💡 RHCSA Fact: The RHCSA certification is valid for 3 years and is required before pursuing more advanced Red Hat certifications like RHCE or RHCA!
RHCSA Exam Objectives (RHEL 9)
🔧 System Management
- Boot systems into different targets
- Schedule tasks using cron/at
- Manage local storage with LVM
- Configure SELinux security
🌐 Networking
- Configure IPv4/IPv6 networking
- Manage firewall with firewalld
- Configure SSH key authentication
- Troubleshoot network issues
🛡️ Security
- Manage user/group permissions
- Configure filesystem ACLs
- Implement password policies
- Manage sudo access
Hands-on Lab Environment Setup
# Install VirtualBox and create RHEL 9 VMs
sudo apt install virtualbox -y
# Download RHEL 9 ISO (developer license is free)
wget https://developers.redhat.com/content-gateway/file/rhel-9.0-x86_64-dvd.iso
# Create practice VM with:
# - 2 CPUs
# - 4GB RAM
# - 25GB disk (dynamic allocation)
# - NAT network + Host-only adapter
# After installation:
sudo subscription-manager register --username YOUR_USERNAME
sudo dnf update -y
sudo dnf install -y bash-completion vim-enhanced tmux
Core Skills Practice Exercises
💾 Filesystem Management
Exercise: Create a 500MB logical volume mounted at /mnt/data with XFS
# Solution:
sudo pvcreate /dev/sdb
sudo vgcreate vg_data /dev/sdb
sudo lvcreate -L 500M -n lv_data vg_data
sudo mkfs.xfs /dev/vg_data/lv_data
sudo mkdir /mnt/data
echo "/dev/vg_data/lv_data /mnt/data xfs defaults 0 0" | sudo tee -a /etc/fstab
sudo mount -a
🔐 User Permissions
Exercise: Create group "developers" with ACL write access to /shared
# Solution:
sudo groupadd developers
sudo mkdir /shared
sudo chown root:developers /shared
sudo chmod 2775 /shared # SGID bit preserves group
sudo setfacl -Rm g:developers:rwx /shared
sudo setfacl -dm g:developers:rwx /shared
🌐 Networking
Exercise: Configure static IP 192.168.1.100/24 with DNS 8.8.8.8
# Solution:
nmcli con mod "Wired connection 1" \
ipv4.addresses 192.168.1.100/24 \
ipv4.gateway 192.168.1.1 \
ipv4.dns 8.8.8.8 \
ipv4.method manual
nmcli con up "Wired connection 1"
Exam Preparation Timeline
Week 1-2
- Filesystem navigation
- User/group management
- Basic networking
Week 3-4
- Storage management (LVM)
- Firewall configuration
- Process management
Week 5-6
- SELinux contexts
- Kernel tuning
- Service management
Week 7-8
- Mock exams
- Troubleshooting
- Time management
Essential Commands Cheat Sheet
| Task | Command | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Reset root password | rd.break in grub |
Emergency access |
| Check SELinux context | ls -Z /path |
Security troubleshooting |
| Extend logical volume | lvextend -r -L +1G /dev/vg/lv |
Storage management |
| Persistent route | nmcli connection modify eth0 +ipv4.routes "192.168.2.0/24 10.0.0.1" |
Network configuration |
📚 Recommended Resources
- Official Red Hat Training: RH124, RH134 courses
- Books: "RHCSA/RHCE Red Hat Linux Certification Study Guide"
- Practice Exams: Linux Academy (now A Cloud Guru) RHCSA labs
- Community: Red Hat's
r/redhaton Reddit
Exam Day Tips
1
Reboot systems after major changes to verify persistence
2
Use man -k to find commands if stuck
3
Check time remaining every 30 minutes
4
Verify requirements exactly - capitalization matters!