Certmaster Labs for Linux+ Powered by Lpi (Lx0-103) Reviews
Summary of this article:
- The backstory: why CompTIA Linux+ exam.
- Review of learning resource: what is expert and what is not good.
- Retrospective on studying: what worked and did not piece of work.
- My experience during the exam: how the test was conducted and how I felt.
- My arroyo during the examination: what strategies to use and mindset to have.
- Getting an awesome badge: what it looks similar and what'due south in it for me?
- Bonus: equally almost of my materials are sponsored past the school, I've looked for free content for you to written report for the exam, such every bit filesystem hierarchy, basic linux commands, using AWS EC2 Ubuntu every bit your Linux surroundings. I also created a flash card in Trello, available hither. Disclaimer: free content might non be sufficient.
- Examination objectives: Official CompTIA Linux+ Exam Objectives.
TLDR exam tips (I had no professional experience with Linux):
- Focus on the Activity Section of the CompTIA Study Guide and follow along with your own Linux environment.
- Practice on Performance-Based Questions (PBQs). They show around 10 choices that all await correct.
- Play effectually with Linux control combinations using piping (|)
- Configure IP tables, firewall, and troubleshooting.
- Learn the configuration steps, boot process, and bankroll upward files.
- Basic bash scripting and regular expressions.
Read until the end for tips on how to have the correct mindset and strategies to answer hard questions. Also, a video of me summarizing this article during a club meeting at our schoolhouse is available at the bottom of the article. Do bank check the video out as it has a Q&A section towards the terminate.
I'd like to start off with a big cheers to Schoolhouse of Technology and Computing of City University of Seattle (CityU). They provided me with a job, career growth, and sponsored my CompTIA learning materials and exam voucher.
As an F-1 Educatee Visa holder with express job opportunities, this allowed me to earn actress income, of which I donate a portion to freeCodeCamp on a monthly basis.
This is a loose continuation from my story: Why I abandoned my MBA to get a principal's in Reckoner Science.
Why CompTIA Linux+?
In July 2019, our schoolhouse, with the assistance of our manager of external relations, landed a contract with Amazon Spider web Services (AWS) and Washington Technology Industry Association (WTIA), chosen the AWS Apprenticeship Programme (AAP).
We had the opportunity to train 23 military veterans and veteran spouses. Their requirement was to laissez passer CompTIA Linux+ Exam and CityU'due south Full Stack Arrangement Developer Program which includes CompTIA Linux+ Examination preparation. In one case they met both criteria, they'd be able to transition to on-the-job training with AWS.
My role at the time was a Lead Education Banana (TA) and I was tasked to help build the Dean's programme proposal. I coordinated with 6 other TAs to build the courses, which consisted the following: Linux I, Linux II, Networking, Web Development, JavaScript/TypeScript, Total Stack - MEAN Stack, Python, and Full Stack - Django.
Equally this was our showtime contract, we were edifice the airplane while trying to wing it.
We utilized the post-obit resources for our Linux Operating Arrangement class:
- Textbook: Pro Fustigate Programming: Scripting the GNU/Linux Shell, 2nd Edition, by Chris F. A. Johnson, Jayant Varma
- Educatee's Linux environment: AWS EC2 Case with Ubuntu
- Virtual Lab: InfoSec Learning
What I learned
- A lot of bash scripting exercises and coding challenges
- How to SSH to a remote server (EC2 Instance)
- Various Linux commands and configuration setups related to CompTIA Linux+
After a few weeks into the plan, we researched more and listened to student feedback. Turns out nosotros were doing too much bash scripting and lacked on CompTIA Linux+ Exam grooming.
The students were in hell during the outset few weeks of fustigate scripting
We immediately partnered with CompTIA to get CompTIA Linux+ Exam Study materials at bulk cost. Nosotros pivoted hard and changed parts of our programme to integrate the new study materials.
Skillful matter our section was practicing Active methodology and it made us very nimble.
The new resources are as follows:
- CertMaster Learn - includes eBook, Performance-Based Question (PBQ), and CompTIA Videos (Note: This was last year. If you purchased this year, you won't have the PBQs, but you get a new interface, and an additional practice test).
- CertMaster Exercise - multiple-selection questions on steroids. In one case you've accumulated a good amount of wrong answers, you'd get feedback on why your answers are wrong and it explains the other choices equally well. Then, it pushes your progress bar dorsum.
