117-201 Exam Guide: Verify the Legacy Code Before You Study
117-201 is a past LPIC-2 Exam 201 code, not the current Exam 201 code listed by Linux Professional Institute. Its legacy objectives focused on advanced Linux administration across capacity planning, the kernel, startup, filesystems, storage, networking, and maintenance. This guide helps candidates make the important first decision: determine whether they are pursuing a historical certification path or preparing for the current 201-450 exam, then select objectives, materials, and scheduling steps that match that decision.
Is 117-201 still the exam you should schedule?
117-201 should be treated as a legacy exam code. LPI identifies the current LPIC-2 Exam 201 code as 201-450, paired with 202-450, while its FAQ identifies 117-201 as a past code. Confirm the code shown in your certification record, voucher information, or Pearson VUE scheduling account before buying a voucher or committing to a study plan.
The distinction matters because exam objectives change. The current LPIC-2 objectives page is version 4.5 and lists Exam 201 as 201-450. The older LPIC-2 Objectives V4 page contains the historical 117-201-era structure and explicitly warns that this is an outdated version no longer available since August 31st, 2017.
If your goal is a current LPIC-2 certification, use the current objectives rather than a 117-201 study product. If you are researching an old result, transcript, or certification history, use the legacy objectives only to interpret what that code covered. Do not assume that material labelled 117-201 prepares you for 201-450.
What certification outcome does Exam 201 support?
Exam 201 is one half of LPIC-2, LPI’s second-level professional certification. LPIC-2 validates the ability to administer small to medium-sized mixed networks, including Linux and other client environments. Passing Exam 201 alone does not produce LPIC-2 certification: candidates must pass both Exam 201 and Exam 202 and hold an active LPIC-1 certification.
The broader capability includes advanced system administration involving the Linux kernel, system startup, maintenance, block storage, filesystems, networking, authentication, and system security. LPIC-2 also covers fundamental network services such as DHCP, DNS, SSH, web services, FTP, NFS, Samba, and email delivery across the two exams.
The historical objectives describe a practical administrator who can plan, implement, maintain, secure, and troubleshoot a small mixed network; supervise assistants; and advise management on automation and purchases. That description is a useful way to understand the level of responsibility, but it is not a substitute for checking the current objective document.
Who is the intended candidate?
The exam serves Linux administrators who already have command-line and basic administration skills and are moving toward responsibility for servers and a small or medium-sized site. LPI describes its certifications as vendor-independent and distribution-neutral, so preparation should emphasize transferable administration concepts rather than memorizing one distribution’s graphical tools.
An active LPIC-1 certification is required to receive LPIC-2. LPI’s certification summary states that LPIC-2 requires passing Exams 201 and 202. The exams may be taken in either order according to the historical objectives, but both requirements and the active LPIC-1 condition must be satisfied for the certification outcome.
Before studying, write down your intended outcome: current LPIC-2, historical code verification, or broader Linux administration practice. Candidates pursuing current certification should start with the current 201-450 and 202-450 objectives. Candidates investigating 117-201 should avoid confusing old objective terminology with the current blueprint.
What skills did the 117-201-era blueprint measure?
The legacy Exam 201 blueprint was organized into seven areas: capacity planning, Linux kernel, system startup, filesystems and devices, advanced storage device administration, networking configuration, and system maintenance. These areas tested operational judgment as well as knowledge of commands, configuration files, boot components, storage tools, and troubleshooting methods.
Capacity planning covered measuring and troubleshooting resource usage with weight 6 in the objective 200.1 Measure and Troubleshoot Resource Usage domain, and predicting future resource needs with weight 2 in the objective 200.2 Predict Future Resource Needs domain. The published knowledge list includes tools such as iostat, vmstat, netstat, ps, lsof, top, uptime, and sar, along with concepts such as blocked processes, I/O, and resource exhaustion.
