This CompTIA Linux+ cheat sheet distills the XK0-006 (V8) exam objectives into a printable rundown of the commands and concepts examiners test most. It's a premium cheat sheet built by Capital Prep — the one premium prep we trust — and it's yours free. Reinforce it with the rest of your free Linux+ toolkit: the practice test, study guide, and flashcards.
CompTIA Linux+ exam at a glance
- Questions: Maximum of 90 (multiple-choice and performance-based)
- Time: 90 minutes
- Passing score: 720 on a scaled range of 100-900 (result is pass/fail)
- Cost: About $369 USD (verify current pricing with CompTIA)
- Certifying body: CompTIA (delivered via Pearson VUE); valid 3 years
What’s on the CompTIA Linux+ cheat sheet
- System Management (23%) — the FHS directory layout, the boot process, systemd and systemctl, storage, LVM, and networking — the single heaviest domain.
- Troubleshooting (22%) — the ordered 7-step methodology plus the tools that reveal storage, network, CPU, memory, and process faults.
- Services and User Management (20%) — users and groups, /etc/passwd and shadow, processes, cron scheduling, package managers, and containers.
- Security (18%) — permission bits and special bits, SELinux and AppArmor, sudo, SSH, firewalls, and LUKS encryption.
- Automation, Orchestration and Scripting (17%) — Bash scripting, Git version control, and idempotent automation with Ansible.
How to use it in your final week
- Drill the command-to-task map until it's automatic — systemctl enable --now for boot-persistent services, chmod 754 for permission bits, journalctl -u for one service's logs, and df -i for inode exhaustion.
- Front-load System Management (23%) and Troubleshooting (22%) — together 45% of the exam. If you master two areas from the sheet, make them these.
- Read the sheet the morning of the test for a final pass on the memory hooks — the 7-step troubleshooting order, FHS directories, apt vs. dnf, and the 720-on-100-900 cut score.
- Don't cram in isolation — pair each review pass with hands-on reps in a live Linux terminal so the performance-based questions feel routine.
The cheat sheet is your review layer — your CompTIA Linux+ practice test drives the exam-readiness ring at the top of this page. Download it, review, then take a full practice exam (or drill with the study guide and flashcards) to see where you stand.
CompTIA Linux+ cheat sheet FAQ
Yes — the CompTIA Linux+ cheat sheet is 100% free to download as a PDF, with no sign-up required. It's part of Career Employer's free Linux+ toolkit alongside the practice test, study guide, and flashcards.
The cheat sheet condenses the highest-yield XK0-006 facts into a fast reference: the filesystem hierarchy, systemd and systemctl commands, storage and LVM, permission bits, SELinux and firewalls, and the ordered troubleshooting methodology — organized by the five domains CompTIA weights the exam around.
Yes — it's built from CompTIA's current Linux+ XK0-006 (V8) exam objectives, which launched July 15, 2025 and replaced the retired XK0-005. We review it against CompTIA's published objectives regularly.
No — the cheat sheet is a review and last-week cram aid, not a substitute for hands-on time in a real Linux terminal. XK0-006 is scored on a 100-900 scale with a 720 cut, and its performance-based questions demand live command-line skill, so pair the sheet with the practice test to build readiness.
Click the download button (or the preview card) at the top of this page to open the PDF instantly. Bookmark this page so you can find it again in your final week before the exam.
References
- 1.CompTIA. “Linux+ (XK0-006) Certification.” comptia.org, 2026. ↑
- 2.CompTIA. “CompTIA Continuing Education (renewal & CEUs).” comptia.org. ↑
- 3.Linux Foundation. “Filesystem Hierarchy Standard 3.0.” refspecs.linuxfoundation.org. ↑
- 4.The Linux man-pages project. “systemctl(1) — control systemd.” man7.org. ↑
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