Red Hat Certification

Doomhammer · 12-08-2003, 08:20 PM

Hi folx!

I will attend the RHCT (Red-Hat Certified Technician) program, my job is paying, and i was wondering if somebody have any suggestion about books or what should i read, is there a FAQ with the type of question asked in the exam?

I already own some books:

- Linux in a nutshell (O'Reilly)
- Linux Power tools (the one seen on linux.org)
- Network administration on Linux (O'Reilly)

and i just bought the Red-Hat 9 Bible. I shall receive it soon.

i think that i will be enough prepared to attend the course, and i dont want to fail.

Any comment, suggestions, idea or boost of confidense is welcome!!

Ive been M$Free for a year now and im really into Linux!!! This system is by far the coolest system i tried yet. And as fas as i can say, it takes a linux dude to fix a Windows system

burnpile · 12-08-2003, 09:03 PM

Code:

Prerequisite skills for RHCT and 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 vi/vim, to modify text files
    * use input/output redirection
    * understand basic principles of TCP/IP networking, including IP addresses, netmasks, and gateways
    * use su to switch user accounts
    * use passwd to set passwords
    * use tar, gzip, and bzip2v
    * configure an email client on Red Hat Enterprise Linux
    * use mozilla and/or links to access HTTP/HTTPS URLs
    * use lftp to access FTP URLs

RHCT skills
Troubleshooting and System Maintenance

RHCTs should be able to:

    * boot systems into different run levels for troubleshooting and system maintenance
    * diagnose and correct misconfigured networking
    * diagnose and correct hostname resolution problems
    * configure the X Window System and a desktop environment
    * add new partitions, filesystems, and swap to existing systems
    * use standard command-line tools to analyze problems and configure system

Installation and Configuration

RHCTs must be able to:

    * perform network OS installation
    * implement a custom partitioning scheme
    * configure printing
    * configure the scheduling of tasks using cron and at
    * attach system to a network directory service, such as NIS or LDAP
    * configure autofs
    * add and manage users, groups, and quotas
    * configure filesystem permissions for collaboration
    * install and update RPMs
    * properly update the kernel RPM
    * modify the system bootloader
    * implement software RAID at install-time and run-time
    * use /proc/sys and sysctl to modify and set kernel run-time parameters

RHCE skills
Troubleshooting and System Maintenance

RHCEs must demonstrate the RHCT skills listed above, and should be able to:

    * use the rescue environment provided by first installation CD
    * diagnose and correct bootloader 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

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

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

    * install the packages needed to provide 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 PAM to implement user-level restrictions

This is the scope of the exams. I'll tell you up front, there is no more multiple choice questions

There will be a couple of questions on a particular subject that are 'general' in nature, then you get a question that you had to "read deep" to know the answer to. No open book either.

I don't know of any specific books based on test questions like the ones for MCSE. What I used was https://secure.safaribooksonline.com...portal=oreilly because it was reccomended buy red hat. Not too bad, see if your boss will spring for a subscription.

Best advice I can give you is study hard. You'll be dissapointed if you just cram a night or two before the tests. They aren't unpassibly difficult, but you do need to know your stuff.

Hope this answers a few of your questions, and good luck.

dfowensby · 12-08-2003, 09:05 PM

if you have a fairly sound on-the-job background in unix or linux, or are intelligent enough to translate system similarities (a tire is a tire, whether goodyear or goodrich, after all) if seated in M$N and/or a tech-level systems eduction or associates degree, or all of the above, you should get in the door quite well. RH's goal is to educate you, then evaluate your ability to excercise what has been made available to you.
Failure is not an option in the course.
When i first got interested, i picked up a similar assortment of books, including a RHCE Exam Cram (published by Certification Insider Press/Coriolis group). Now that i look back thru it, my opinion is "this is a linux for dummies book!".
The part that will mean the most, the Hands On lab stuff, is what a book won't help you on. Just pay attention, and use what you learn there.
No problem.

Doomhammer · 12-08-2003, 10:50 PM

Thanks for the advice! it is apreciated. I too own the Rh-302 exam guide, an i actually find it really easy to understand.

But For a Network installation... i never really did one. Ill have to set an ftp on my machine asap and try this all out!!

mrhyde · 12-09-2003, 04:48 PM

Make sure you know RHL inside out before the exam!