EX407

Red Hat Certified Specialist in Ansible Automation exam

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The performance-based Red Hat Certified Specialist in Ansible Automation exam (EX407) tests your ability to use Ansible to automate the configuration of systems and applications.

By passing this exam, you become a Certified Specialist in Ansible Automation, which also counts toward becoming a Red Hat Certified Architect (RHCA).

This exam is based on Red Hat® Enterprise Linux® 7.3 and Ansible 2.3.

In preparation

Red Hat recommends that candidates be a Red Hat Certified Engineer (RHCE®) or at a minimum a Red Hat Certified System Administrator (RHCSA®) before attempting this exam, but neither is required.

Study points for the exam

To help you prepare, the exam objectives highlight the task areas you can expect to see covered in the exam. Red Hat reserves the right to add, modify, and remove exam objectives. Such changes will be made public in advance.

Candidates should have the following skills and abilities:

  • Understand core components of Ansible
    • Inventories
    • Modules
    • Variables
    • Facts
    • Plays
    • Playbooks
    • Configuration files
  • Run ad-hoc Ansible commands
  • Use both static and dynamic inventories to define groups of hosts
  • Utilize an existing dynamic inventory script
  • Create Ansible plays and playbooks
    • Know how to work with commonly used Ansible modules
    • Use variables to retrieve the results of running a commands
    • Use conditionals to control play execution
    • Configure error handling
    • Create playbooks to configure systems to a specified state
    • Selectively run specific tasks in playbooks using tags
  • Create and use templates to create customized configuration files
  • Work with Ansible variables and facts
  • Create and work with roles
  • Download roles from an Ansible Galaxy and use them
  • Manage parallelism
  • Use Ansible Vault in playbooks to protect sensitive data
  • Install Ansible Tower and use it to manage systems
  • Use provided documentation to look up specific information about Ansible modules and commands

As with all Red Hat performance-based exams, configurations must persist after restart without intervention.

What you need to know

Preparation

Red Hat encourages all candidates for the Red Hat Certified Specialist in Ansible Automation exam to consider taking the Cloud Automation with Ansible course (DO407). Attendance in this class is not required to take the exam.

While attending Red Hat classes can be an important part of one's preparation to take this exam, attending class does not guarantee success on the exam. Previous experience, practice, and native aptitude are also important determinants of success.

Many books and other resources on system administration for Red Hat's products are available. Red Hat does not officially endorse any as preparation guides for its exams. Nevertheless, you may find additional reading deepens understanding and can prove helpful.

Exam Format

This exam is a performance-based evaluation of a candidate’s ability to use Ansible to automate system configuration and application deployment. Candidates will be required to develop Ansible playbooks that configure systems for specific roles and then apply those playbooks to systems to implement those roles. Candidates will also be asked to demonstrate their ability to run Ansible playbooks and configure an Ansible environment for specific behaviors. Candidates will be evaluated on whether they have met specific objective criteria.

Performance-based testing means that candidates must perform tasks similar to what they perform on the job.

Scores and reporting

Official scores for exams come exclusively from Red Hat Certification Central. Red Hat does not authorize examiners or training partners to report results to candidates directly. Scores on the exam are usually reported within 3 U.S. business days.

Exam results are reported as total scores. Red Hat does not report performance on individual items, nor will it provide additional information upon request.

Audience and prerequisites

Audience for this exam

The following audiences may be interested in becoming a Red Hat Certified Specialist in Ansible Automation:

  • System administrators who need to manage large numbers of systems
  • System administrators who work in a DevOps environment and who wish to automate a large part of their day-to-day workload
  • Developers who have some basic systems administration background and who wish to incorporate automation into their development process
  • A Red Hat Certified Engineer (RHCE) interested in becoming a Red Hat Certified Specialist in Ansible Automation or a RHCAl.

Prerequisites for this exam

Candidates for this exam should:

Recommended training

In preparation to take this expertise exam, Red Hat recommends:

Automation with Ansible (DO407)
Learn to write and manage Ansible playbooks and automate system administration tools.

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