Red Hat Certified System Administrator — RHCSA

An RHCSA certification is earned when an IT professional demonstrates the core system administration skills required in Red Hat® Enterprise Linux® environments.

Prerequisites

The RHCSA is Red Hat's core system administration certification and represents the common core of skills every Red Hat Enterprise Linux system administrator should have. An IT professional that has earned an RHCSA certification has demonstrated skills in areas of system administration common across a wide range of environments and deployment scenarios.

An RHCSA is able to perform the following tasks:

  • Understand and use essential tools for handling files, directories, command-line environments, and documentation.

  • Operate running systems, including booting into different run levels, identifying processes, starting and stopping virtual machines, and controlling services.

  • Configure local storage using partitions and logical volumes.

  • Create and configure file systems and file system attributes, such as permissions, encryption, access control lists, and network file systems.

  • Deploy, configure, and maintain systems, including software installation, update, and core services.

  • Manage users and groups, including use of a centralized directory for authentication.

  • Manage security, including basic firewall and SELinux configuration.

PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS

Certification program requirements:

  • The Red Hat Certified System Administrator (RHCSA) exam consists of one section lasting up to 2.5 hours.

  • The certification exam is performance-based, meaning that candidates must perform tasks on a live system, rather than answering questions about how one might perform those tasks.

  • The hands-on nature of this exam make real-world experience a critical facet of preparation.

  • RHCSA certifications have a current window for 3 calendar years after they are earned. See recertification policies for more information.

Read more about the RHCSA Certification Exam (EX200).

AUDIENCE

The RHCSA certification is designed for:

  • Experienced Red Hat Enterprise Linux system administrators seeking validation of their skills.

  • Students who have attended Red Hat System Administration I and II and are on the path to earn RHCSA certification.

  • Experienced Linux system administrators who require a certification either by their organization or based on a mandate (DOD 8570 directive).

  • IT professionals who are on the path to earn a Red Hat Certified Engineer (RHCE®).

  • An RHCE who is non-current or who is about to become non-current and wish to re-certify as RHCE.

BENEFITS

Benefits to earning a Red Hat certification:

  • Recognition in the industry

  • Increased customer confidence

  • Proof of knowledge and skills

  • Certification verification tool for employers

  • Use of the certification logo on business cards

  • Ability to access multiple Red Hat Certificated Professional online communities (like Facebook and LinkedIn)

  • Access to Red Hat Certification Central website

    • Download certification logo

    • Purchase Red Hat Certification gear

    • Red Hat Certified Professionals forum

    • Online profile listed under your certification number

    • Red Hat Certified Professional job search

  • Special offers on training and events

RECOMMENDED TRAINING

In preparation to earn an RHCSA certification, Red Hat recommends a training path based on a candidate’s background:

Windows system administrators:

Linux or UNIX administrators:

Exam self-study:

*Availability of the RHCSA Rapid Track Course varies by country.

[To achieve certification, students must pass these Exams]

RHCSA Exam (EX200)
Performance-based exam that tests core system administration skills that are required in Red Hat Enterprise Linux environments.