this post was submitted on 17 May 2026
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Hi :)

I need the LPIC-1 certificate for a new job and I’m looking for resources to study for it.

I’m not a sysadmin nor did I ever study anything in that field, but I work with Linux daily and have all my projects at home running on Linux. In total, I’ve been using unix-based systems for more than 20 years.

Still, I’d like to make sure I’m getting through the tests the first time. Can you recommend any video courses? (I think video is easiest for me) Other tips for different resources are appreciated as well :)

Thanks!

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[–] DasFaultier@sh.itjust.works 1 points 3 hours ago* (last edited 3 hours ago)

I used "LPIC-1 Sicher zur erfolgreichen Linux-Zertifizierung" by Harald Maaßen, published by Rheinwerk Computing (in German), ISBN 978-3-8362-6375-7,v and I liked it quite a lot.

There's quite a few of these books, also in English, and they're all kinda useful.

I work at a large scientific library, so I used it quite a lot to get me a selection of LPIC books. Also, I usually not just read the book, but I had my computer with me, so I could a) try things out that were discussed in the book and b) read up the whole (!) man page of any command used in the book. I found that that helped me quite a lot, because it gives you an opportunity to tinker and practice.

[–] Hegz@lemmy.ca 17 points 12 hours ago (1 children)

Having taken that test before, I would definitely get a study guide and work your way through it. Some of the questions get kind of esoteric and very specific, so even if your a Linux master, this is a thing where you should be studying for the test, rather then real life.

[–] MangoCats@feddit.it 4 points 6 hours ago

this is a thing where you should be studying for the test, rather then real life.

Like so many professional certification exams, not just in computer skills. I had a construction contractor complaining to me about the same problem with his certification exam: exam questions that don't cover real life scenarios and even expect you to give answers that don't make sense outside the exam.

[–] ScientifficDoggo@lemmy.zip 7 points 12 hours ago* (last edited 12 hours ago) (3 children)

Honestly, just read the course topics and brush up on anything you might be shaky on.

The 101-104 topics listed on the website seem pretty basic. That mixed with the exam being multiple choice/fill in the blank should mean you're poised to succeed given your 20 years of user experience.

For anything else, just use youtube or search some of the community posts as a learning resource.

UPDATE: The LPI website has free PDFs of the course materials....

[–] helix@feddit.org 0 points 1 hour ago

The 101-104 topics listed on the website seem pretty basic.

Please do not give advice based on vibes.

[–] feddinand@feddit.org 2 points 5 hours ago

Thanks, I know about about the PDFs which is why I was asking about videos specifically as I think I study better with videos.

The problem is - as has been stated in this thread - that real world knowledge is only a part of these tests; even as someone whose a SysAdmin might have to study for those tests and „brushing up“ might not be enough.

Thanks again :)

[–] humanamerican@lemmy.zip 6 points 11 hours ago

I don't have experience with LPIC specifically but given how most industry cert exams ask things that are seldom encountered in "the real world" and often want a specific type of answer even in cases where other solutions would work, I would not take this advice.

[–] haych@feddit.uk 2 points 11 hours ago (3 children)

I'm kinda surprised jobs still want this. In all my years over multiple jobs I've never seen any employer care about my LPI qualifications or require them

[–] feddinand@feddit.org 1 points 4 hours ago

It’s weird.

I have quite a bit of experience under my belt, but I’ve never studied anything in the SysAdmin field; so now they asked me to do the certificate in the first month of my new job so I have something on paper that says that I have experience.

Even my immediate supervisor thinks it’s stupid, but the higher-ups wanted it that way.

[–] eli@lemmy.world 1 points 7 hours ago (1 children)

I used to be a hiring manager for a Linux team(I enthusiastically stepped down because upper management sucks) and we valued tech certs, especially if you could talk the talk.

We had dudes come in with degrees in CS or Cyber and had zero command line knowledge. Of course there were more knowledgable folks but... yeah. Degrees weren't required either just "desired".

We never required, but definitely listed specific certs that were relevant like the RHCSA. However, if you had like the A+ and some years of help desk experience we'd interview you and we got some good hires that way because they hadn't learned bad habits by then like some...more experienced applicants had.

[–] MangoCats@feddit.it 1 points 6 hours ago

I interviewed/hired C graphics programmers off and on for 20 years. 95% of candidates had near 0 actual ability to draw a sine wave on the screen, given example code that draws a rectangular box to draw the sine wave in. We pre-screened the applications for appropriate experience, so 100% of interviewed candidates had appropriate experience or academic background claimed. About 2/3 of the candidates "talked a good game" but it was literally less than 1/20 who could actually make lines appear according to a math function WHICH WAS THE CORE OF THE JOB. I tried giving clues. One intern level hire I gave 3 heavy hints to, basically doing the test for him. He never did learn to do much of anything for himself even after a 4 month trial period. Then there were the ones who got it, and they performed the test like a hot knife through butter. One candidate took the (time series simple sine wave) test before we paid him to travel for an in-person interview, and in person we sprung a "now, do a polar plot of sin(t) on X vs sin(3t) on Y" - he aced that too, we made an offer - then he discussed moving with his wife who he assumed would be fine with it, oops.

AI agents may not be great, but in my experience they beat the hell out of the advertise, interview, hire process.

[–] hoppolito@mander.xyz 1 points 9 hours ago (1 children)

Which certificates were they generally after instead?

[–] eli@lemmy.world 2 points 7 hours ago

Ex-hiring manager here.

We preferred certs that were tied to specific software solutions.

So the A+, Linux+, Sec+, LPIC, etc. were fine but those are generalized.

We looked for Red Hat certs, vmware, aws, etc. because that was the software we used.

Of course general Linux skills are sought after, but less training was required for the specific certs to a certain sense.

[–] whatiswrongwithyou@lemmy.ml -1 points 7 hours ago

LPIC-1 my butt, op!

[–] techt@lemmy.world 1 points 11 hours ago (1 children)

I was curious so I went looking myself. I'd probably start with LPI's own list of resources:

https://learning.lpi.org/en/learning-materials/all-materials/#linux-essentials-version-16

[–] feddinand@feddit.org 2 points 4 hours ago (1 children)

Thanks!

I found those resources as well, but the (English language) video courses for LPIC-1 are rare and/or quite old (which reflects in the ratings); I think just learn better with videos, which is why I was asking for video courses.

Thanks again :)

[–] techt@lemmy.world 1 points 4 hours ago

Oh that's good to know, thanks to you as well. I hope something good comes up!