RHCA journey - how do you choose your exams?

[Lisenet]

Hi all.

I'm starting my RHCA journey, and I have a list of topics in mind that I'd like to learn about. I also have a couple of exams that I plan on taking, which are in line with my job.

I wonder how people choose the RHCA exams they're going to take? Is it based on work experience and technologies that you use daily, or is it things that you'd like to get on in the future?

Many thanks.

[shubhbhat]

Hii, 

It is based on your current work experience and in future also it will help you.

So just move on to RHCE after RHCSA.

Thank You

[Lisenet]

@shubhbhat 

Thanks, but I'm not sure what you mean by that. The original question was about RHCA exams, nothing to do with RHCSA/RHCE in this case.

[Lisenet]

@littlebigfab 

I've not decided on the exams yet, but I've got a couple of takes left on my RHLS, therefore I want to take advantage of the opportunity to the fullest. I'm currently working on a project to deliver a new product that's built on Docker, so we're looking into Kubernetes, and possibly OKD. If all goes well, it will make sense to sit EX280.

[jthiatt]

EX288 would be a good one to try too.

[Lisenet]

Thanks, it does look interesting.

Hey, are you the same Jason Hiatt who's won the Red Hat Certified Professional of the Year award? If so, well done!

[jthiatt]

Yep, that's me.  Thank you!

Is this Lisenet from https://www.lisenet.com/?

If so, thank you for your site.  I used it along the with the Red Hat Learning Subscription to study for my RHCE.  It a great site with a lot of great information.

And congrats on your RHCA!  I am 1 course away from getting mine, I'm taking ex425 next month.

[Lisenet]

Nice to e-meet you! Yea, the same Lisenet from lisenet.com. And I'm glad that you found the material helpful.

I keep coming back to RHCE articles every time I have to deal with Kerberos or Samba.

What exams have you taken already, besides EX280? Also, good luck with EX425!

[jthiatt]

Nice to e-meet you too!

My main focus was on the DevOps Learning Path

EX280

EX288

EX405

EX407

I had the OpenStack cert (EX210) but it expired in June

The Red Hat Learning Subscription has been a great tool, I really like being able to spin up the lab environment.  It's the best way to learn for me.

[Lisenet]

That's a nice list, all things DevOps, quite consistent.

RHLS is a good tool, but far from being great. Study materials are top class so I'll give you that (although some could be better, e.g. RH415), but the lab environment leaves a lot to be desired, screen resolution is awful, the whole instructor office hours thing to get additional assistance with course content from a subject matter expert is a shambles. Ravello VNC can be painfully slow and laggy as hell at times (I'm on a fibre optic broadband BTW). Not to mention labs failing to provision for whatever reason and system outages.

I rely on my homelab a lot, setting up pretty much everything to replicate systems that I work with on RHLS. I do use RHLS labs, but that is mostly to take advantage of grading scripts and comprehensive reviews.

[jthiatt]

I've had similar issues with lagginess and outages.  EX405 wasn't a great experience, it is based on Puppet 3.6 which is way out of date so you have to use the lab to practice/study.

I've never used the office hours, it sounds like you had a bad experience with it.  Sorry to hear that.

What are your plans now that you have your RHCA?