How to prepare for EX210 – RHCSA in Red Hat OpenStack Exam

Red Hat Certified System Administrator in Red Hat OpenStack exam tests the Openstack management skills of candidate.  Before you start preparing for this exam you should understand basic Linux. Redhat recommends skills of at least the level of RHCSA-RHEL. And this level is important as it’s a lab exam and you have to answer the questions by doing them practically.
If you are a newbie on linux  and want to quickly master linux you can check Learn Linux course on Udemy.
Here I am listing few Linux commands and topics which you should know before sitting for the Redhat Openstack exam.

1. Comfortable with vi/vim editor. You should know how to edit a file because you will have to edit the configuration file for starting the openstack installation.
2. Know how to navigate in linux and view files using commands like cd , ls, more, cat etc.
3. You can use commands like cp, mv to copy and move or rename a file.
4. Should understand how a repository is created in linux. The repo file is generally saved in /etc/yum.repos.d .
5. Know how to update the patches in linux using YUM or rpm tools.
6. Understand basic networking using commands like “ifconfig -a” and “ip addr” . Network configuration files are generally stored in /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts directory. Check how to configure IP.
7. Check the files where the server names are saved like /etc/hosts .
8. Understand how the LVM(Logical Volume Manager) works in Linux. For details refer free LVM crash course .
9. How to start/stop and enable/disable services in linux.
10. How to sftp and ssh to and from the openstack server.

If you are comfortable up to the above mentioned level of Linux. You can start checking the different components of openstack. Below is listing of few components for which questions will be asked in exam.

1. Compute (Nova)
2. Networking (Neutron)
3. Block storage (Cinder)
4. Identity (Keystone)
5. Image (Glance)
6. Object storage (Swift)
7. Dashboard (Horizon)
8. Orchestration (Heat)
9. Heat(Orchestration)

In exam, you can do installation in two ways. Either you install each component manually or use packstack package/tool to do the installation. If you are new to openstack I recommend using packstack. For packstack installation you will generate a file and modify it as per the requirement mentioned in exam questions. Once the file is ready give it as input to packstack. Packstack will do all the installations for you.
Once the installation is done you can use CLI or GUI for doing further questions in exam. If you are new to Openstack, GUI is best option. It is good and gives you a graphical overview of what you are doing.
Some of the questions you can expect in exam post installation are:-

1. Create Public and Private subnets
2. Create Users and Projects
3. Launch instance
4. Create Volumes
5. Attach volumes to instance.

Tip: The exercises given at the end of Openstack EX210 official training book are good test for your skills. If you can do those exercises successfully without taking any help, you will be easily able to clear the exam.
Be Sociable. Share It. Happy Learning!