- CertMaster Labs - shorter lab activities compared to InfoSec Labs.
My thoughts on the new resources
I read the eBook from meridian to bottom and it was helpful to obtain an overview. Still, I wasn't able to retain any noesis from reading it. I breezed through both the CertMaster Practice and CertMaster Labs and I gained cipher too.
What'south wrong with me? Hmm..
Because of an opportunity to teach the JavaScript/TypeScript course in the AAP program and the unfortunate event of my dad's passing, my road to Linux+ Exam was eventually batty and forgotten.
Man.... What a bummer...
Fast forward to the end of the AWS Apprenticeship Program
In November 2019, nosotros successfully transitioned all 23 students! A 100%! We were the only partner schoolhouse to have done that.
Most credit goes to the Schoolhouse of Engineering & Computing Dean'southward repeated quotes of "go out no homo behind" - similar to the soldier'due south creed: "I will never exit a fallen comrade backside", and "we stay together, we survive" (from the movie Gladiator).
The program's success was largely attributed to TAs, who supported the students since Day one.
We asked for feedback from our students on what worked and what did not in regards to the CompTIA Linux+ materials. We got the following:
- Focus on Action Section of the Report Guide
- Do the virtual labs repeatedly
- Going through the do exam is not constructive
- Lookout man ITPro.tv videos (which nosotros were not able to provide that time)
I did not written report for the Linux+ Examination for several months equally I focused on learning the MEAN Stack (especially the Angular front finish framework). I regularly tackled leetcode coding challenges to prepare for software programmer job interviews.
I was also finishing my capstone project: Software Documentation and Architectural Analysis of Full Stack Development, and teaching two classes: Information Systems, and Data Management Communications and Networking.
No fourth dimension... no fourth dimension at all... or was it just excuses?
When I was nearing the terminate of my last quarter, I felt guilty and started studying again for the Linux+ Test.
This time, a new programme of set on.
I started reading the eBook once again from height to bottom. What was different the second time around was that for every theory, definition, command, choice, subcommands, etc. that I'd run across, I would create a flash card in Trello (available here). I used this to train with friends to exercise a popular quiz and execute commands in the Linux terminal as well.
On my own, I would have my ain Linux environment following forth with the Activity Section of the eBook. This really helped me retain my knowledge on Linux commands and configurations. I also incorporated using Linux commands in my personal laptop with MacBook Pro, as MacOS has Unix-like terminal.
I utilized the CertMaster Practice Exam once more. And this fourth dimension, I had a friend to go over and discuss why each choice was right or incorrect, using the process of elimination.
It seems like doing hands-on and having a discussion with a friend truly helps you lot master a topic.
I actually didn't like the CertMaster Labs and did non use it during my study.
I hesitated to study the post-obit:
- bash scripting - I'm a software developer and I know how to code already. I have built bash scripts to boost my productivity, from class notes to web applications.
- version command - I've been using git and GitHub in my classes and personal projects.
- containers and orchestration - I have a practiced foundation as I've been reading DevOps books.
The Binge-Worthy ITPro.television set Videos
I accidentally discovered information technology. It was timely and effective.
At the start of April 2020, we got news of incoming AAP students. The Dean asked me to check the CompTIA store again for materials, and notice out what these ITPro.tv videos were all almost.
At first, I was reluctant to even purchase the videos because I remembered the CompTIA Study Guide having the ITPro.tv logo at the start of their videos. I started computing the total hours of the CompTIA Report Guide videos. The full duration was only 22 minutes.
This was a large departure compared to the standalone ITPro.tv videos with 16 hours of content. I went alee and purchased it (with reimbursement of course).
And boy, I did not regret information technology. Those videos were fantastic. They pigeon deeper into the topics and explained the commands throughly with the help of a co-host to ask why we needed to apply those commands.
The boilerplate duration of a video is near 15 minutes. A large contrast compared to the other resource, which averaged about 2 minutes per video.
I started picking videos to watch based on the topics that I knew I couldn't explain to anyone. I combined this strategy with the multiple-choice-on-steroids CertMaster Practice to fill in my knowledge gaps.
In the center of April 2020, I scheduled my CompTIA Linux+ Exam Online Testing. They created the online testing environment due to the pandemic. As it was nearing the scheduled appointment, I relaxed my report patterns and express myself to watching the ITPro.television set videos.
