TO brief on my background, I am not a system admin. I am a developer working in a UNIX environment. I was in M$ for the last few years and recently moved to Linux environment. However the nature of job is development though. My boss wants me to shed some money and get a certificate so he can show it off to the clients! I would like to know what certification can I go for? From what I searched on Google, I felt CompTia Linux + and LPIC are the ones that are not specific to any distribution. I saw the RHCE, SCSA, Novel etc but they are administration specific which my job is not really into. Should I go for CompTia or LPIC? Preparing for both the certificates would not hurt me but my purse Lol Guide me guys, thanks!

I have done Linux+ (in fact, I'm about to beta test the new version) - it's not bad, and requires only a single exam. However, the LPI level 1 certs are about at the same level, and you need to pass these if you want to go on to their level 2 certification, so I think I'd have gone for these if I'd been aware of them at the time (planning to try for LPI level 2 soon).

Of the vendor-specific ones, RHCE seems to be the most recognised, but I understand is a very serious undertaking.

For someone that is not doing administration; I think that the LPI is the way to go.


-C

custangro, how about for someone who wants to become a Linux System Admin? what certification would you recommend? is LPI good?

LPI is a good way to start...

I started with Linux+ then moved to RHCT then the RHCE...

But looking back...I think that the LPI would've been a better move (it seemed like a good test).

I think (if I had to do it over) I would to: LPI 1 > LPI 2 > RHCT/RHCE

-C

thanks custangro! I will shoot for the LPI 1 & 2 tests!

For what it is worth, I just took the RHCT course last week and passed. They claim something along the lines of a 60% failure rate for RHCT/RHCE, but honestly RHCT isn't that difficult at all if you have a decent amount of experience using Linux and put forth a bit of effort in the class. Can't speak to the difficulty RHCE yet, but half of the exam covers RHCT skills, so while I intend to study hard, I'm not losing a lot of sleep over it.

IMHO the RHCE is difficult...but not impossible, some people like to think so (and I'm sure that Red Hat like that )...but I think those people are the MCSE's of the world that think that they can "brain dump"



-C

From what I have read/observed, I think that is probably the case in many situations. The high rate of failure for the RHCE cert seems to be largely a function of the delusion from which many seem to suffer - that they can crack a third-party study guide or two the night before the exam and pass the test, which may be the case in the M$ world, I don't know as I haven't taken any of those exams, but I can say it certainly wasn't the case with the RHCT, and I obviously it won't be for the RHCE.

Red Hat certs were designed to be difficult to obtain, and they should be. Along those lines though, the whisperings I am hearing around the community regarding the new RHCT/RHCE exams (they are changing May 1st) concern me. I've heard from some reliable sources that early impressions of the new exams reveal them to be noticeably less difficult. That will be a terrible shame if it proves to be the case, and obviously a bit of a slap in the face those of us who took the tests prior to the new format. Most distressing though, obviously, is that it will likely lessen the market value of the certs.

I second that.

I think that the fact that there is a nearly a 50% failure rate on the RHCE is something that I like since it makes the people who pass it stand out (especially those who pass it the first time they take it )

The rumors "scare" me a little...since making a cert easier to obtain does make it less valuable/respected...

-C

I have seen people brain dumping rhce and succeed... well, that is why i hope redhat can maintain the cert credibility by changing their questions more often. I also hope they don't make it easier eventhough it can be more appealing from the income point of view.

I think microsoft and linux administrators are very different in terms of working mentality (just my experience). i have microsoft admin friends who keep rebooting computer to troubleshoot. recently, we were troubleshooting the vnc port of one machine. one senior ms head saw me typing this in my centos command line:

vncviewer 192.168.1.102:1

he said no wonder i couldnt connect to that machine because i was trying to connect to port 1 of 192.168.1.102. He insisted he was right and I had nothing to say. I noticed they made more assumptions that me.

not talking bad about ms admin and this could be an isolated case.

Yeah I was making a sweeping generalization, because I know there are MS admins out there that are quite good (I know a few); but you have to admit that I'm not too far off

Rebooting? We call that the "Windows Fix" at work

-C

hahaha a W$ndows sys admin I could say 60% of the issues are solved by rebooting, 30% users mistake and 10% of real admin work! :P I just want to share with all of you something stupid that happened this weekend thanks to M$crosoft's stupidity:
I have all the M$crosoft servers set up with automatic updates because I know after the updates are done installing the system will ask to reboot well this was not the case with all the servers! they rebooted thus causing communication issues between servers and files! GRRRR gotta luv the M$crosoft's way!!!!

Oh no, May 1st? I have my RHCT test scheduled for May 1st. I hope any changes don't throw me off. Anyone have any links on info about the new test? Is it a new format or just switched up tasks? Now you've got me all nervous.

Here is what I found from Red Hat...

https://www.redhat.com/certification/faq/