What is the format of the LPIC-2 exams?
Per LPI's LPIC-2 overview, the current version is 4.5 with exam codes 201-450 and 202-450. Passing both exams is required. Each 90-minute exam carries 60 multiple-choice and fill-in-the-blank questions. An active LPIC-1 certification is required to receive the LPIC-2 credential, which then stays valid for five years. There are no other prerequisites, and LPI prices each exam at USD $200 in the United States.
What does LPIC-2 exam 201 cover?
Exam 201-450 is the advanced-administration paper. LPI's published topic list runs: Capacity Planning, the Linux Kernel, System Startup, Filesystem and Devices, Advanced Storage Device Administration, Networking Configuration, and System Maintenance. It is the exam for the people who build and keep the machine itself running — kernel compilation and management, boot, storage stacks, and network configuration at the host level.
The fill-in-the-blank items matter here: exact module names, config paths, and command flags are either right or wrong, with no options to eliminate. Sixty questions in 90 minutes leaves 90 seconds per item, so recall speed is the real constraint, not coverage.
What does LPIC-2 exam 202 cover?
Exam 202-450 is the network-services paper. LPI's published topic list runs: Domain Name Server, Web Services, File Sharing, Network Client Management, E-Mail Services, and System Security. Where 201 tests the host, 202 tests what the host serves — DNS zones, web server configuration, NFS and Samba shares, DHCP and PAM on the client side, mail delivery, and the security layer across all of it.
Candidates who administer one stack daily often find the breadth the problem: a web-services specialist still has to answer e-mail and DNS items at the same 90-seconds-per-question pace, and fill-in-the-blank items give no partial credit for approximate syntax.
Can you take the LPIC-2 exams online?
Yes. LPI's overview page lists languages by channel: in VUE test centers the exams run in English, German, Japanese, and Portuguese (Brazilian), and online via OnVUE they run in English and Japanese. OnVUE is Pearson VUE's at-home, remotely proctored delivery — the same exam on your own machine with a remote proctor.
The channel choice has one real constraint: German and Brazilian Portuguese candidates must book a center, because the online route is English and Japanese only. English-speaking candidates can sit either exam from home in either order — there is no required sequence between 201 and 202, only the LPIC-1 prerequisite for the credential itself.
How much do the LPIC-2 exams cost?
LPI's exam pricing page lists LPIC-2: 201 at USD $200 and LPIC-2: 202 at USD $200 under United States pricing, so the pair runs $400. LPI prices per country through its country selector, so figures outside the US differ, and vouchers are purchased up front through LPI's voucher channel and redeemed when scheduling each sitting. Both exams must be passed within the same LPIC-1 validity period for the credential to post, and a failed attempt costs the same $200 to retake — the budget math argues for booking when the preparation is done, not before.
Who LPIC-2 is (and is not) for
Take it if the role asks for proven advanced Linux administration in mixed networks — the step above LPIC-1 on the way to senior sysadmin, infrastructure, or site-reliability roles, with a five-year validity and a vendor-neutral badge.
Skip it as a first move if the job description is container-only (CKA is the tighter match) or if LPIC-1 is still ahead of you — the LPIC-2 credential cannot post without it. And if the deadline behind the credential is closer than your study calendar, Exam Assist handles the LPIC-2 sittings end to end, with the service fee due only after the agreed result posts.