Red Hat Certified Engineer Exam

Experienced Red Hat Enterprise Linux system administrators seeking validation of their skills or require a certification either by their organization or based on a mandate (DoD 8570 directive)

Students who have taken Red Hat System Administration III: Linux Automation with Ansible (RH294) and are on the path to becoming a Red Hat Certified Engineer (RHCE)

Students who are on the path to becoming a Red Hat Certified Architect (RHCA)

Systems administrators who want to demonstrate competency in managing multiple systems

IT professionals who work in a DevOps environment and want to demonstrate competency in automating part of their workload

Red Hat Certified Engineers who are noncurrent or who are about to become noncurrent and wish to recertify as RHCEs

Experienced Linux IT professionals who currently have RHCSA certification and are interested in earning an RHCE certification

As an RHCE exam candidate, you should be able to handle all responsibilities expected of a Red Hat Certified System Administrator, including these tasks:

Be able to perform all tasks expected of a Red Hat Certified System Administrator

Understand and use essential tools

Operate running systems

Configure local storage

Create and configure file systems

Deploy, configure, and maintain systems

Manage users and groups

Manage security

Understand core components of Ansible :

Inventories

Modules

Variables

Facts

Plays

Playbooks

Configuration files

Use provided documentation to look up specific information about Ansible modules and commands

Install and configure an Ansible control node :

Install required packages

Create a static host inventory file

Create a configuration file

Create and use static inventories to define groups of hosts

Manage parallelism

Configure Ansible managed nodes :

Create and distribute SSH keys to managed nodes

Configure privilege escalation on managed nodes

Validate a working configuration using ad hoc Ansible commands

Script administration tasks:

Create simple shell scripts

Create simple shell scripts that run ad hoc Ansible commands

Create Ansible plays and playbooks

Know how to work with commonly used Ansible modules

Use variables to retrieve the results of running a command

Use conditionals to control play execution

Configure error handling

Create playbooks to configure systems to a specified state

Use Ansible modules for system administration tasks that work with:

Software packages and repositories

Services

Firewall rules

File systems

Storage devices

File content

Archiving

Scheduled tasks

Security

Users and groups

Work with roles

Create roles

Download roles from an Ansible Galaxy and use them

Use advanced Ansible features

Create and use templates to create customized configuration files

Use Ansible Vault in playbooks to protect sensitive data

As with all Red Hat performance-based exams, configurations must persist after reboot without intervention.

Red Hat encourages you to consider taking Red Hat System Administration I (RH124), Red Hat System Administration II (RH134), and Red Hat System Administration III: Linux Automation (RH294) to help prepare. Attendance in these classes is not required; students can choose to take just the exam.

While attending Red Hat classes can be an important part of your preparation, attending class does not guarantee success on the exam. Previous experience, practice, and native aptitude are also important determinants of success.

Many books and other resources on system administration for Red Hat products are available. Red Hat does not endorse any of these materials as preparation guides for exams. Nevertheless, you may find additional reading helpful to deepen your understanding.

• Have either taken both Red Hat System Administration I (RH124) and Red Hat System Administration II (RH134) or RHCSA Rapid Track Course (RH199), or have comparable work experience as a system administrator on Red Hat Enterprise Linux
• Have taken Red Hat System Administration III: Linux Automation (RH294) or have comparable work experience
• Review the Red Hat Certified System Administrator (RHCSA) exam (EX200) objectives
• Review the Red Hat Certified Engineer (RHCE) exam for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 (EX294) objectives

Exam format

This hands-on, practical exam requires you to use Red Hat Ansible Engine to perform real-world tasks. You will be provided with multiple systems and will be required to install and configure Ansible Engine and then use it to perform standard system administration tasks similar to what you would do on the job.

You will be required to create Ansible Playbooks and use those playbooks to configure systems for specific roles and behaviors. Your work will be evaluated by applying the playbooks created during the exam against freshly installed systems and verifying that those systems and services work as specified.

During the exam, you will be provided a list of tasks to accomplish related to the exam objectives. In most cases, the tasks will be described in terms of a specific end state that you must achieve. Your exam will be evaluated on whether your systems meet the criteria specified.

Internet access is not provided during the exam, and you will not be permitted to bring any hard copy or electronic documentation into the exam. This prohibition includes notes, books, or any other materials. For most exams, the documentation that ships with the product is available during the exam.

Scores and reporting

Official scores for exams come exclusively from Red Hat Certification Central. Red Hat does not authorize examiners or training partners to report results to candidates directly. Scores on the exam are usually reported within 3 U.S. business days.

Exam results are reported as total scores. Red Hat does not report performance on individual items, nor will it provide additional information upon request.