Finally passed 010 160 after two attempts — here's what actually helped

by Ravi S. 3 views3 replies
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Ravi S.OP
May 27, 2026

So I just got my passing score on the LPI Linux Essentials (010 160) yesterday and honestly I'm still a little shocked. Failed my first attempt back in March by 8 points — I thought I knew Linux well enough from tinkering at home but the exam absolutely humbled me. The filesystem hierarchy questions and the command line options stuff were way harder than I expected.

What made the difference the second time was being really systematic about it. I spent about 4 weeks studying, roughly 45 minutes a day. The biggest game-changer was grinding through a solid 010 160 practice test repeatedly until I was consistently hitting 85%+ before I rescheduled. I also found a study guide that broke down the five topic domains clearly — don't skip the open source community section, I almost did and it shows up more than you'd think.

Happy to share more details on what I focused on. Anyone else currently prepping for this one? What's tripping you up?

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Sarah M.
May 27, 2026
The exam tips I wish someone gave me earlier: pay close attention to which commands need sudo and which don't, and know your basic vi keybinds even if you hate vi. They love those. Also the hardware and software section is lighter than the study guide makes it seem — don't over-invest time there. I passed first try with about 3 weeks of focused prep.
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Mike_T
May 28, 2026
Congrats! I'm sitting mine in about three weeks and the permissions stuff is killing me. chmod, chown, the numeric vs symbolic notation — my brain just doesn't retain it. Did you have a good way of drilling that specifically? I've been making flashcards but it's not sticking the way I'd like it to.
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Mike_T
May 28, 2026
Eight points the first time and still came back for it — that's the right attitude. Most people give up after a fail. Marking this thread to follow since I start studying next month. Thanks for posting an honest breakdown instead of just the generic 'study hard and you'll pass' stuff.

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