LPIC-3

Senior Level Linux Certification

The LPIC-3 certification is the culmination of LPI's certification program.

LPIC-3 is designed for the enterprise-level Linux professional. The program has been developed with the advice of hundreds of Linux professionals and some of the world's leading technology companies. It also represents the highest level of professional, distribution-neutral Linux certification within the industry.

Important Note: The LPIC-3 certification program is undergoing significant revision to allow for independent specializations in the following: Mixed Environment, Security and Virtualization/High Availability. Please see Rationale of Changes section below

Speciality Details

New Specialties:
  • 300 Mixed Environment (replaces 301 and 302 as of October 2013)
Retiring Specialties:
  • 301 Core (retires end of 2013)
  • 302 Mixed Environment (still requires LPI-301 until the exam retires at the end of 2013)
Existing Specialties:
  • 303 Security
  • 304 High Availability and Virtualization

Rationale of Changes

LPIC-3 Core (LPI-301) and LPIC-3 Mixed Environments (LPI-302) will remain valid certifications. However, these exams will no longer be necessary for the LPIC-3 certification designation. As of October 1, 2013 any one exam in the 300 series will be sufficient to obtain LPIC-3 designation. Prior to October 1, 2013, candidates required the LPI-301 “Core” to obtain any of the other specialties and LPIC-3 certification. As of October 1, 2013, a LPIC-2 certified professional will be able to obtain LPIC-3 certification status by successfully completing any of the number of “specialty” exams as outlined below.

NOTE: The LPI-301 and LPI-302 exams are being retired at the end of 2013. The LPI-300 exam replaces the pair of exams and also provides the designation of LPIC-3 Mixed Environment.

Exam 300: Mixed Environment

The successful completion of this exam entitles candidates to the specialty designation: LPIC-3 Mixed Environment.

  • Designation: LPIC-3 Mixed Environment
  • Status: Specialty available Oct 1, 2013
  • Prerequisites: You must have an active LPIC-2 certification to receive LPIC-3 certification, but the LPIC-2 and LPIC-3 exams may be taken in any order
  • Requirements: Passing the LPI-300 exam

Overview of Tasks

To pass LPIC-3 Mixed Environment specialty you should:

    Have several years experience with installing and maintaining Linux on many computers for various purposes
  • Have integration experience with diverse technologies and operating systems
  • Have professional experience as, or training for, an enterprise-level Linux professional. (This includes experience as a part of another role.)
  • Know advanced and enterprise levels of Linux administration, including installation, management, security, troubleshooting and maintenance
  • Be able to use open-source tools to measure capacity planning and to troubleshoot resource problems
  • Have professional experience using LDAP to integrate with Unix services and Windows services, including Samba, PAM, NSS, Active Directory
  • Be able to plan, architecture, design, build and implement a full environment using Samba3, Samba4 and LDAP.

Exam 301: Core (Retiring 2013/12/31)

Exam 301 is the sole exam for LPIC-3 designation. It tests skills in authentication, troubleshooting, network integration and capacity planning.

  • Status: "Core" available January 2007
  • Prerequisites: You must have an active LPIC-2 certification to receive LPIC-3 certification, but the LPIC-2 and LPIC-3 exams may be taken in any order
  • Requirements: Passing the 301 exam.

Overview of Tasks

To pass LPIC-3 core you should:

  • Have several years experience with installing and maintaining Linux on many computers for various purposes
  • Have integration experience with diverse technologies and operating systems
  • Have professional experience as, or training for, an enterprise-level Linux professional. (This includes experience as a part of another role.)
  • Know advanced and enterprise levels of Linux administration, including installation, management, security, troubleshooting and maintenance
  • Be able to use open-source tools to measure capacity planning and to troubleshoot resource problems
  • Have professional experience using LDAP to integrate with Unix services and Windows services, including Samba, PAM, email, Active Directory
  • Be 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
  • Be able create scripts in Bash or Perl or has knowledge of at least one system programming language (such as C)

Exam 302: Mixed Environment (Retiring 2013/12/31)

The successful completion of this exam entitles candidates to the specialty designation: LPI 302: mixed environments.

  • Status: LPI 302 (mixed environment) specialty available January 2007
  • Prerequisites: You must have an active LPIC-2 certification to receive LPIC-3 certification, but the LPIC-2 and LPIC-3 exams may be taken in any order
  • Requirements: Passing the 301 exam and any one of the LPI 302 - 306 exams to receive the respective specialty certification

Overview of Tasks

To pass LPI-302 (mixed environment) specialty you should:

  • Have necessary skills and experience as outlined in LPIC-3 core exam
  • Have professional experience using Samba to integrate file and print services with Windows, including user management, domain control, security and performance tuning
  • Be able to plan, design, build and implement a complete multi-user environment using Samba

Exam 303: Security

The successful completion of this exam entitles candidates to the specialty designation: LPI 303: security.

Overview of Tasks

To pass LPI-303 security specialty you should:

  • Have necessary skills and experience as outlined in LPIC-3 core exam
  • Design and implement customized solutions to complex automation problems such as multi-site enterprises and heavy-duty Internet sites
  • Initiate projects and work against a budget.
  • Supervise assistants and help troubleshoot problems.
  • Serve as a consultant to higher management.

Exam 304: Virtualization & High Availability

The successful completion of this exam entitles candidates to the specialty designation: LPI 304: virtualization and high availability