CompTIA Linux+
Linux system administration, scripting and troubleshooting. Work through the topics from the start of the list to the end. Readiness is calculated from your recorded study, labs, practice, quizzes and troubleshooting.
Overall readiness
0%
Status
Not Started
Topics
4
Recommended study time
34h 20m
Exam readiness: CompTIA Linux+
Not started — Nothing recorded for this certification yet. Study one topic and the score starts moving.
80 points to the 80% exam-ready bar
0 of 4 topics finished · 34h 20m of study left
About 12 weeks away — roughly December 2026, at your planned 180 minutes a week.
What is holding the score back
Study path
Start with the groundwork, then core skills, then the advanced material.
The main body of the certification: the skills the exam tests most.
Harder material that assumes the earlier work is solid.
Reading and watching
Official material from the vendors themselves. Links open in a new tab.
WATCH
- Linux Foundation video channelThe Linux Foundation · video · free
- Professor Messer video channel — general CompTIA training (no dedicated CompTIA Linux+ course)Professor Messer · video · free
READ
Nothing linked yet.
Worked examples
The calculations and procedures this certification expects you to perform, shown step by step with practice items.
Read and set Linux file permissions
A script shows as -rwxr-xr-- . What are its numeric permissions, and what command would make it rwxr-x---?
- 1. Split the stringIgnore the leading file-type character, then take three groups: owner rwx, group r-x, others r--.
- 2. Score each groupread = 4, write = 2, execute = 1. Owner 4+2+1 = 7. Group 4+0+1 = 5. Others 4+0+0 = 4.
- 3. Read the numberThe permissions are 754.
- 4. Build the targetrwx = 7, r-x = 5, --- = 0, so the goal is 750.
Answer: -rwxr-xr-- is 754; chmod 750 script.sh produces rwxr-x---. A 'Permission denied' on your own script is usually a missing execute bit (chmod +x).
Now you try
What is rw-r--r-- numerically?
What does chmod 600 key.pem allow?
Which command changes the owning user?
Build a command line pipeline
Find every failed SSH login in /var/log/auth.log and count them per source address.
- 1. Filter the linesgrep 'Failed password' /var/log/auth.log narrows thousands of lines to the ones that matter.
- 2. Extract the fieldPipe into awk '{print $(NF-3)}' to pull the source IP from each line.
- 3. Group themsort groups identical addresses together; uniq -c then counts each group.
- 4. Rank themsort -nr puts the noisiest address at the top.
Answer: grep 'Failed password' /var/log/auth.log | awk '{print $(NF-3)}' | sort | uniq -c | sort -nr — each command does one job and the pipe passes text along.
Now you try
How would you keep the output for a ticket?
Which command shows a log as it is being written?
What does | actually do?
Practice exam
Randomly generated from 48 questions. Written answers are graded on the idea, not on exact wording.
CompTIA Linux+ practice exam
20 randomly generated questions drawn from 48 in the CompTIA Linux+ bank.
20 questions. Question order and eligible choice order change with every attempt, and answers are saved as you work.
Practice
A fresh selection of practical work each time you generate.
- Troubleshoot: Service bound to localhost onlytroubleshoot
- Compare Repository and Unit filecompare
- Compare ip addr and ss -tulpncompare
- Exam drill: Package management commands and repositoriesexam simulation
CompTIA Linux+ (XK0-005)
Linux system administration, scripting and troubleshooting.
Status: Not Started — no evidence recorded yet
Knowledge readiness
0%Practical readiness
0%Troubleshooting readiness
0%Retention
0%Quiz performance
0%Lab completion
0%Practice completion
0%Overall readiness
0%Domain readiness
Weak domains are listed first.
System Management
0%2 objectives · no evidence yet · weak
Security
0%1 objective · no evidence yet · weak
Scripting
0%1 objective · no evidence yet · weak
Troubleshooting
0%1 objective · no evidence yet · weak
Exam objectives
Objectives are editable data. Edit, add or remove them and readiness recalculates.
- 1.1 — Navigate the filesystem from the shellSystem Management · 1 mapped topic(s)
- 1.2 — Manage packages, services and processesSystem Management · 2 mapped topic(s)
- 2.1 — Manage users, groups and file permissionsSecurity · 1 mapped topic(s)
- 3.1 — Write basic Bash scripts and pipelinesScripting · 1 mapped topic(s)
- 4.1 — Diagnose disk, memory and service failuresTroubleshooting · 1 mapped topic(s)
Exam result
IT PATH never marks an exam as passed. You confirm the result yourself.
No exam results recorded.