Questions regarding RHCSA certification
 

Hello Members,

I posted a thread yesterday, but it didn't appear yet, so I think something went wrong with it, I am posting a new one. Please forgive me if the older one also appears here, and you see two threads for the same question.
So, I am already working as a linux admin for last 4 years and quite comfortable with linux in general, and want to take the RHCSA exam next month and RHCE later. I have already read the book "Hands on Guide to the Red hat exam", which is a very nice book and easy to understand. I would totally recommnd to anyone who is planning to take the exam.
Since Red hat uses a completely different and non-conventional format to test the candidates, I have some of the questions about the exam.
Now, I know that you are not supposed to talk about the questions asked in the exam, so I won't ask that. However, I have some questions regarding some logistic information, for which I couldn't find any answers anywhere. Can someone who has attended the exam, let me know about these.

1. Is physical access provided to the box we are supposed to work upon, or we get only a remote console access?
2. when we have multiple servers/clients to be configured, do we get real different boxes, or jut the virtual machiens created by Virtual box or vmware? I have worked with virtual box, but not vmware. If Red Hat uses vmware, I would like to do a little practice on it.
3. I read in the red hat website that, "documentation, which comes with Red Hat" will be provided, I hope that means "Installation DVD" as well, (in case you need to use rescue from DVD).
4. Since Internet access is not provided, do they provide a local yum repository? or we just have to use rpm or DVD?
5. Total exam duration is a bit confusing, I have seen 2.5 hours at some places and half day (should mean 6 hours) at some places. Which one is correct?

Thanks in advance,
DN

Dear deepakcoolz,

First, there are circumstances around the exam that examinees aren't allowed to talk about. So I can't answer all of your questions. But you do get access to what you need to accomplish what is asked of you. Just remember, there is often more than one way to do things.

However, I can say that the Red Hat virtualization product is KVM, the Kernel-based Virtual Machine. Several RHCSA objectives relate to virtualization. Therefore, you should be prepared to know KVM inside-out. (In other words, VMWare and Virtualbox are essentially irrelevant to the RHCSA.) Be warned, KVM on RHEL 6 requires that you have 64-bit hardware. (Red Hat doesn't even include key KVM components in its 32-bit release.)

Randy Russell, Red Hat's Director of Certification, has stated in a public blog that the exam is delivered "electronically".

As for the exam timing, it was a 6 hour / 3 part exam about 8 years ago -- when there was only an RHCE exam. Today, the RHCSA exam has a 2.5 hour limit. There are some conflicts online on the topic; when Red Hat originally announced the RHCSA, it stated (IIRC) that it would be only 2 hours.

I've posted several "tips" as topics in this subforum. I hope that they can help you. In the interest of full disclosure, I am a RHCSA/RHCE author, ref http://www.amazon.com/dp/0071765654/ , and have been authorized to post as such in this forum. If you want to practice with KVM, I've described how to set up a network of systems in my book using the Red Hat virtual machine solution. For more information on appropriate hardware, see http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...-exams-899466/

Thanks Mike for the information you provided here.. looks like my older post also appeared today and got resolved there as well. Thanks for the other links. That's nice information.