The Linux Kernel topic included kernel components with weight 2 in the objective 201.1 Kernel components domain, compiling a Linux kernel with weight 3 in the objective 201.2 Compiling a Linux kernel domain, and runtime management and troubleshooting with weight 4 in the objective 201.3 Kernel runtime management and troubleshooting domain. The stated knowledge includes kernel documentation, module utilities, initramfs tools, Make targets, .config, depmod, and DKMS.
System Startup included customizing startup with weight 3 in the objective 202.1 Customizing system startup domain, system recovery with weight 4 in the objective 202.2 System recovery domain, and alternate bootloaders with weight 2 in the objective 202.3 Alternate Bootloaders domain. The objectives reference SysV init, systemd, GRUB, BIOS, UEFI, initramfs, /boot/, /boot/efi/, and recovery operations.
Filesystem and Devices included operating the Linux filesystem with weight 4 in the objective 203.1 Operating the Linux filesystem domain, maintaining a Linux filesystem with weight 3 in the objective 203.2 Maintaining a Linux filesystem domain, and creating and configuring filesystem options with weight 2 in the objective 203.3 Creating and configuring filesystem options domain. The knowledge areas include ext2, ext3, ext4, XFS, Btrfs awareness, fsck, mkfs, dumpe2fs, xfsdump, xfsrestore, tune2fs, debugfs, smartd, and smartctl.
Advanced Storage Device Administration included configuring RAID with weight 3 in the objective 204.1 Configuring RAID domain, adjusting storage device access with weight 2 in the objective 204.2 Adjusting Storage Device Access domain, and Logical Volume Manager with weight 3 in the objective 204.3 Logical Volume Manager domain. The RAID objective includes RAID 0, 1, and 5. The listed LVM skills include creating, resizing, renaming, removing, and activating physical volumes, volume groups, and logical volumes, plus snapshots.
Networking Configuration included basic networking configuration with weight 3 in the objective 205.1 Basic networking configuration domain, advanced network configuration with weight 4 in the objective 205.2 Advanced Network Configuration domain, and troubleshooting network issues with weight 4 in the objective 205.3 Troubleshooting network issues domain. The published tools include ip, ifconfig, route, arp, ss, netstat, lsof, ping, ping6, nc, tcpdump, and nmap.
System Maintenance included making and installing programs from source with weight 2 in the objective 206.1 Make and install programs from source domain, backup operations with weight 3 in the objective 206.2 Backup operations domain, and notifying users about system issues with weight 1 in the objective 206.3 Notify users on system-related issues domain. The listed source-build tools include gzip, bzip2, xz, tar, configure, make, uname, install, and patch; backup knowledge includes dd, tar, mt, and rsync.
How should you use objective weights?
Use weights to allocate attention, not to predict exact question wording. LPI states that higher objective weights indicate greater relative importance and that higher-weight objectives receive more exam questions. A weight 6 objective therefore deserves more preparation time than a weight 1 objective, but every listed domain still needs coverage.
Start with the highest-weight legacy domains: objective 200.1 Measure and Troubleshoot Resource Usage domain with weight 6; objective 201.3 Kernel runtime management and troubleshooting domain with weight 4; objective 202.2 System recovery domain with weight 4; objective 203.1 Operating the Linux filesystem domain with weight 4; and objective 205.2 Advanced Network Configuration and objective 205.3 Troubleshooting network issues, each with weight 4.
Then cover the weight 3 domains, including kernel compilation, filesystem maintenance, RAID, LVM, basic networking, source installation, and backups. Finish with weight 2 and weight 1 areas, but do not omit them. The official blueprint has a total weight count of 60, and LPI’s FAQ explains that this corresponds to 60 questions for the exam structure described there.
Weights cannot tell you which individual questions will appear or establish a guaranteed passing threshold. LPI states that question difficulty varies and that the number of correct answers needed to reach a passing score of 500 depends on the particular combination of questions. Use the weights to sequence study, then build competence across the complete objective list.
What is the current Exam 201 format?
For current LPIC-2 scheduling decisions, LPI states that each current LPIC-2 exam is 90 minutes long and contains 60 multiple-choice and fill-in-the-blank questions. This is current Exam 201 and Exam 202 information, not evidence that a 117-201 appointment can still be booked.
