group accounts | Weight 4 | Add, remove, suspend, and change user accounts. Manage user and group information in password and group databases, including shadow databases. Create and manage special purpose and limited accounts. |
| 1.111.2 Tune user and system environments | Weight 3 | Modify global and user profiles. Set environment variables and maintain skeleton directories for new user accounts. Set command search paths. |
| 1.111.3 Configure and use system log files to meet administrative and security needs | Weight 3 | Configure and manage system logs, including the type and level of logged information. Scan and monitor log files for notable activity and track down noted problems. Rotate and archive log files. |
| 1.111.4 Automate system administration tasks by scheduling jobs to run in the future | Weight 4 | Use the cron or
anacron commands to run jobs at regular
intervals, and use the at command to run jobs at a specific
time. |
| 1.111.5 Maintain an effective data backup strategy | Weight 3 | Plan a backup strategy and back up filesystems automatically to various media. |
| 1.111.6 Maintain system time | Weight 4 | Maintain the system time and time zone, and synchronize the clock via NTP. Set the BIOS clock to the correct time in UTC, and configure NTP, including correcting for clock drift. |
To get the most from this tutorial, you should have a basic knowledge of Linux and a working Linux system on which to practice the commands covered in this tutorial.
This tutorial builds on content covered in previous tutorials in this LPI series, so you may want to first review the tutorials for exam 101. In particular, you should be thoroughly familiar with the material from the "LPI exam 101 prep (topic 104) Devices, Linux filesystems, and the Filesystem Hierarchy Standard" tutorial, which covers basic concepts of users, groups, and file permissions.
Different versions of a program may format output differently, so your results may not look exactly like the listings and figures in this tutorial.
