Taking the RHCE exam
From Jaymzworld
Contents |
Introduction
For those interested, I'd like to give my take on the RHCE exam if you may be taking it shortly. Unfortunately I can't go into too much detail because I had to sign an NDA, but I'll lay out what I can.
Test overview
The exam was approximately six hours in length. At the time I took it, it consisted of three sections:
- Troubleshooting, with an alotted time of 2.5 hours
- 50 question exam, 1 hour
- Installation and configuration, 2.5 hours. This is the part of the test where most people fail, according to those I took the test with.
There are actually two certifications available here: the RHCT, which is a low level (technician) cert, and the RHCE, which is what I wanted. Certain requirements are tied to the RHCT, and others to the RHCE. You will be told which tasks pertain to which cert, but if you don't achieve RHCT, you can't get RHCE. If you fail at getting the RHCE, you can still attain RHCT.
I took the test with about 6 other people, most of whom taking it for the second time. At least one had taken the week long Red Hat prep course (RH 300) and said that it had helped a lot. I can say that the SmartForce CBT courses I've taken did nothing to prepare me for the exam. They're OK for the LPI exams, but have no insight into what you'll be tested on for RHCE. That being said, if you have the ability to take the RH 300 class, it might be a good idea. The test was very specific in what you were asked to accomplish, and your results are checked using automated scripts, so there's not much room for it "almost" working.
Taking the Exam
The Troubleshooting section was first, and involved two parts. Part one had four required challenges and two optional challenges. If you couldn't do the first challenge, there was no way to accomplish the others. After knocking out the first section, the instructor checks your work using a script, then kickstarts a fresh copy of Red Hat on the machine for the second part of the section. The second part was only a little harder than the first part, and most people finished it in about an hour. However, I had been studying using RH 8, and the test covered RH 9, and there is one important change between the two that, if you're not aware of it, you won't be able to successfully complete the second section of troubleshooting. It would be a good idea to read this document from Guru Labs.
The next section was a 50 question test. Nothing to cover here, it was very basic with no tricks.
Section three was the mother of all labs! Like section 1 it is 2.5 hours, but unlike section 1 you will need the whole alotted time to complete it. Those taking the test a second time remarked that they got more done in the first hour (taking section 3 a second time) than they did in the entire 2.5 hours the first time they took it. Section 3 involves you doing an installation, and then configuring some services. There are specific things to do during the installation, and you also have to be particular about what packages you install because install time counts against your test time (do you really need to install KDE?).
Installation really only counts towards the RHCT certification, as the RHCE targets are networking based. However, there are certain things you can do during the install to save precious time during the configuration section. Once installation is complete, there are a set of RHCT objectives to meet, and a set of RHCE ones. You only need to get a score of 70% for either certification, so you need to plan what you will accomplish for each one if you run short of time. Fortunately I was able to knock everything out. Your main enemy in this section is time.
Conclusion
Overall, I did not find the exam very difficult, just pressure filled and time consuming. Two things I was very worried about were not covered in any depth, so that was a Good Thing (tm).Troubleshooting and the Q&A were surprisingly easy to me, but I've broken a lot of stuff ;-). But you HAVE to know how things interoperate on a Linux system. If a service is supposed to be protected by xinetd, you have to know that xinetd has to have a configuration file for it. If you're setting up a service, and your changes have to survive a reboot, you have to know or remember to ensure that the service will start automatically once configured. If machines from another subnet are not allowed to use a service you've set up, you have to know how to deny them access. The last section requires that you do a lot of things, so you have to watch the clock and know what to skip and what to come back to. Also, having man pages available during the exam was a big help.
Well, that's about it. Just keep in mind that doing SmartForce or having Unix experience will not get you by on this test, it must be Linux experience, the more the better. If you can't take the Red Hat classes, make a home network of some sort, play with it and break it. You must have good administration skills and know how the parts make the whole. To be quite honest, I didn't really do too much to study. I've been using Linux every day for about 3 or 4 years, have set up several networks, and do all administration by hand at the commandline, so there wasn't much they could ask me to do that I haven't already done at some point in time. Basically I relied on my experience. For studying I would suggest getting the documentation that comes with each RH release, such as the Reference Guide, Configuration Guide, and so forth. OK, I'm done pontificating. Good Luck!
