Kiosk exam availablity and COVID-19

[kpietras]

Dear Red Hat,

We did not receive any information regarding Exam Kiosk availability while the COVID-19 and restriction around that are in place.
In my country, the Red Hat Partners where kiosk exam resides are closing the offices due to government restrictions. 
Could you please confirm that you are developing some solution which will be extending the exams expiration period for the exam until the situation will be back to normal?
Or is there any plans to attend exams from home?

I know this is a difficult time for many of us.
Please care for each other and our communities when it counts. 
Stay safe and healthy.

[Deanna]

Hi @kpietras,

Which exams are you currently preparing for? We understand all of the hard work that goes into preparation for Red Hat certification exams, and know that these cancellations can be frustrating. 

Our customers are our top priority, and while we continue to navigate the current circumstances we are continuing to evaluate and adjust as needed. If you haven't done so already please reach out to the Red Hat certification team here, where they will help take care of you.

Thank you, please feel free to send me a note directly as well. Happy to help with other questions or concerns you may have. 

[kpietras]

Hi Deanna!

I am currently preparing for EX415.

It is frustrating, indeed.  Especially when Red Hat training administrator is cancelling your exams on your behalf without any announcements, and then I got a suggestion that I should reschedule my exams when there are not free slots is bad :(  There is no empathy with such behaviour.

We should get a priority in scheduling any future exam or RH should double the available slots.

[MSoz]

Same situation here. Adding insult to injury, the lab environment for my course (RH436) has been suddenly erased (why?) a week ago and re-provisioning does not work at all since then. I filed a ticket, "support is working on it", but I got only 2 weeks left of subscrition and little hope they will fix it in time for me.

I even requested days off of work to finish those labs in RHLS before expiration, but it seems I am only losing time and money.

Is the extension of the RHLS considered due to such disservice?

[MSoz]

As you might have guessed, Red Hat did not solve my problem. Now I just logged in to my subscription and see "0 days left".

This morning I had 13. Yes, I had tried from other browsers and other devices.

So I was worried about not having access to labs, now I have nothing.

Thanks Red Hat, I had enough. I was a double RHCE half-way to RHCA, but you are forcing me to follow certifications paths from other providers: I can sit all of their exams online and their learning systems actually work.

[Travis]

@MSoz -

Currently there is a disruption of service with the back-end portion of the RHLS environment. It is currently being worked and we hope to have things functional within the next several hours. There are some other posts regarding the RHLS stating learning subscription is at zero (0).

In terms of online and remote exams, we are working on the pilots for online exams with the first ones released being for the RHCSA/RHCE (EX200/EX294) style exams with an expected release to the public August 2020. There are other blog postings about the online exam status.

[MSoz]

@Travisthank you for the info.

It seems the outage is over and the labs now work correctly. So 2 problems solved at once. Thanks to Red Hat for the quick resolution!

[ericbos]

I just got my Learning Subscription, but in my country the first exam opportunity is in November 2020, so it doesn't make sense to start studying unless there will be an online exam possibility.

[AlekseyUsov]

@DeannaI have a bunch of certificates expiring on Jan 1st, 2021. I was planning on renewing all of them this fall to keep my status (RHCA XX) current, but the only testing location in my town has been closed and I'm not sure what to do and if that even makes sense anymore.

Is Red hat considering extending expiration deadline even further? COVID-19 restrictions threw a wrench into a lot of plans and I believe RHCP's should be given an opportunity to get through this with minimal losses.

I understand that RH already extended the period until Jan 01, 2021, but in reality, most testing locations are still closed and only RHCSA/RHCE/OpenShift-related exams have gone virtual.

[Travis]

@AlekseyUsov -

I cannot provide any details surrounding extensions beyond January 2021. However, what I can provide is some additional information and context if you haven't already been made aware of it. 

Red Hat has been rapidly increasing the number of exams available as Remote Exams. These are exams that normally required you travelling to a kiosk location, but are now offered in your own home. I've provided the official published list, but will state there are some exams that have been made as a remote exam that are not yet on this URL as it hasn't been updated yet.

https://www.redhat.com/en/services/certification/ways-to-test 

There are several exams available to take as a remote exam and this assists with issues on booking kiosk exams and scheduling (especially if a testing site is closed due to COVID restrictions.).

I'm hoping this information will be helpful so that you can look at and possibly schedule remote exams to renew/extend your current certifications or possibly certify on a new technology.

Travis

[UNATCOAGENT]

@TravisThanks for the link. However, the exams I need to renew immediately are not on the list.

Would appreciate a response as to what official position of Red Hat is from @Deanna.