How to Prepare for Red Hat Certified System Administrator (RHCSA) Exam?

RHCSA certification is one of the most notable Red Hat certifications. So, if you are willing to obtain this certification and give your career a new dimension, then the following Red Hat Certified System Administrator exam preparation guide is just right for you.

Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is one of the most used operating systems developed by Red Hat, especially for businesses. This operating system can be used on desktops, servers, hypervisors, or the cloud. Red Hat is one of the most popular Linux distributions in the world and is used by over 90% of Fortune 500 companies across different industries such as airlines, healthcare companies, internet service providers and commercial banks. So, the increasing popularity of Red Hat has resulted in higher demand for Red Hat certifications.

RHCSA certification is one of the pricey IT certifications that demand a considerable investment of hard work and time. Therefore, the first thing that should be on your mind is to prepare mentally for the examination. So, we’ve curated this RHCSA exam preparation guide for you to prepare you for the RHCSA exam. Let’s begin with an overview of the RHCSA exam!

Red Hat Certified System Administrator (RHCSA) Exam Overview

For the RHCSA certificate, you will have to appear for an examination that has a duration of 2 hours and 30 minutes. The examination format for this Red Hat Linux Certification would involve a practical examination in which you would have to deal with hands-on assignments.

The assignments are based on the real tasks which Red Hat Enterprise Linux server administrators have to deal with regularly in a professional environment. The examination contains somewhere between 10 to 15 assignments that have the maximum marking of 300. The passing score for the examination is 210. The basic information of the Red Hat Certified System Administrator (RHCSA) exam can be presented as follows.

Similar to other certification examinations, the Red Hat Certified System Administrator (RHCSA) examination also requires specific certifications. The prerequisites for Red Hat Certified System Administrator exam preparation can be presented as follows.

• Red Hat Certified Engineer (RHCE) certification and other Red Hat certification.
• Review of RHCSA examination objectives.
• Proper study materials and training resources.
• Minimum hardware specifications of a Dual Core system having 80GB storage and 4GB RAM with one Ethernet card at the minimum and internet connection.
• Previous real-time experience in Linux server administration.

The exam objectives that you should take into account for RHCSA exam preparation would be related to the skills needed from a Red Hat Certified System Administrator. The exam objectives could be presented as follows:

• Comprehensive knowledge and practical experience with essential tools for file handling, command-line environments, directories, and documentation.
• Configuration of local storage using logical volumes and partitions.
• Operation of running systems with knowledge of different processes, control of services, booting into different run levels and starting and stopping virtual machines.
• Deployment, configuration, and maintenance of the system with tasks such as software installation, core services, and updates.
• Creation and configuration of file systems and file system attribute including encryption, network file systems, permissions, and access control lists.
• Security management with knowledge in SELinux configuration and basic firewalls.
• Management of users and groups with the implementation of the centralized directory for authentication.

Aspired to become Red Hat Certified Engineer? Here we bring the comprehensive Red Hat Certified Engineer exam preparation guide, that will help you prepare and pass the certification exam.

A Detailed Guide for Red Hat Certified System Administrator Examination Preparation

RHCSA exam preparation could be a highly formidable work. On the other hand, you need to relax and just find the appropriate route for preparation! Since RHCSA examination is a considerably difficult exam, you need to prepare comprehensively. Therefore, you can make the most of this Red Hat Certified System Administrator exam preparation guide.

• Training is crucial

The first and foremost aspect in effective preparation for examination is training. The examination for Red Hat Certified System Administrator certificate would involve practical hands-on assignments. So, training could help evaluate completely about your performance in the tasks alongside providing access to insights related to the various concepts associated with exam objectives. You could make the most of RHCSA online course from Whizlabs that is tailored completely concerning RHCSA exam objectives.

However, you need to be aware that the questions asked in the exam could not be the same as the ones you may have practiced during training. If you are fluent in the basic concepts related to the exam objectives, then you could be able to deal with different types of questions. All you need to do is establish close contact with the various aspects of Red Hat Linux server administration to improve your experience. Practicing with different good books for RHCSA preparations can help improve your hands-on experience with practice questions.

• Create a home lab

The most important part of this preparation guide for RHCSA certification exam is a practical experience. The practical questions that will be asked in the examination have to be addressed with previous experience in a real-time environment. So, you need a home lab that can provide the much needed flexible environment to practice and prepare for the test. Therefore, you can prepare a home lab by following the same steps.