Each LPI exam is ranked on a scale from 200 to 800, with a passing score of 500. The required number of correct answers is not a fixed percentage because LPI says the question combination and difficulty affect the result. Treat the score scale as an official exam fact, not as a reason to calculate a personal pass guarantee from practice results.
Current LPIC-2 exams are available at VUE test centers in English, German, Japanese, and Brazilian Portuguese. Through OnVUE online delivery, current LPIC-2 exams are available in English and Japanese, and the OnVUE exam interface itself is available in English only according to LPI’s FAQ.
Availability can change by location and delivery channel. Check Pearson VUE for appointments and confirm the language and delivery conditions shown for your selected current exam. Do not assume that a language listed for a test center is also available through OnVUE.
Which study materials are worth using?
Begin with the official objective document that matches the exam code you intend to write. LPI’s Learning Materials are free, designed for teachers and students, and tied to the respective objectives in their current version. Because 117-201 is a past code, current learning material should be used for current 201-450 preparation rather than retrofitted to the old code.
Create an objective checklist with four columns: domain, commands or files, hands-on task, and unresolved questions. Copy the official knowledge areas into the checklist, then add your own notes only after verifying them against the objective page or a reliable distribution manual. This prevents broad Linux reading from replacing targeted preparation.
Use the Learning Materials exercises actively. Read a short explanation, perform the related task in a disposable lab, record the command or configuration change, and restore the system. The LPI materials separate explanations, exercises, and solutions, which supports a cycle of attempt, diagnosis, and correction rather than passive rereading.
For a legacy-code investigation, archive the relevant historical objective page and record the date and code it describes. Do not mix legacy examples such as older bootloader or service terminology with current objectives without labelling the distinction. The official page is the authority when a commercial study guide and the objective document disagree.
How should you build a practical lab?
A disposable Linux lab is the most efficient way to turn Exam 201 topics into administration skill. Use a virtual machine or another environment that can be rebuilt, and practice changes that affect boot, filesystems, networking, storage, and services only where you can safely recover the system. The official objectives describe tasks; your lab should make each task observable and reversible.
Organize the lab around failure-and-recovery exercises. For capacity planning, generate or observe controlled CPU, memory, process, disk, and network activity, then identify which tool reports the relevant symptom. For kernel work, inspect the running kernel and modules, compare configuration information, and document the effect of loading or removing a module.
For startup and storage, practice tracing the path from firmware to bootloader, kernel, initramfs, and service initialization. Work with mounts, UUIDs, swap, filesystem checks, RAID concepts, and LVM concepts in a disposable environment. Record what survives a reboot and what exists only in the current runtime state.
For networking, configure an interface, inspect routes and addresses, test reachability, capture traffic, and isolate whether a failure is local, routing-related, service-related, or filtering-related. Finish each exercise with a short incident note: symptom, evidence, likely cause, corrective action, and verification command. That format is more useful than a list of memorized switches.
What is a sensible study sequence?
Study in dependency order: establish the target code, audit prerequisites, learn resource and kernel fundamentals, then move through startup, filesystems, storage, networking, and maintenance. This sequence connects low-level system behavior to the administration tasks that depend on it and exposes weak foundations before they become expensive review problems.
Phase one is an objective audit. Mark every domain as familiar, partly familiar, or unknown. Verify whether you are preparing for current 201-450 or only documenting historical 117-201 coverage. Check that your LPIC-1 status is active if LPIC-2 is the goal, and identify whether Exam 202 also remains outstanding.
Phase two is measurement and diagnosis. Work through resource usage, kernel components, runtime management, basic networking, and network troubleshooting. Do not merely list commands. For each tool, state what it measures, what a suspicious result could mean, and what second source of evidence would confirm the diagnosis.
Phase three is recovery and persistence. Study startup, recovery, bootloaders, filesystem operation and maintenance, RAID, LVM, and device access. After each lab, reboot or recreate the relevant condition and verify the result. Candidates often remember a repair command but forget whether the configuration is persistent or whether the filesystem was checked safely.
