Getting Ready for your Red Hat Remote Exam

[Deanna]

Additional announcements coming soon - attached is a .pdf document containing the technical documentation required to participate in Red Hat remote exams.

Join this discussion to connect with Red Hat subject matter experts and ask questions as you prepare for your Red Hat remote exam!

Exam documentation is available here.

[Arif1]

Hi,

Good initiative, please elaborate more on:

- the room environment as I have a TV and an additional monitor in my room.

- the list of available exams?

- any required specs for the external camera?

Thanks,

Arif

[Rustam]

Hello,

Nice to hear it, but I have some question about:

- Do I really need to use external web camera or can use my laptop camera

- The same question for microphone, Can I use my built in microphone on my laptop

Thanks,

Rustam

[shefeeqyr]

Hi Rustam,

- Do I really need to use external web camera or can use my laptop camera

> An external web camera is a mandatory requirement because the Proctors should be able to monitor you from an angle, covering your laptop and seating position per their protocol. Also, from time to time, they would need to pan the camera and scan your premises. Hence a Webcam with about 1 meter cable length is required towards this purpose.

- The same question for microphone, Can I use my built in microphone on my laptop

> Yes – internal microphone of your laptop is good enough.

Have a great day!

[SachinGeekLinux]

Hi , 

I am already using fedora's latest 32 versions, updated daily or mostly. Is I have to again reinstall the system from the given download media, etc follow steps. 

Thanks 

[JS_Learning]

Hi @SachinGeekLinux,

The procedure is about creating a live usb device, and not about reinstalling anything.

Therefore, when you will boot your computer from the "live usb device" it won't even touch your Fedora, it will boot directly into the live exam environment, which is installed in the usb device.

It's an isolated environment, nothing to do your with own Fedora operating system. 

Once the exam is finished, you will be instructed to shut down that live exam environment, and once completed, you can unplug that live usb device. Once you will reboot again your computer, it will boot again to your Fedora, as you probably do every day.

Cheers,

PS: If you want there is more information in the official FAQ:

https://www.redhat.com/cms/managed-files/tr-certification-remote-exams-FAQ-f24596pr-202007-en.pdf

Question: Does the live exam environment modify my computer in any way?

Answer: The live exam environment does not access your installed operating system, file systems, or computer. On some computers it might be necessary to change the boot order in the firmware, but for most systems a keystroke combination will allow a one-time boot order change. After you have used the live environment for a compatibility test or an exam, you can reboot, disconnect the boot medium, and boot into your usual operating system, which will be unaffected by the live environment.

[Walid]

The annocument is already out https://twitter.com/RedHat/status/1290271472624078848

[JS_Learning]

Hi @Arif1,

I copy your questions for clarity:
1) the room environment as I have a TV and an additional monitor in my room.

2) the list of available exams?

3) any required specs for the external camera?

You can find some additional useful information in the FAQ:
https://www.redhat.com/cms/managed-files/tr-certification-remote-exams-FAQ-f24596pr-202007-en.pdf 

1) For the room environment, you want to have a room where you, as a person taking the exam, you will be confortable as much as possible.
You will also need to be alone, no other person should be present. As for the TV, if it's turned off I think it should be ok with the proctor (=the person monitoring your exam).
For me, just to be on the safe side, I entirely removed my additional screen from the desk, for the duration of the exam.
You can also be creative, for example if you cover the screen with some fabric, it should be acceptable for the proctor.

2) The list of exams initially available in August 2020 should be here:
https://www.redhat.com/en/blog/red-hat-certification-remote-exams-now-available 
I think that is currently the most popular exams worldwide. The team is working on adding progressively other exams to be able to attend them remotely.

3) For the external webcam specifications, exams candidates have the freedom to choose the webcam they want, provided it meets some minimum requirements.
It should be enough to have a good quality, wide angle webcam that has about 1 meter cable length enabling the Proctors to scan the room and surroundings as and when needed.

Thanks to your feedback and enjoy your Remote exam!

[TheHero]

I don't use an external mouse, is it fine to use the touchpad?

[shefeeqyr]

@TheHero Of course.  Touchpad will work just fine for a Remote Exam.

