Chapter 11. Exam 102 Overview

LPI Exam 102 is the second of two exams required for the LPI's Level 1 certification. This exam tests your knowledge on 9 of the 14 major Topic areas specified for LPIC Level 1.

Exam Topics are numbered using a level.topic notation (i.e., 1.1, 2.2, etc.). In the LPI's early stages of development, Topics were assigned to exams based on a different scheme than we see today. When the scheme changed, the Topics were redistributed to Exams 101 and 102, but the pairing of Topic numbers to exams was dropped. As a result, we have 1.x and 2.x Topics in both Level 1 Exams.

The Level 1 Topics are distributed between the two exams to create tests of similar length and difficulty without subject matter overlap. As a result, there's no requirement or advantage to taking the exams in sequence.

Each Topic contains a series of Objectives covering specific areas of expertise. Each of these Objectives is assigned a numeric weight, which acts as an indicator of the importance of the Objective. Weights run between 1 and 10, with higher numbers indicating more importance. An Objective carrying a weight of 1 can be considered relatively unimportant and isn't likely to be covered in much depth on the exam. Objectives with larger weights are sure to be covered on the exam, so you should study these topics closely. The weights of the Objectives are provided at the beginning of each Topic section.

The Topics for Exam 102 are listed in Table 11-1.

Table 11-1. LPI Topics for Exam 102

Name	Number of Objectives	Description
Chapter 13	3	Covers PC architecture issues, such as IRQs, I/O addresses, SCSI BIOS, NICs, modems, and sound cards.
Chapter 14	6	Covers hard disk layout, LILO, making and installing programs from source, managing shared libraries, and using Red Hat and Debian packages.
Chapter 15	2	Covers kernel module management, as well as building and installing a custom kernel.
Chapter 16	4	Covers vi and printer management.
Chapter 17	2	Covers the shell and its startup files and writing bash scripts. Despite the name, compiling programs from source is not included (it's covered in Topic 2.2).
Chapter 18	4	Includes an overview of XFree86, using XDM, and customizing a window manager.
Chapter 19	3	Explores TCP/IP, network interfaces, DHCP, and PPP and includes troubleshooting commands.
Chapter 20	5	Covers inetd and basic sendmail, Apache, NFS, Samba, and DNS configuration.
Chapter 21	3	Covers security issues such as package verification, SUID issues, shadow passwords, and user limits.

As you can see from Table 11-1, the Topic numbers assigned by the LPI are not sequential, due to various modifications made by the LPI to their exam program as it developed. In particular, in Exam 102 two last-minute Objectives covering Red Hat and Debian package management were added to Topic 2.2. Regardless, the Topic numbers serve only as a reference and are not used on the exam.

Exam 102 lasts a maximum of 90 minutes and contains approximately 72 questions. The exam is administered using a custom application on a PC in a private room with no notes or other reference material. About 90 percent of the exam is made up of multiple-choice single-answer questions. These multiple-choice questions have only one correct answer, which are answered using radio buttons. A few of the questions present a scenario needing administrative action. Others seek the appropriate commands for performing a particular task or for proof of understanding of a particular concept.

The exam also includes a few multiple-choice multiple-answer questions, which are answered using checkboxes. These questions can have multiple correct responses, each of which must be checked. These are probably the most difficult type of question to answer because the possibility of multiple answers increases the likelihood of mistakes. An incorrect response on any one of the possible answers causes you to miss the entire question.

The exam also has some fill-in-the-blank questions. These questions provide a one-line text area input box for you to fill in your answer. These questions check your knowledge of concepts such as important files, commands, or well-known facts that you are expected to know.