Phase four is administration workflow. Practice source installation, backups, notifications, and written change records. A backup exercise is incomplete until you can identify what was backed up, where it was written, how you would restore it, and what evidence confirms that the archive or image is usable.
Phase five is assessment. Use the objective checklist to produce your own short-answer prompts and command-identification exercises. Review every wrong answer by objective, not by topic title alone. If errors cluster around one high-weight domain, return to the lab instead of simply repeating the same questions.
Which preparation mistakes waste the most time?
The costliest mistake is studying 117-201 as though it were the current exam. The code is historical, and LPI lists current Exam 201 as 201-450. A second mistake is preparing only Exam 201 while assuming it grants LPIC-2; the certification requires both 201 and 202 plus an active LPIC-1 certification.
Avoid treating objective weights as a pass formula. A weight 6 domain is not permission to ignore weight 1 or weight 2 objectives, and a strong practice score does not guarantee a passing result. LPI’s score guidance makes clear that question difficulty and the particular question combination affect the number of correct answers needed.
Do not memorize isolated commands without understanding the state they change. For example, distinguish a live kernel or network change from a persistent configuration, a mounted filesystem from an entry intended for future mounts, and a backup command from a tested restoration process.
Do not use leaked questions, exam dumps, or claims of guaranteed answers as a study method. They cannot establish that your knowledge matches the active objectives, and memorization does not guarantee passing. Use the published objectives, official learning materials, and legal practice work instead.
Finally, avoid relying on one distribution’s defaults as universal Linux behavior. LPI describes the exams as vendor-independent and distribution-neutral. Learn the purpose of a file, utility, or subsystem and then note distribution-specific differences separately.
How can you decide whether you are ready?
You are closer to readiness when you can explain a symptom, choose evidence, perform a controlled change, and verify the result without consulting a step-by-step recipe. For each objective, require yourself to identify the relevant files and utilities, describe the administrator’s goal, and complete at least one lab or written troubleshooting exercise.
Use three readiness tests. First, perform a blank-page recall test: write the objective’s key commands, files, and concepts without opening notes. Second, perform a recovery test: deliberately begin with an incorrect configuration or unavailable resource and document how you would isolate it. Third, perform a transfer test: explain how the same principle applies when the distribution or service defaults differ.
Review weak areas by objective weight. A gap in the objective 200.1 Measure and Troubleshoot Resource Usage domain with weight 6 should be addressed before a small terminology gap in the objective 206.3 Notify users on system-related issues domain with weight 1, while still closing both gaps before the appointment.
Do not schedule from confidence alone. Confirm the exact current exam code, delivery channel, language, location, voucher conditions, and appointment information through the official scheduling route. If your account or voucher still refers to 117-201, resolve that discrepancy with LPI or Pearson VUE before proceeding.
What should you do next?
Your next action is to verify the target code, not to buy a 117-201 dump or begin an undated study plan. Once the code is confirmed, create the matching objective checklist, audit LPIC-1 status and Exam 202 requirements, and schedule only after the official delivery and availability information matches your plan.
For a current LPIC-2 attempt, open the current Exam 201 and Exam 202 objective pages, select the official Learning Materials for the current version, and build a lab around the weakest high-weight domains. Use Pearson VUE to inspect appointment options and check the language and delivery channel you need.
For a historical 117-201 question, retain the old objective document as a reference and label it clearly as legacy. It can explain what the former code covered, but it should not be used to infer current exam availability or current certification requirements.
Keep a final evidence file containing the objective version, your prerequisite check, lab notes, error log, and scheduling confirmation. That small administrative habit prevents the most avoidable failure: preparing thoroughly for the wrong exam.
Conclusion
117-201 is best approached as a legacy reference point, while current LPIC-2 candidates should verify and prepare for 201-450 and 202-450. The reliable path is straightforward: confirm the code and certification route, use the matching official objectives, prioritize higher-weight domains without ignoring the rest, practise administration in a disposable lab, and verify delivery details through the official scheduling channels. That process protects both study time and the certification decision.