Best Regards,

Shefeeq Raza

[Ahmed_Riyadh]

thanks for sharing this, could you please record one video to clarify the steps mentioned in the attached link to be as a reference for anyone interested to sit for exams.

[shefeeqyr]

Hey @Ahmed_Riyadh,

The document actually deals with numerous flavors of operating systems and
the steps to follow to create a bootable USB from the downloadable ISO. So,
this would be several video snippets We can look at doing this bit by bit
as we go along.
Regarding booting up to a Live USB, we've tried to use screenshots and
pictures to describe every step. Indeed, a video is something we will
discuss internally. Thanks for sharing a cool idea!

Best Regards,
Shefeeq

[pavlospap]

Hi all,

I would like to ask you something about an issue that i faced when i tried to run the compatibility tests.

I receive the error cannot connect to media servers.

Is that happening because i have not scheduled my remote exam yet? or it is a real issue that i have to manage with some way?

Thank you

[shefeeqyr]

@pavlospap Hello,

Media Server connection check looks at the ability to upload video and audio packets to our servers. If a firewall is blocking UDP media packets, this test is supposed to detect it. We are looking in to a few false alarms out of this test recently. Hence, for now, if your internet bandwidth, webcam and mic tests pass successfully, you can ignore the Media Server error.

Have a great day!

[pavlospap]

@shefeeqyr  Thanks for your response.

I tried once again and the tests passed as well.

thank you

[ClaudeHoule]

Regarding the external webcam, is it safe to say that the Fedora 32 remote exam USB image would have the same compatibility as the Fedora-Workstation-Live-x86_64-32-1.6.iso image? If I'm going to buy an external webcam, I want to make sure I buy one that is compatible. ;-)

[shefeeqyr]

@ClaudeHoule Hello! 

Yes - the remote exam image is based on Fedora Workstation_32 and hence Webcams that are known to be compatible with it should work fine. 

Best Regards,

Shefeeq Raza

[AJ]

Team,

Firstly, gratitude and ackgnolegements for the work that went into making this happen.

The "Getting Ready" document seems (to me) to include some wording that is a little confusing and/or contradictory

• "A wired mouse is required if you use a laptop in a closed and docked mode as described below."
• "Only one keyboard is allowed for the exam. If you wish to use an external, wired keyboard with your laptop, you will have to use the laptop closed and docked."
• "If you chose to connect an external monitor to your laptop, the laptop lid must be closed throughout the duration of the exam session. "

As far as I understand, if a laptop is used with an external monitor then:

• A wired mouse is required
• A wired keyboard is required
• The laptop has to be closed [and docked]

That docking part is not clear, it seems that a docking station might be required, at least if by "docked" it's meant "connected to a docking station". 

I don't have a docking station, and I suspect many people don't. 

If by "docked" it's meant "connected to the power supply or to a docking station and the lid closed" then I propose the wording is adjusted accordingly. Maybe "lid closed" is actually enough.

Also the document seems to assume a laptop will be used, and only in the FAQ section it's mentioned that a desktop is allowed. 

However at that point it's not clear if a desktop with wireless keyboard and/or mouse is allowed, because the sections about keyboard and mouse talk about laptop. I suggest clarifying that also, maybe something like this:

• remove the desktop mention in the FAQ
• generalize the System Requirements to apply to both desktop and laptop (how about tablets?) devices, and
• have sub-sections or notes for different device types 

Example:

• Keyboard: Only one wired keyboard is allowed for the exam, or you may use the built-in keyboard on your device. Wireless keyboards are not permitted. 
• Mouse or pointing device: A wired mouse or pointing device is optional but recommended, or you can use the built-in pointing device on your device. A wireless mouse is not allowed. 
• Display/Monitor: Only one physical (external or built-in) monitor/screen will be allowed for the exam. If you have multiple displays, only one can be on your desk and connected to your computer. If your device is a laptop, you may use the built-in display or may connect one external monitor. If you chose to connect an external monitor to your laptop, the lid must be closed throughout the duration of the exam session. That will prevent you from using the built-in keyboard and pointing device, therefore you will be required to use a wired keyboard and a wired mouse.

Thank you,
Cheers // Andrew

[Walid]

I am using mostly my laptop docked, and I have colleagues doing jus the same, now docking if you are using external monitorin and keyboard, its better be lid closed.

