CLE Exam Objectives

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Before scheduling your exam, it's critical that you understand the objectives you will be held accountable for when you take it. The CLE exam objectives include the following:

  • Describe the characteristics of Linux.

  • Use the Linux command-line interface.

  • Manage the Linux file system.

  • Manage Linux applications.

  • Manage Linux network interfaces.

  • Describe NNLS.

  • Perform an NNLS installation.

  • Manage NNLS with Red Carpet.

  • Describe the purpose of eDirectory.

  • Describe how eDirectory works.

  • Perform eDirectory administration tasks .

  • Manage user objects with iManager.

  • View user information with eGuide.

  • Access a Linux server with LUM.

  • Describe the purpose of DirXML.

  • Describe how DirXML works.

  • Install the DirXML Starter Pack on Linux.

  • Implement the Delimited Text driver for DirXML.

  • Implement the eDirectory driver for DirXML.

  • Describe the purpose and architecture of iFolder

  • Install and configure iFolder.

  • Describe the purpose and architecture of Samba.

  • Install and configure Samba.

  • Describe the role and function of NetStorage.

  • Install and configure NetStorage.

  • Identify the benefits of iPrint.

  • Describe how iPrint works.

  • Install and configure iPrint.

  • Print with iPrint.

  • Identify NetMail features.

  • Describe NetMail components .

  • Describe how NetMail works.

  • Install NetMail.

  • Configure and use NetMail.

  • Describe Virtual Office.

  • Install Virtual Office.

  • Configure Virtual Office.

Remember from Chapter 1, "Introduction to the CLE Practical Exam," that the CLE Practicum is scenario based. Instead of a list of questions that test your knowledge, you will be presented with a deployment scenario in the form of a Business Requirements Document (BRD). The BRD is simply a list of requirements and expectations you must fulfill. You'll notice that the BRD is based on these objectives. However, most Practicum scenarios don't necessarily include all the CLE objectives. You may find that several are omitted.

If you've ever worked as a consultant, you know that working from a BRD is "real life." Consultants generally sit down with their clients when they start a project and come up with some form of BRD (many companies call it a "Statement of Work"). The BRD is usually included in the contract between the consultant and the client.

The BRD serves as protection for both the consultant and the client. It ensures that the work the client wants done is clearly specified. The consultant knows exactly what it is the client expects. If the consultant fails to complete any item specified in the BRD, he or she has breached the contract and may not get paid.

The BRD also serves as protection for the consultant. Once the BRD is established and a bid issued, the client can't make radical changes to the BRD or add items to it. If you've ever hired a contractor to build a house, you know how this works. If you try to make changes to the building specs after construction starts ("Honey, can't we move the bathroom to the other side of the room?"), they will charge you a horrendous change-order fee (or just tell you "no way!"). That's because you're changing the requirements of the contract.

When you sit down to take your CLE practical exam, you will take the role of a consultant who has been hired to deploy an NNLS system. You will be given a scenario in the form of a BRD that you must deploy on a virtual network.

As discussed in Chapter 1, the CLE Practicum is delivered on a series of virtual servers. You need to be absolutely sure you have met each and every requirement specified in the scenario. Remember that the CLE Practicum is a pass/fail exam. If you fail to fulfill a single requirement in the scenario, you will fail the entire exam. I strongly suggest that you review the test-taking strategies presented in Chapter 1 and commit them to memory. Doing so will help you to be in the minority that actually pass the CLE exam!

In addition to memorizing these strategies, you should also practice extensively before going in to take your exam. As alluded to earlier in this chapter, it's relatively easy to deploy individual NNLS products one at a time as we have done in this book. It's much harder to deploy them all at once in a unified system without the help of a book or documentation (and under a time constraint).

Tip

If you get stuck while taking your CLE exam, remember that most screens in iManager, WebAdmin, and Virtual Office have help screens that can help you with specific steps for completing a particular task. Many CLE candidates forget that these are available.


To help you practice, this chapter will present you with a BRD for a hypothetical company. If you really want to pass your CLE exam, you should work through this scenario and try to do it "closed book." Your goal should be to replicate the exam environment as closely as possible.

With this goal in mind, the manner in which this chapter is structured is very different from the preceding chapters. Earlier in this book, you were presented with conceptual information followed by a lab exercise in each chapter. The exercises were written such that each and every scroll and click action was specified for you.

This is a sound model for presenting new information. It's analogous to learning to ride a bicycle by installing training wheels. Just as training wheels help keep the new learner upright, the detailed exercise steps keep you from making mistakes and ensure that you will be able to complete the activity successfully.

However, at some point, you have to take the training wheels off of the bicycle in order to really learn how to ride. With the training wheels off, the learner initially experiences a number of falls and crashes. However, the new rider soon learns how to balance without them and subsequently masters the art of riding a two-wheeled bicycle.

In this chapter, I'm going to "take the training wheels off." You will not be presented with any new information, nor will you be provided with specific steps (welcome to the "real world") for completing the scenario presented. Instead, you will be required to recall information and skills presented previously in the book.

Just as with the bicycle, you will probably run into problems and difficulties, but if you stick with it, you will soon master the NNLS product. It's a painful experience, but it's the only way you can truly progress to the point where you can pass the CLE practical exam. Only when you can complete this scenario without having to check the book or read the NNLS documentation are you sufficiently prepared for the real exam.

If you find yourself lacking while trying to complete this scenario, you should work through it again several times until you can do it without any help. Only then should you schedule your exam. Otherwise, I can pretty much guarantee that your Practicum experience will be a costly waste of time.

As you review the scenario in this chapter, you will notice that it is significantly different from the scenario we used in the lab exercises in this book. To approximate the Practicum experience (and to reduce the complexity of the scenario), I strongly suggest that you start with a fresh server. Yes, this means you should start from scratch. Begin by reinstalling your SLES 8 server using the skills you learned in the early chapters in this book. Then start working on your NNLS deployment.

Tip

In the Practicum, your SLES 8 servers will already be installed for you. I want you to reinstall the operating system for this scenario to ensure that you're working from a clean system.


Let's review the scenario you should complete.

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Novell Certified Linux Engineer (CLE) Study Guide
Novell Certified Linux Engineer (Novell CLE) Study Guide (Novell Press)
ISBN: 0789732033
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2004
Pages: 128
Authors: Robb H. Tracy

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