This New year 2014 would have not have been better for me as on 2nd January 2014 I got a gift from Red hat and that in the form of Red hat certification results. I got an email from the Red hat team that I have earned mine EX200 & EX300 Certification and my certificates were also attached with the mail. I scored 90% marks in both the exams and cleared my RHCSA & RHCE exam in first attempt only.
I gave both my RHCSA & RHCE exam on 31st December 2013 on the gap 1 hour and being truthful, I have opted for a double attempt for safe side and single exam cost more. Don’t think that It ruined my New year party as my exam was on 31st December. After my exam I partied all night as from past 1 month I was busy studying for a Red hat exam on my extra time. 🙂
RHCSA & RHCE Exam Fees
In India I think Red hat exam fees are low as compared to other countries. I paid a total of Rs.22,500 with taxes. For RHCSA and RHCE exam fees are Rs.10,000 each and rest is tax.
You can check the latest fees detail of the Red hat exam at an Official Red hat site too.
My Preparation for RHCSA & RHCE Exam
I started taking a weekend class in April 2013 from one of the local institutes in our area and was able to complete my course around October. You must be thinking why it took 7 months to complete a 3-month course.
Recommended Post: RHEL 7 Books for RHCE & RHCSA
First of all, I was taking weekend classes so I was getting only 2 days a week to learn Linux, secondly due to some of my classmates, which have a habit of coming late into the classroom, make my 2-hour class only 1:30 her class, and last but not the least I have a very old habit of bunking classes from my Engineering days. 🙂
Now I am sure you know why it took too long to complete my course, so don’t ask again in your comments.
Apart from Red hat books and class notes, I also referred some other books for my preparation of Red hat exams EX200 and EX300 (Red hat Certified System Administrator and Red hat Certified Engineer) which are listed below.
Book 1 – Enterprise Linux® 6 Administration ( Real World Skills for Red Hat Administrators) by Sander van Vugt: This is one of the good books to read not only for your administration task but also for preparation of your Red hat certified system administrator & certified engineer exam.
This book also contains advanced Red Hat Enterprise Linux configuration and bash shell scripting apart from the basic configuration.
Book 2 – Hands-on Guide to the Red Hat® Exams by Damian Tommasino: This is one of the best books for RHCSA and RHCE preparation and I considered this book for my studies and most of the time I read this book only for my preparation.
I will advise you to consider this book for your study too, as this book is easy to understand and there are lots of questions after every chapter to give you a good understanding and also helps from an interview point of view.
Book 3- RHCSA/RHCE Red Hat Linux Cert guide by Michael Jang: This is also one of the best books available on the market, but I was able to read this book only a little bit. It has some of the best practice paper for your exam.
Update: Recommended Book
Tips for RHCSA & RHCE
1. Practice, Practice, Practice!!: I will request you to practice for all the topics given in the Red Hat official syllabus for RHCSA and RHCE. Even after doing lots of practice, I missed one command and was not able to score 100%. Practice more for LVM, HTTP, SCSI, kernel upgrade, etc. These are very good topics to learn from your career and organizational point of view.
2. Read every question properly and use the same naming convention as given on the exam.
3. Use either IP tables or TCP wrapper in exam. You can use either. Use whatever you are compatible with.
4. Reboot your system wherever necessary and manage time carefully.
5. Last but not the least, don’t panic and give your exam confidently.
Hope this help in your RHCSA & RHCE exam. Please don’t ask any questions in the comments which I have faced in the exam as I will not be able to give answers for them. I have signed Nondisclosure agreement (NDA) with Red Hat. You can ask about any topic of the syllabus if you are having any confusion, and I can help with that. Good luck for your Red hat exam.
Visham Kumar
Dear sir,
i am in class 11.sir i am highly interested in doing RHCE. sir please tell me what to do from class 11 only for getting RHCE certificate.
Pawan Bahuguna
Anytime is good. It’s just an OS like Windows.
Prashant Sharma
Hi Pawan,
Have a good day!!
I appreciates your comments for RHCSA & RHCE.