• Download a virtual box that can help you for installation of Red Hat.
• Download the Red Hat .iso file or Centos version which relates to the RHEL 7.1 version. This is essential because the different versions of Red Hat are unique and you need the environment for practice to be close to the exam environment.
• The next step in your Red Hat Certified System Administrator exam preparation is to set up three virtual machines for developing the perfect lab to practice. The three virtual machines would have to be a client, one IPA, and one server.
• The three virtual machines should be created in unison with the host machine in the same network. This can provide flexibility for attending tasks which are characterized by client-server structure. Another important aspect to note here in this Red Hat Certified System Administrator exam preparation guide is that you have to configure a host-only network for using virtual machines.

The preparation guide for the RHCSA certification exam would also reflect on the process for setting up the server-side. This is a reliable way to practice and get ready for the examination even if there are topics in the exam objectives which do not require configuration of server-side. The first process would be the set the NFS server that can help in practicing connection of a client to the server. The second step involves setting up a CIFS (Samba) server that can help in practicing the connection of the client to this server. The next step in your practice would be setting up and configuration of the LDAP server to ensure user authentication.

• Focus on practical assignments

Reading for Red Hat Certified System Administrator exam preparation would not be quite helpful in qualifying the examination. Since you will be dealing with practical aspects and you would not be getting multiple-choice questions, you will have to perform on practical assignments. Therefore, you need to be highly comprehensive in your practical experience in important areas for this Red Hat Linux certification. Here are some of the areas which you should practice effectively to clear the RHCSA examination.

• Changing lost root password because it can render the machine unbootable, thereby ending your exam early with only a zero to spare.
• Configuration of a yum repository to install different external packages for solving certain questions.
• Configuration of a network connection in your machine so that it can help with tasks that require connection with other machines such as LDAP, NFS, CIFS, IPA, and yum repository.
• Knowledge of configuration of local storage for creating or resizing partitions and LVM to save a lot of time for the examination.

• Emphasis on logic

The massive body of study materials required for Red Hat Certified System Administrator exam preparation can appear as a daunting task to complete. In addition to the topics involved in the RHCSA exam syllabus, you would have to learn more about the different commands required for server administration. Therefore, it can be extremely difficult to learn all this stuff. How can this problem be solved? On the other hand, you can make an effort to understand the logic behind each step of different processes and tasks that you practice during the training.

This is a helpful initiative to learn every command by understanding the reason behind each command. So, the next time you are presented with a problem, and then you can be able to find reasonable solutions that can help in finding the right command at the right time. You could also be able to practice them effectively regularly and gradually; you will have the required fluency needed for Red Hat Certified System Administrator examination.

• Participation in the Red Hat learning community

Your Red Hat Certified System Administrator exam preparation could get boring after a certain point of time. However, you need to keep advancing for a foolproof preparation for the RHCSA exam. Therefore, finding other people who are going through the same exam preparation that you are is a reliable alternative for keeping your hopes high in the preparation.

The Red Hat Learning Community is a special platform for helping candidates to learn together and exchange resources. Whenever you are stuck with doubt, you could be able to interact with others to find a credible option for self-learning. However, you should always make an effort to follow the official information and learning resources provided by Red Hat to sustain your credibility.

Expert Tips for the RHCSA Exam Preparation

Apart from following the Red Hat Certified System Administrator exam preparation guide, it is essential to take note of the important tips which could help in preparing easily.

• Know the exam perfectly

As discussed above, you need to have a complete awareness of the examination’s overview. You should always take note of the exam objectives regularly because they are updated sometimes. For example, minor changes in the operating system on which you would be taking the examination. Therefore, you have to be aware of these objectives to prepare effectively.

• Time management

Establish a habit of checking each question and apply this in the preparation stage also. In addition to this, you should not focus on one question for more than 10 minutes. This can help you attend all questions and make sure that they are correctly addressed.

• Classify the questions

Make a habit of reading all the questions first and then classifying questions based on task type. This can help you find any dependencies among questions and solve the important questions first. Destructive tasks should be addressed first because you may need to reboot the system after each question.

Closing Words

As observed from the above Red Hat Certified System Administrator exam preparation guide, it is essential to be updated with the exam objectives and format. Learning resources and continuous practice could be exceptional requirements which can help your preparation effectively. The RHCSA certificate has become a highly demanded certification in the IT industry that can help in improving knowledge of basic skills for server administration.

You can gain access to multiple opportunities in this field and make the most of your credential. Furthermore, you need to be sure that you have access to reliable resources and good information and proper guidance. To help you in your RHCSA certification preparation, we offer an exam-oriented RHCSA online course so you could be well prepared to face the exam.

Join us now to become a Red Hat Certified System Administrator!

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About Pavan Gumaste

Pavan Rao is a programmer / Developer by Profession and Cloud Computing Professional by choice with in-depth knowledge in AWS, Azure, Google Cloud Platform. He helps the organisation figure out what to build, ensure successful delivery, and incorporate user learning to improve the strategy and product further.

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