[pavlospap]

Hi again,

I would like to confirm me that there is only one camera mandatory during the exam.

Is that right?

I mean if you are using laptop with external camera connected you also have  to use the camera of laptop as well? or not?

Thank you

[JS_Learning]

@pavlospap 

As per the requirements, it is:

"Webcam: One external webcam with at least a 1m cable"

So it is about an external camera, mandatory.

The camera of the laptop, if it has open lid, is additional, and can be use by the proctor to monitor you, in addition to the external one.

Cheers,

[JS_Learning]

@AJ 

Thanks for your feedback and efforts, I passed your feedback to the documentation team.

[alpha_piyush]

HI Team, It's really great initiative to let students give their exam remotely during this COVID situation. Red Hat do really love students to make sure their progress don't fall back during crisis situation. I am sure Red Hat certification team have spent lots of days and performed all hardwork to build this remote programs for the students. Kudos team RH.

My question is in the requirements, there are two USB devices listed, 1 USB thumb drive and second USB hard drive.

USB: One USB Drive (2.0 or higher) with at least 4 GB capacity.

Hard Drive: A hard drive with free storage capacity of at least 4 GB (for Live USB creation only).

However, based on my reading and preparation notes for the exam, it is mentioned that only one USB thumb drive is needed to burn the live image to boot laptop from. Do we really need two different USB drives (1 USB thumb drive and 1 USB hard drive), if so, I will need to order external USB hard drive for my upcoming EX280 exam. 

I already have usb thumb drive and I am going to create live image from downloaded ISO now, but confused about these two different requirement.

Please clarify. Thanks much in advance.

[shefeeqyr]

@alpha_piyush Hello,

Only one USB drive is needed. The hard drive requirement refers to the hard drive (and operating system) of your laptop or desktop computer which will be used to create a bootable USB drive from the downloadable ISO image. Steps to create a bootable USB for various opreating systmes are mentioned further in the attached document.

Our Remote Exam will run utilizing only the bootable USB and random access memory (RAM) in your PC. Your computer's hard drive will not be utilized during the exam.

Hope this clarifies.

Best Regards,

Shefeeq

[alpha_piyush]

Thanks very much, Shefeeq for your prompt response. It is cleared now.

However, in the requirement field for USB hard drive (RH should indicate that USB hard drive is your laptop internal drive which has OS installed to create a bootable ISO image to student's USB thumb drive. Only USB thumb drive, which has ISO, is needed for taking the exam to boot exam envorinment).

[shefeeqyr]

@alpha_piyush Hello, thanks for your comments. The system requirement bullet point mentions Hard Drive as a separate component and not as USB Hard Drive to avoid this confusion. 

Best Regards,

Shefeeq

[adnan1]

Hi dear

can I use copy and paste features in the exam ?

[JS_Learning]

@adnan1 

Hi there, some mouse functions are usually disabled in the Remote Exam live environment.

Having said that, you can use the options in the tools you will see during the exam.

For example, you can copy/paste in the terminal and in Firefox (there are options in the settings to edit and copy/paste some content).

It's a bit more difficult than simply using shortcuts (right click/paste and ctrl + C and crtl + V), copy and paste is still possible.

Enjoy.

[Upendra]

Is MacBook Air is ok for remote exam??

Upendra Singh

[Veerakumar]

Centos7/8 can be used as testing maching. Hope same steps like RHEL7/8, if we user centos7/8 PC. Please confirm.

[youngmojo]

Hi,

Why is the compatibility test asking 2 video cameras for RHRE?

[danielbp88]

Hi

I have the same question that  @youngmojo is asking. Why is asking for 2 video cameras? 

Regards, 

[shefeeqyr]

@Upendra Hi Upendra, honestly, I have not tested with Macbook Air. However, if you are able to create a bootable USB with the remote exam image in the document up this thread, able to boot to that image, run a compatibility test and have all the hardware listed in the system requirements, then you should be able to take the exam. I would request you to try this and get back to us.

If you face compatibility test errors, please check with us or raise a live chat to know a final opinion. Some errors have work arounds.

Wish you success with this!

Shefeeq

[shefeeqyr]

@Veerakumar Hello,

The operating system in your computer is used to create a bootable USB drive using the remote exam .iso image. Therefore, dd utility can be used in Centos to create a Live USB. Same steps as for RHEL 7/8 should work fine.