Test Procedures
The online test requires you to abide by the post-obit procedures:
- take an internet connectedness
- take an external webcam or laptop webcam
- accept an external microphone or laptop microphone
- have a photo of valid ID
- have pictures of your front end, back, left, and right of your ain testing environment
- No headphones, and smartphones and electronics should be out of attain
View the total details here.
Examination Time
I totally appreciate the back up!
My Experience with the Online Test App
- The exam was scheduled 12:fifteen midnight. This was my intention to avert any racket in the firm.
- The proctor can see you through the webcam, and you tin can't see them.
- The online testing app slowed and crashed several times. The proctor said it was due to the high volume of test takers.
What I felt during the exam
The first few questions I got in the exam were Operation-Based Questions. It was freaking hard. I really couldn't answer with 100% confidence. I encountered a problem using Linux commands grep and awk with pipage to some other command.
Another trouble was about investigating an SELinux policy violation, which requires you have to inspect each control and their respective output to pinpoint which file or directory needed additional configuration.
If but I had that professional feel, this would take been much easier.
As I went through more questions, I really felt and then dumb and lost my confidence. I didn't know how to respond the questions about network, system, or user configurations. In the bash scripting portion, I knew I wasn't really skillful at RegEx (regular expressions).
I had xxx minutes left in my exam and felt like failing...
My thoughts of plan B were coming back – I would merely take the exam over again. This was partly due to my own perspective in life. I e'er tell people I'm used to failure and I'thou fine failing as long as I tin can exist persistent until I accomplish my goal.
Around the 28-minute mark I was about to call it quits, when I heard another voice in my brain (I'm not crazy I tell y'all. It'south the Jedi Mind fob, read How to teach yourself to learn again).
The voice said: "don't recollect virtually failure now, apply the remaining minutes and practise your best!"
And then I used the remaining time to jump around to unlike questions until I'd covered them all. This time with more focus. I changed nearly 80% of my answers and I started to practise the following strategies to increase my chances of getting the right answer:
- Process of emptying - I removed choices that I knew were totally wrong.
- I stuck with what I knew - I didn't choose an reply if I didn't know what it meant.
- Deeper focus - I read word by discussion and tried to use both comprehension and logical thinking.
- Eyes closed, heed opened - I convinced myself that I'd studied really hard for this exam and so it must be stored in my brain somewhere. With that in heed, I tried to retrieve those memories to achieve 100% conviction in some questions that I had around 70% conviction answering.
I kept repeating these strategies until the last minute.
Examination Results
The exam ended and I passed – 739 out of thousand! A passing grade point is 720. After xxx minutes, I got an email from CompTIA.
I will still be humbled and say to people that I got lucky. Simply for myself, I won't say I got lucky because I changed most of my answers using a better mindset and more constructive strategies.
Lessons Learned
- I should actually cease taking these exams when I don't have professional experience yet. Why? I encountered the aforementioned kind of difficulty and failed my AWS Developer Certification Test earlier (here'due south the commodity: I failed my AWS Developer Exam. What now?).
- In studying, I should've done more than cess early on to focus on my knowledge gap instead of speeding through all the materials.
- During the exam, I needed to remind myself this is my reality now. What can I do to be peachy in this state of affairs? This mindset is something I can apply to my current work equally well.
- Remember to have study sessions with friends or colleagues, as you'll have the chance to abound your knowledge exponentially.
What at present, Clark?
I rejoined CityU every bit a full-timer with a position of Programme Director for AWS Amateur Plan (Full Stack Web Systems Developer) concluding April 20, 2019.
With the Linux+ Certified nether my belt, I take gained additional experience, along with my previous experience beingness a TA Lead with the same plan. It's allowed me to better lead, teach, and mentor the new cohort. This includes my team that includes new TAs that I know for sure will be more than successful than I was.
I will practise my best to go on teaching and mentoring students while sharpening my software development skills, as I'm notwithstanding on a journeying to notice a software developer chore in the tech industry. I know it'due south difficult coming from a non-tech groundwork to transition, but we'll all become there in time.
To my readers, thank yous for reading my article. I really want to focus more than on technical articles but I couldn't let a good story skid away.=)
Connect with me in LinkedIn here.
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