format of newer RHCE exam
 

I'm having problems understanding the newer layout of the current iteration of the RHCE exam. I'm hoping someone can help out. If what I'm asking goes against the NDA you have to sign, please let me know that, since knowing that will be of value as well.

I understood the older exam layout of the troubleshooting portion then the install & config portion, and have been playing with Jang's book. The new layout claims a single portion, and RedHat claims that it mixes the old portions, omitting the OS installation. Where my confusion comes is that I see some say that the troubleshooting is gone, but that makes little sense to me if RedHat combined the portions.

From what RedHat's info tells me, I'm expecting to see a system that has RedHat already installed with some services configured, but broken in some fashion. I'm expecting there to be a local network server that might have an rpm repo, and POSSIBLY network services (LDAP/NIS/NTP/NFS/etc) so test system can be configured as a client. I then expect the exam to consist "fix the following specific issue" and install/configure new services that aren't already on the system.

Am I missing something else, or do I just need to focus on install/config?

Additionally, are the practice labs/practice exams in the Jang book at a level of depth that is representative of the current test? By that I mean that Jang's book basically goes into basic high level configs. Is that valid for the current exam layout?

I can't speak to the accuracy of Jang's latest book at this point, but I would recommend going directly to the source: RHCE Prep Guide