I have a book Asghar Ghori – RHCSA & RHCE Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 Training and Exam Preparation Guide – 2015
My question, have you provide any dumps for RHCSA & RHCE exams ?
If yes, please revert
Regards
Prashant
Pawan Bahuguna
That is a great book. If you need practice papers, you can check http://amzn.to/2rrB4HP
Fayaz
Hi, bro if u have soft copies of these books can u please forward it to me.. [email protected] please, i completed redhat books but i need extra books to practice before i take my exam.
Pawan Bahuguna
Sorry, I don’t have soft copies.
Venkatewaran
Hi Pawan,
As Of now, I have 4 months free time and i’m currently not working with any company. Is it possible to accomplish Rhcsa and Rhce in one shot.? I’m plan to join nearby institute. I have some basic linux skills like file manipulation and partitioning.
Thanks & Regards,
Venkateswaran
Pawan Bahuguna
Yes, why not. If you give your 100%, you can clear both the exams in one go.
Good luck.
Amardeep Kukreja
HI Pawan,
Where can i get sample exam questions without subscribing to braindumps to certificationking etc. These days there are no pdf dumps online available for RHCSA
Pawan Bahuguna
Hi Amardeep,
You can try our eBook if you want. It is available on Amazon.
http://amzn.to/2rrB4HP
TAPSH
HI SIR
I WANT TO KNOW ABOUT ELIGIBILITY OF RHCSA AND RHCE GLOBAL EXAM AND .
TOTAL NUMBER OF QUESTION BOTH RHCSA RHCE AND PASSING MARKS FOR BOTH THE EXAM .
Pawan Bahuguna
Eligibility in terms of? There is no such thing, you just need to know Linux and you can give RHCSA exam. For RHCE, you need to be RHCSA or you can give both the exam on the same day.
There are not any fixed question number it can change and the exam is subjective.
Vaibhav
After passing exam do they courier certificates at home ?
Pawan Bahuguna
No, they don’t send physical certificates. You will get certificate on your email.
Brijesh
Sir,is it good to follow book which provide by linux officials and i m little confusion about ex200 and rhcsa1,rhcsa2,rhcsa3?can u differentiate this thing?
Pawan Bahuguna
Yes, that book is good. There is nothing to get confuse on those books. Those are only modules.
Dude_F
Dear Pawan,
I have around 10 years of experience in Application development based on Unix/Linux platform, I have experienced in Shell and Perl scripting. From last two years I’m working on supporting and installing my application which is based on Linux wherein touching few aspects of Linux OS.
Now I’m thinking to switch career and become full time Linux Administrator hence looking at RHCSA certification. Interested to know if RHCSA would help me getting job for Linux Admin?
Looking forward to hear from you.
Thanks & Best Regards
Pawan Bahuguna
Certification is added advantage and some company may ask for it. Real thing which count is your Knowledge, so in an interview they ask you about questions related to Linux.
I see you already have good knowledge about scripting, and you just need to work on Linux OS understandings.
Shailesh
Hi Pawan,
I’m in last year (b.e. comp), after May exam’s am going to join classes in Pune. But, until then how should I prepare to complete basic topics of system admin exam?.
Pawan Bahuguna
Hi Shailesh,
Just install Linux Operating system and start with basic topics like boot process, common Linux commands, Filesystem hierarchy, how to install package, etc. Let me if I can help in anyway. You can check syllabus of RHCSA and can cover topics one by one.
Good Luck.
Aditya
Hi,
I just wanted to ask , whether it’s necessary to be trained in Redhat authorised training centre to apply for the RHCE exam ?
Actually i am preparing for the exam by myself with tutorials and all.
Thanks
Pawan Bahuguna
No, you can prepare yourself, but you will have to give exam there. Call some authorized Red Hat partner and ask if you could get exam date.
Lalit Kumar
hi pawan
I am non technical graduate, I have 2 years experience in desktop support troubleshooting but i dont have any certificate or will it be wise for me to go for RHCSA and RHCE?
Pawan Bahuguna
Yes, Linux is good option for you. You can go for certification as you don’t have any experience in Linux.
Kumar
Hi Pawan,
I have 3+ exp in Application support in Unix and Linux environment. Is it good to go for RHCSA and RHCE.
