The foundation of the Red Hat programme: a timed practical exam covering user and file management, storage, networking, services, containers and system troubleshooting on RHEL.
Red Hat Certified System Administrator (RHCSA) is Red Hat's associate-level linux & open source certification, sat as exam EX200. The exam runs for 3 hours, with a pass mark of 210 / 300. It costs US$500 at the standard rate.
The published exam guide lists 10 sections but does not assign public weightings, so plan to cover each in similar depth rather than betting on one being dominant.
RHCSA is a prerequisite for RHCE and for most Red Hat specialist credentials. Because grading is entirely based on the final system state, practising against a real RHEL or compatible system is not optional preparation — it is the only preparation that works.
Confirm these details on the official Red Hat page before booking — vendors adjust format and pricing without notice.
Standard rate, before local taxes
The published exam guide for EX200, in the vendor's own order.
01Understand and Use Essential Tools
02Create Simple Shell Scripts
03Operate Running Systems
04Configure Local Storage
05Create and Configure File Systems
06Deploy, Configure and Maintain Systems
07Manage Basic Networking
08Manage Users and Groups
09Manage Security
10Manage Containers
No formal prerequisite, but substantial hands-on Linux practice is essential.
Associate level — Role-based credentials for practitioners with hands-on experience.
EX200 is assessed through work performed on live systems rather than a standard multiple-choice paper. Use the weighted domains above as a lab checklist and practise each task in a realistic environment.
The syllabus breakdown above is the most useful study plan available either way: work through the domains in weight order.
EX200 is part of Red Hat Certified Engineer (RHCE), which requires 2 exams.
The exam is scheduled for 3 hours. Red Hat does not publish a fixed question count for this exam.
210 / 300. Confirm the current figure on the official exam page before booking, as vendors adjust cut scores when an exam form is refreshed.
The standard price is US$500. Local pricing, taxes and any retake policy vary by region, so check the official page for the figure that applies to you.
No formal prerequisite, but substantial hands-on Linux practice is essential.
The exam guide covers Understand and Use Essential Tools, Create Simple Shell Scripts, Operate Running Systems, Configure Local Storage and Create and Configure File Systems, plus 5 further domains. The full weighted breakdown is listed above.