Once that is done, the remote exam image does not use your hard drive/OS at all. 

Regards,

Shefeeq

[shefeeqyr]

@youngmojo, @danielbp88 

Hi,

The system requirements were two webcams earlier identical to conventional Testing Center (Kiosk/Koala) exams. Later, we simplified it to just one external webcam with sufficient cable length, making it easier for candidates in terms of hardware requirements.

The compatibility tester is still coded to look for 2 webcams and it should pass if you are using a laptop with an integrated webcam and an external one. On the other hand, if you are using a desktop with one external webcam, you may see a compatibility error. This doesn't impede your ability to attend the exam. Nevertheless, we will release an updated compatibility tester this weekend to fix this issue. 

Please give it a try on Monday and let us know how it goes.

Best Regards,

Shefeeq

[Walid]

It would be awesome if the list of recommended cameras that work well are posted.

[Upendra]

Hi Shefeeq,

I tested with MacBook Air by creating bootable USB.Mac is compatible. USB compatibility check passed.

Regards,

Upendra

[shefeeqyr]

@Upendra Thank you for sharing your tests done on MacBook Air! We had tested it on MacBook pro and that was successful too. Glad it worked well.

Best Regards,

Shefeeq

[RuudHendricksen]

The requirements for remote exams says to have at least one remote webcam. The environment test looks for two webcams but I have only one. It discovers my webcam with mic but says that I do not meet all the requirements and need two webcams! I am somewhat confused, can someone confirm that one webcam is enough? 

[JS_Learning]

@RuudHendricksen 

Hi, 

You can find the answer your need a few posts above:

https://learn.redhat.com/t5/Certification-Resources/Getting-Ready-for-your-Red-Hat-Remote-Exam/bc-p/... 

Cheers,

[JS_Learning]

@Walid 

Hi there,

I think it is rather sensitive or difficult to create a list of recommended camera aimed for all exam candidates. The idea behind the vague official requirement was too avoid any specific camera vendor and to offer flexibility to the customers.

FYI, at first, the requirements were a bit more precise, such as indicating a minimum wide angle of 90°. Unfortunately it was difficult to find that filter in many shops, it was resulting in added confusion and difficulties.

Having said that, maybe having such list, based on exams candidate sharing their feedback and experience, could be beneficial for other candidates.

In practice, nothing prevent candidates sharing their webcam experience and/or discuss technical aspect of their Remote Exams experience on this learn.redhat.com website. Maybe we can discuss to create a sub topic to invite them to do that in a dedicated topic, I will report your feedback to the team :)

[Walid]

sure, I am buying the razer kiyo, just checked that it is supported under Fedora

[JS_Learning]

@Walid I checked quickly the specifications of the Razer Kiyo, out of curiosity, in Razer's website:

The viewing angle seems suitable (it's almost 90°)

FIELD OF VIEW	81.6 °

It is said to have "Focus: auto" (which is important feature when the proctor will try to read your ID during the exam initial steps).

Also there are posts about using the Kiyo on Fedora on the internet, which is an indication that it should work in Fedora 32. 

It would relevant for you to try how it behaves in compatibility mode, prior to use it for any real Remote Exams. If someone else already tried that model, it would be interesting to get their feedback.

[Walid]

Thank you @JS_Learning for your feedback. it will take sometime to arrive, most of the good webcams are out of stock because of the early COVID-19 situation. demand on remote conferencing and less stocking, imports. however, situation is getting better these days. the sensitivity to lightining and autotuning is also of a concern. 

[limaunion]

Hi all! couple of questions. I've an EX200 voucher for RHEL v7, any ETA for this remote exam? As I want to take it asap, would it be possible to switch it to RHEL v8? does it have any cost? or this is not allowed for some reason? Thanks!

[vishals]

Hi @limaunion ,
 

I've an EX200 voucher for RHEL v7, any ETA for this remote exam? 

I do not have an ETA for the availability of the EX200 REHL7 remote exam but the devs are working on it and it should be available very soon.

As I want to take it asap, would it be possible to switch it to RHEL v8? does it have any cost? or this is not allowed for some reason? 