I want to know, is it possible to give RHCSA first and after taking 2/3 month break can i appear RHCE exam or should we need to appear both exam at one shot.
Is it good to appear the exam by preparing the exam by own?
Thanks in Advance.
Pawan Bahuguna
Hi Kumar,
Yes, it will be added advantage for your to do Red Hat certification. Yes, you can take RHCSA exam alone, but I have seen giving both exam on one go saves money. But go as per your practice.
Yes, you can prepare by your own. There are many good books available. Check them here.
Akash
Hi Pawan,
As i have 8 month experience in basic shell scripting in Unix and have good hand in basic commands. Now i want to go for Rhcsa. I just want to ask is this a good move as i won’t have much experience in Linux administration and all companies prefer experienced person.
Please guide.
Pawan Bahuguna
Hi Akash,
You already have experience in UNIX shell scripting, so I think it will work for companies and in addition if you do RHCSA, it is added advantage. Go for it after preparation.
Merry Christmas.
Psarz singh
Hi Pawan,
First I would love to say thanks for this post.
I am willing to give the exam for RHCSA & RHCE at the same time, as you have posted that you had attended the weekend classes for preparation. So can i know do you had joined any institute or done the self study. If institute then please suggest me the institute name.
Pawan Bahuguna
Yes, that was a nearby institute. You can find Red Hat training institute in your area. Or just do a Google search.
Psarz singh
Pawan , thanks for replying, what will be the approximate expected fee i need to pay to institute for training. (if you are from delhi/ncr, please guide me, where i have to join.).
Pawan Bahuguna
There are many institute and they have their own fee structure. i would suggest to Google some institute near you and call them for demo classes and ask them fee structure.
You can also bargain with them.
Darsan
Hello sir,
Currently I am having 3 hears experience in software testing. I would like a career change to system administration field. Will it be a wise decision.
Please advise
Pawan Bahuguna
After 3 years, I don’t think it will be wise.But, if you are not satisfied in your Job, you can try system administration.Try to look Job which can also include some of your testing experience.
Blestin Antony
Hi Pawan,
I’m a polytechnic diploma electronics student. Will I get linux system admin job after taking RHCE certification, does graduation required to get this job.
Pawan Bahuguna
There is no surety of getting Job, though there are good chances. But if you have some experience with certification then it’s added advantage.
Vignesh Gautam
Hi Pawan,
I am trying to invest in myself and I figured out that I need to strengthen my knowledge on OS concepts. Linux has been my favourite OS so far(8 years of working around it not deep though). Do you think RHCSA and RHCE will allow me focus on OS concepts? I am looking for a path to get knowledge rather than a certification.
Regards,
Vignesh Gautam
Pawan Bahuguna
If you are looking for deep knowledge, then you should read good Linux books, kernel programming books, etc. And also join similar form. I don’t think institute will give you that. Self study is best.
Arvind Singh
Hi Mr. Pawan,
One more doubt, according to your comment you are saying As most of the cases, companies ask for experience in Linux admin.
My question is how to get experience, even as i am a fresher Technical Engg. and have RHCSA with RHCE both exam certified.
To let if company ask for experience and i have not then in that case from where i get experince after that i provide my experience to company then get better job from next companies.
When companies will not give job for fresher Engg. Students then how to will make a experience. In that cases Freshers Engg. Students what to do?
Once companies give job for freshers students then that students are experienced studendts and able to apply another company
Kindly confirm and revert with correct solution.
Regards
Arvind Singh
Pawan Bahuguna
Yes, in most of the cases you require experience. But, there are many companies which hire freshers.
You are right once you have job, you can say you have experience in Linux and prove to employer you know. But in interview they ask scenarios and you should know that.
Tau
Hi,
My name is Tau from South Africa, am undergoing a Red Hat Systems II training and looking for website or previous exams which i can prepare with for my exams.
Please anyone hook me up with all the information or material which could help.
My email address is : [email protected]
Kind regards
Pawan Bahuguna
Hi Tau,
You should look for particular topics in which you are having difficulties.