Top 5 Linux Certifications: Choose Your Best One!

Earning an IT certification is the way to go if you are planning on growing your career. For the tech professionals, the Linux credentials considered some of the best in the IT industry. That is why, in this blog article, we will take a look at the top five certificates that you might want to obtain before the end of this year. If earning such a credential is one of your goals for the nearest future, it is not late to pursue it. Let’s explore the best IT credentials that you might want to pursue as a Linux professional in 2019.

1. CompTIA Linux+

The CompTIA Linux+ credential is a benchmark for the professionals seeking to validate their knowledge and skills in the world of IT. This certification is designed to evaluate the knowledge of the specialists on basic usage and managerial roles common to Linux distributors. To obtain this CompTIA certificate, you have to pass a newly launched exam – XK0-004. For the previous version of the certification program, you had to take two tests: LX0-103 and LX0-104. They have similar contents with the Linux Administrator exams, LPIC-1.

To pass the Linux+ test, you need to have the CompTIA A+ and the Network+ credentials and hands-on experience of 12 months in Linux administrating. The XK0-004 exam objectives cover the knowledge and experience of monitoring, supporting, and configuring servers running on Linux OS. This new version pays more attention to kernel modules, device management, networking & firewalls, security, and more. The certification test consists of 90 questions with a duration of 90 minutes. To pass it, the candidates must score 720 on a scale of 100-900.

2. RHCE – Red Hat Certified Engineer

Another credential that the Linux professionals should consider is RHCE. The Red Hat certificates are unique with the capacity to position you for better opportunities than your peers. Some job opportunities you can explore with your Red Hat credential include a Senior Systems Engineer, a Senior UNIX Administrator, a Senior Linux Administrator, and an IT Analyst.

Although the Red Hat Certified Engineer certification has a lot of opportunities, earning this credentials is a long, challenging but rewarding process. The first step is to earn RHCSA (Red Hat Certified System Administrator). After this, you need to choose the Linux 7 or 8 path and take the course and pass the required test. After completing these tasks, you can go ahead to earn your credential. It is important to mention that the exams come with difficult questions, which means you must be well-prepared for them. With your RHCE, you can pursue Red Hat Certified Architect (RHCA), which covers different domains and requires to pass at least five of the recommended tests. You can earn your RHCA certificate in any of these five domains: Application Development, Application Platform, Datacenter, Cloud, and DevOps.

3. GCUX – GIAC Certified UNIX Security Administrator

The professionals with this credential audit and secure UNIX and Linux systems. The certification seeks to equip the individuals with the skills to install, monitor, and configure both systems. To earn the certificate, the candidates must take the proctored exam, which consists of 75 questions. The time limit for the test is 2 hours, and to pass it, the students must score at least 68% of the total exam questions.

The test takers must understand the physical and password security issues with regard to Linux and UNIX systems. It evaluates the ability of the candidates in understanding chroot(), and configuring services, environment, scponly with chroot(), and basically every other thing that has to do with it. In addition to this, the applicants must also understand OS install & patching, user account, boot services, password access control, Sudo, AIDE, and post exploitation.

4. Oracle Linux Certified Associate and Certified Professional

The OCA and OCP credentials validate the candidates’ skills and knowledge as they relate to the Oracle technologies and products. The students must pass the relevant exams to be able to obtain the certificate. It is important to add that the individuals have to go through training, a series of tests, and a performance-based assignment. All these depend largely on the level of the certification being pursued.

There are basically 3 levels, which include OCA, OCS, and OCP. The first and third ones are the most relevant to Linux. To earn these credentials, the specialists must pass two exams: OCA 1Z0-100 and OCP 1Z0-105. The first test is made up of 80 questions, and the students should score 61% of the total questions to pass it. The second exam consists of 97 questions, and its passing score for is also 61%. The time is similar for each certification test – 150 minutes.

5. LPI – Linux Professional Institute Certifications

Since the introduction in 1999, the LPI credentials have become very important to the field of IT. There are three different levels available to the candidates under the LPI. These are Linux Administrator, Engineer, and Enterprise Professional certificates. Linux Administrator is the first certification level and it has no prerequisites. However, you have to pass two exams to earn it. The tests cover basic skills, such as installation and configuration of Linux on a workstation; making Internet or LAN connections; carrying out maintenance tasks.

Linux Engineer is an advanced certification level. It requires that you earn Linux Administrator before pursuing the next level. In addition to the LPIC-1 exam, the candidates are required to pass two more tests. The first one covers the knowledge of devices and file system, system startup, kernel, system maintenance, network configuration, storage administration, and capacity planning. The second exam requires that the individuals understand email services, domain name servers, network client management, and system security. The third level, which is Linux Enterprise Professional is a senior-level certification requiring that the applicants have active Linux Engineer credential. In addition to this, they have to pass one test from the 300-series of exams. These are Mixed Environment, Security, and Virtualization & High Availability.

Conclusion

As you can see, there are a lot of credentials you can pursue. No doubt, there is an increase in demand for Linux. This means that the professionals with such certifications can explore many opportunities in the IT sphere. Don’t miss this chance and attain your certificate as soon as possible.