To convert your EX200 RHEL7 voucher to the RHEL 8 version, please drop a comment here and the team will assist.

Best Regards,

[TheHero]

I have macbook pro 2019, unforutnately when I load the fedora image, i cant use the embedded keyboard and touchpad, any suggestions?

[shefeeqyr]

@TheHero Hello,

I am curious to get some more details around your issue.

After booting to the RE Image, were you able to click 'ok' or hit 'enter' at the "Welcome to Red Hat Remote Exams - Click OK to configure your keyboard layout" screen? 

At what point did you realize that the keyboard and touchpad are not responsive? I am asking to see if there is anything we could do in the 'Settings' page to activate the inbuilt keyboard and mouse.

After doing a bit of reading, I did see a few articles in public forums about Linux distributions not working well with Macbook Pro 2019 around mouse, keyboard and wifi. The machines we tested functioned well, but they were pre-2019 series.

Using a different hardware altogether or connecting an external wired keyboard, mouse and monitor are the alternatives (provided you have the necessary port replicators). 

[TheHero]

@shefeeqyr  when the image gets loaded and asks me to click OK, the keyboard and trackpad are not working. I can get a wired mouse, but do you think that will help to add additional config to enable the keyboard and trackpad? the thing I am ok to get an external wired keyboard and mouse but for the external keyboard, it requires an external monitor which i dont have unfortunately. unless there could be exceptions.

[DerekLyons]

Hello, I want to take advantage of the remote exam testing but I have a couple questions.

1) Can I only schedule the exam during monday - friday business hours 8am - 5pm AZT or similar? I ask because my partner and I work from home Monday through Friday.

2) Related to above, we have several computer monitors as part of our work from home setup that are in the office that I plan to test from.

3) This office room flows into the kitchen. I would of course ask the other members of the household (children and fiance) to stay in their rooms for the duration of the testing. 

I imagine that ideally, I could take the test on the weekend, with fabric covering the extraneous computer screens in this room, and nobody would come into this office space, but they might appear in the background of the webcam stream.

[JS_Learning]

@DerekLyons 

Hi there,

1) As far as I remembered you can chose an exam slot at any available slot round the clock, but only during weekdays. In fact given that it's 24*5 worldwide, there are some weekend elements you can use. Like, Red Hat start the day of supporting exams from Australia morning hours, which should be Sunday evening for you (like 5 PM Pacific on a Sunday). It's best if you check what slots are available from the scheduler tool (the information is usually emailed to the candidate after they purchase the exam entitlement, with a link to the Exam scheduler, after some processing time).

See I took a screen capture of the exam scheduler for you from one of my exams:

You can choose the exam when it fits your schedule, as you can see it has many "slots" available.

Having said that, some exams are rather hard, it's up to you but might be difficult after a hard day of work, to take an exam...

2) The requirements about the workspace:

"Answer: Choose a quiet, private location where you will not be disturbed for the duration of the exam. Your desk should be clear of everything except your exam hardware. Unplug and turn off any additional monitors, displays, computers, or other hardware in your workspace. Remove any pictures, whiteboards, or items on the wall with writing on them. The proctor will inspect your workspace prior to the start of the exam and you will be asked to remove any items that do not pass the room scan."

Source: https://www.redhat.com/cms/managed-files/tr-certification-remote-exams-FAQ-f24596pr-202007-en.pdf

When I had a Remote Exam, I removed one of my two external screens, from the desk. It seems the proctors will tolerate the screen to be off. Maybe the proctor will check it's properly unplugged.

3) About your family:

Question: Is it necessary for me to be alone while taking the exam?

"Answer: You must show the proctor your workspace before starting the exam and demonstrate that no one else is in your space or you will not be permitted to proceed. We recommend you choose a quiet, private room for testing where you will not be disturbed. If someone enters the room during your exam, it will be suspended and the proctor will ask you to inform the other person to leave the room."

Same source as above:

https://www.redhat.com/cms/managed-files/tr-certification-remote-exams-FAQ-f24596pr-202007-en.pdf

I think, if they are close, the problem might be more of the sound, if the proctor hear them talking that might be interfering and the exam might be suspended temporarily.

If you have no other place to have a quiet and undisturbed workspace, then your best bet is to instruct your family about the requirements.

Most importantly, good luck with your exam!