Red Hat Certified Engineer (RHCE) Certification:

Overview

This guide provides information candidates may use in preparing to take the RHCT or RHCE exam. Red Hat is not responsible for the content or accuracy of other guides, books, online resources, or any other information provided by organizations or individuals other than Red Hat Global Learning Services. Red Hat reserves the right to change this Guide when appropriate, and candidates who have enrolled in forthcoming classes or exams are advised to check this guide periodically for changes.

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Performance-based Exams

The Red Hat Certified Engineer (RHCE) and Red Hat Certified Technician (RHCT) exams are performance-based evaluations of Red Hat Enterprise Linux system administration skills and knowledge. Candidates perform a number of routine system administration tasks and are evaluated on whether they have met specific objective criteria. Performance-based testing means that candidates must perform tasks similar to what they must perform on the job.

Prospective employers of RHCEs and RHCTs should verify any and all claims by people claiming to hold one of these certificates by requesting their certificate number.

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Preparation for the RHCE Exams

Red Hat encourages all candidates for RHCE to consider taking one or more of its official training courses to help prepare for the RHCE or RHCT exam. Attendance in these classes is not required, and one can choose to take just an exam. Many successful candidates who have come to class already possessing substantial skills and knowledge have reported that the class made a positive difference for them.

To help you determine the best courses to take, Red Hat provides

While attending Red Hat's classes can be an important part of one's preparation to take the RHCE or RHCT exam, 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's OS products are available. Red Hat does not officially endorse any as preparation guides for the RHCE exams. Nevertheless, you may find additional reading deepens understanding and can prove helpful.

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Components of the RHCE Exams

For RHCE exams given on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3 and higher, the exam is organized as follows:

Troubleshooting and System Maintenance — 2.5 hours
Installation and Configuration — 3.0 hours

In order to earn RHCE, one must successfully complete all the RHCT-level Troubleshooting and System Maintenance requirements, and successfully complete enough additional RHCE items to earn a score of 80 or higher overall on the section.

In addition, one must score 70 or higher on the RHCT items of Installation and Configuration, and 70 or higher on the RHCE components of that section. We describe the skills associated with RHCE below.

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Study Points for the RHCE Exam

Prerequisite skills for RHCE

Candidates should possess the following skills, as they may be necessary in order to fulfill requirements of the RHCT and RHCE exams:

use standard command line tools (e.g., ls, cp, mv, rm, tail, cat, etc.) to create, remove, view, and investigate files and directories
use grep, sed, and awk to process text streams and files
use a terminal-based text editor, such as vim or nano, to modify text files
use input/output redirection
understand basic principles of TCP/IP networking, including IP addresses, netmasks, and gateways for IPv4 and IPv6
use su to switch user accounts
use passwd to set passwords
use tar, gzip, and bzip2
configure an email client on Red Hat Enterprise Linux
use text and/or graphical browser to access HTTP/HTTPS URLs
use lftp to access FTP URLs

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RHCE skills

Troubleshooting and System Maintenance

RHCEs must demonstrate the RHCTskills listed and should be able to:

use the rescue environment provided by first installation CD
diagnose and correct boot failures arising from bootloader, module, and filesystem errors
diagnose and correct problems with network services (see Installation and Configuration below for a list of these services)
add, remove, and resize logical volumes
diagnose and correct networking services problems where SELinux contexts are interfering with proper operation.

Installation and Configuration

RHCEs must demonstrate the RHCT-level skills listed above, and they must be capable of configuring the following network services:

HTTP/HTTPS
SMB
NFS
FTP
Web proxy
SMTP
IMAP, IMAPS, and POP3
SSH
DNS (caching name server, slave name server)
NTP

For each of these services, RHCEs must be able to:

install the packages needed to provide the service
configure SELinux to support the service
configure the service to start when the system is booted
configure the service for basic operation
Configure host-based and user-based security for the service

RHCEs must also be able to:

configure hands-free installation using Kickstart
implement logical volumes at install-time
use iptables to implement packet filtering and/or NAT
use PAM to implement user-level restrictions

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* Standard Track

The Standard Track consists of three courses -- RH033, RH133, RH253 -- and is aimed at persons who need more review of key concepts or who are new to both UNIX and Linux.

RH033 Red Hat Linux Essentials targets IT professionals with no prior UNIX or Linux experience, and covers skills to prepare for RH133, including shell and command line essentials.

RH131 and RH133 Red Hat System Administration are designed for those wanting to prepare for professional responsibilities as a Linux systems administrator at the Technician level. You'll learn all the skills required to manage a Linux workstation and attach it to a corporate network, including configuration of client-side network services. Prerequisites include networking fundamentals and internetworking with TCP/IP, widely available from reputable training vendors or through self-study. RH133 now includes the RHCT Exam on the last half of the last day.

RH253 Red Hat Linux Networking and Security Administration is designed for those who desire to build skills at configuring and administering a Red Hat Linux server running key enterprise network services and security. Prerequisites include RH133 or equivalent skills.

** Rapid Track

The Rapid Track consists of one course -- RH300 Red Hat Rapid Track Course (and RHCE Exam) -- and is aimed at persons who are experienced UNIX and Linux users, networking specialists, and system administrators and need specific Red Hat Enterprise Linux training to pass the RHCE Exam (which is included).

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