What does the LPIC-2: Linux Engineer path on CertGrid cover?

29 hands-on guides across 15 tracks, about 587 minutes of reading in total. The LPI second level: kernel, storage, networking and services. Each guide is a walkthrough with real commands and real output rather than a summary.

Are these hands-on labs or written guides?

Written guides built around commands you run yourself. Every step shows the command and the output you should see, so you can follow along on your own machine or cluster and check each result as you go. CertGrid does not host a live terminal or a managed cluster - you bring the environment, and the guide tells you exactly what to do in it.

Do I need my own environment to follow along?

Yes, and that is deliberate. The guides are written against real systems, and the value is in running the commands rather than reading them. Most guides say up front what they assume you have - a Linux host, a cluster, a database - and several start by setting that up.

Can I read any of the LPIC-2: Linux Engineer guides for free?

Yes. 5 of the 29 guides are free to read with no account and no payment, and the remaining 24 need path access.

Does buying a CertGrid practice exam unlock these guides?

Yes. Path access to these guides is included when you own the matching CertGrid practice exam, and it is also sold on its own if you only want the guides.

How much does access to the LPIC-2: Linux Engineer path cost?

One-time access is $7.99. That covers all 24 paid guides in this path, including any added to it later.

LPIC-2 Guides, Labs and Troubleshooting

Start Here3 guides

Two exams, 201 and 202, the LPIC-1 you are assumed to hold, and the lab.

Concepts 14 min

LPIC-2 exam format and topic weights

Two papers, both required - and why the half with fewer topics needs more lab time.

Both exams

Updated 29 Aug 2026
Concepts 15 min

Firewalls, SELinux, and service reachability

The firewall, the security label and the host key - three things that stop your service working before its config file is ever wrong.

Both exams

Updated 29 Aug 2026
Concepts 13 min

The lab: one disk, and a client that proves things

Why the storage topics run on loop devices, and what the client is actually for.

Both exams

Updated 29 Aug 2026

201: Linux Kernel2 guides

Components, compiling, modules, and runtime kernel management. Weight 9.

Hands-on Lab 18 min Paid

Kernel modules, and proving a parameter arrived

Load a module with a parameter, prove it took effect, and unload it without a trace.

201-450 - Topic 201 Linux Kernel (weight 9)

Updated 29 Aug 2026
Configuration 12 min Paid

sysctl, and what survives a reboot

Two spellings of the same kernel setting, and the difference between changing it and keeping it changed.

201-450 - Topic 201 Linux Kernel (weight 9)

Updated 29 Aug 2026

201: Filesystems and Storage3 guides

Filesystem features and maintenance, autofs, RAID and LVM. Weight 9+8.

Hands-on Lab 20 min Paid

Building LVM on a real disk

Physical volume to mounted filesystem, then grow it by a gigabyte without unmounting anything.

201-450 - Topics 203+204 Filesystems and Advanced Storage (weight 17)

Updated 29 Aug 2026
Hands-on Lab 18 min Paid

mdadm RAID, and a failure that heals itself

Build a mirror with a hot spare, fail a device on purpose, and watch the spare take over.

201-450 - Topics 203+204 Filesystems and Advanced Storage (weight 17)

Updated 29 Aug 2026
Hands-on Lab 26 min Paid

An encrypted volume, and what the header holds

A LUKS container from empty file to mounted filesystem, two passphrases into one master key, and what the device says when it is closed.

201-450 - Topics 203+204 Filesystems and Advanced Storage (weight 17)

Updated 29 Aug 2026

202: DNS2 guides

Running BIND, zone files, forward and reverse, and securing a server. Weight 8.

Hands-on Lab 24 min Paid

A DNS zone, proved from a client

Write a zone, check it before starting anything, and answer queries from a machine that is not the server.

202-450 - Topic 207 Domain Name Server (weight 8)

Updated 29 Aug 2026
Troubleshooting 14 min Paid

Reading a DNS answer: NXDOMAIN and REFUSED

Three ways a query can come back empty, and why only one of them is a problem.

202-450 - Topic 207 Domain Name Server (weight 8)

Updated 29 Aug 2026

201: Capacity Planning2 guides

Measuring resource use, finding the bottleneck, predicting need. Weight 8.

Hands-on Lab 21 min

Load, memory, and what the numbers mean

Why load 4 can be healthy, why free showing little free memory is correct, and the disk failure that happens with space left.

201-450 - Topic 200 Capacity Planning (weight 8)

Updated 29 Aug 2026
Hands-on Lab 26 min

Finding what is consuming the machine

Which process is responsible, whether it is the CPU or the disk, and where the record of last week already is.

201-450 - Topic 200 Capacity Planning (weight 8)

Updated 31 Aug 2026

201: System Startup2 guides

Customising boot, recovery, initramfs and an alternative bootloader. Weight 9.

Troubleshooting 17 min Paid

Boot order, and what actually delayed it

The difference between the slowest unit and the unit that made you wait - which are not the same, and this machine proves it.

201-450 - Topic 202 System Startup (weight 9)

Updated 29 Aug 2026
Hands-on Lab 26 min Paid

The initramfs, the bootloader, and the rescue targets

What the bootloader hands the kernel, what the initramfs carries, and the recovery commands for a machine that says it is degraded.

201-450 - Topic 202 System Startup (weight 9)

Updated 29 Aug 2026

202: HTTP Services2 guides

Apache and nginx, virtual hosts, TLS, and a reverse proxy. Weight 11.

Hands-on Lab 22 min Paid

Apache on Debian and RPM families

Install the same software twice, watch one start itself and the other not, and find out why only one of them answers the client.

202-450 - Topic 208 HTTP Services (weight 11)

Updated 29 Aug 2026
Hands-on Lab 28 min Paid

Two virtual hosts, TLS, and a reverse proxy

One address answering to three names, a certificate the client refuses until told not to, and a backend reachable only through Apache.

202-450 - Topic 208 HTTP Services (weight 11)

Updated 29 Aug 2026

202: System Security2 guides

Packet filtering, OpenSSH, OpenVPN, and intrusion detection. Weight 14 - the heaviest topic.

Hands-on Lab 22 min Paid

Firewall zones, and what a scan reveals

The difference between closed and filtered, proved on two machines that differ only in whether a firewall is running.

202-450 - Topic 212 System Security (weight 14 - the heaviest topic)

Updated 29 Aug 2026
Configuration 18 min Paid

SSH hardening, and who has been trying

Read the effective configuration rather than the file, and find out whether anyone has been knocking.

202-450 - Topic 212 System Security (weight 14 - the heaviest topic)

Updated 29 Aug 2026

201: Networking Configuration2 guides

Advanced addressing, routing, and diagnosing a fault you did not stage. Weight 11.

Hands-on Lab 21 min Paid

Virtual interfaces, bridges and MTU

Build a bridge out of nothing, watch the kernel add a route by itself, and find the real maximum packet size rather than the one the interface claims.

201-450 - Topic 205 Networking Configuration (weight 11)

Updated 29 Aug 2026
Troubleshooting 17 min Paid

Watching the wire, and telling the users

Capture real packets to settle an argument about whether traffic arrived - and the deadlock to avoid while doing it over SSH.

201-450 - Topic 205 Networking Configuration (weight 11)

Updated 29 Aug 2026

202: Network Client Management2 guides

DHCP, PAM, LDAP clients and RADIUS - and what each breaks. Weight 11.

Configuration 19 min Paid

DHCP, and when not to start a service

Write a working DHCP configuration, prove it parses - and understand why starting it here would be the wrong thing to do.

202-450 - Topic 210 Network Client Management (weight 11)

Updated 29 Aug 2026
Concepts 18 min Paid

Client-side resolution, and the directory that is not there

Four ways to ask the same name, and the one line that decides whether a directory is consulted at all.

202-450 - Topic 210 Network Client Management (weight 11)

Updated 29 Aug 2026

202: File Sharing2 guides

Samba and NFS, and what each one gets wrong about permissions. Weight 8.

Hands-on Lab 22 min Paid

An NFS export, proved from two clients

One share, two machines - one mounts it and one is refused, and neither result comes from the client.

202-450 - Topic 209 File Sharing (weight 8)

Updated 29 Aug 2026
Hands-on Lab 26 min Paid

Samba shares, users, and client access

A share with its own password database and two permission layers - and a write refused by one of them while the other still allows it.

202-450 - Topic 209 File Sharing (weight 8)

Updated 29 Aug 2026

202: E-Mail Services2 guides

Postfix, local delivery and aliases, Dovecot for retrieval. Weight 8.

Hands-on Lab 24 min Paid

An MTA that accepts, and one that refuses

The same server, the same client, two messages seconds apart - one delivered and one refused, and the only difference is the recipient.

202-450 - Topic 211 E-Mail Services (weight 8)

Updated 29 Aug 2026
Hands-on Lab 26 min Paid

A message in the queue and why it is still there

Why one failed message is kept and retried while another is thrown away, and the single digit that decides.

202-450 - Topic 211 E-Mail Services (weight 8)

Updated 31 Aug 2026

201: System Maintenance2 guides

Building from source, backup strategy, and telling users what happened. Weight 6.

Hands-on Lab 22 min Paid

Building from source, and what it leaves behind

Three commands put a program on the machine that the package manager has never heard of - and taking it back off is harder than putting it on.

201-450 - Topic 206 System Maintenance (weight 6)

Updated 29 Aug 2026
Hands-on Lab 24 min Paid

A backup you have actually restored

Two full snapshots for the price of one, proved by inode number - and the restore that is the only thing making either of them a backup.

201-450 - Topic 206 System Maintenance (weight 6)

Updated 31 Aug 2026

Readiness1 guide

Two papers, thirteen topic areas, and which of them actually carry the marks.

Concepts 14 min Paid

Two papers, and where the marks actually are

The question pool and the exam blueprint disagree, and the gap is biggest on the heaviest topic in the certification.

Both exams

Updated 29 Aug 2026

Command Cheat Sheets1 sheet

Searchable references for the services 201 and 202 expect you to run.

Reference 10 min

LPIC-2 command cheat sheet

Kernel, storage and services - each proved rather than described.

modprobe · lvextend · mdadm · dig

Updated 29 Aug 2026