RHCSA 9 (EX200)

Progress Summary

Phase Description Status Notes

0: Lab Setup

Rocky 9 VMs, KVM environment, practice infrastructure

🟡 In progress

Lab Setup

1: Installation

RHEL installation methods, kickstart, verification

🟡 In progress

2026-02-27 study session

2: Essential Tools

man, info, vim, I/O redirection, shell variables, history

🟡 In progress

2026-02-27 study session

3: File Management

cp, mv, rm, tar, compression, links

❌ Not started

—

4: Text Files

grep, regex, vim editing, awk, head/tail

❌ Not started

—

5: Connecting to RHEL

SSH, console access, key-based auth

❌ Not started

—

6: User & Group Management

useradd, passwd, groups, sudo

❌ Not started

—

7: Permissions

chmod, chown, ACLs, umask, sticky bit, SGID

❌ Not started

—

8: Networking

nmcli, ip, hostnamectl

❌ Not started

—

9: Software Management

dnf, yum, rpm, repos

❌ Not started

—

10: systemd

systemctl, units, targets, enable/mask

❌ Not started

—

11: Storage

lsblk, fdisk, mkfs, partitions

❌ Not started

—

12: LVM

pvcreate, vgcreate, lvcreate, resize

❌ Not started

—

13: Layered Storage

Stratis, VDO

❌ Not started

—

14: Kernel Management

Modules, tuned, bootloader

❌ Not started

—

15: Scheduling Tasks

cron, at, systemd timers

❌ Not started

—

16: Logging

journalctl, rsyslog

❌ Not started

—

17: SELinux

semanage, restorecon, setsebool — CRITICAL

❌ Not started

Most common failure point

18: Automounting

autofs, NFS

❌ Not started

—

19: Time Services

chronyd, timedatectl

❌ Not started

—

20: Containers

Podman, buildah

❌ Not started

—

21: Practice Exams

Full 3-hour timed simulation

❌ Not started

—

Overall: 2 / 22 phases (9%)

Target: 2026-06-01

Study Schedule:

Week Chapters Focus

1

1-4

Installation, Tools, Files

2

5-8

Users, Permissions, Network, Software

3

9-12

Processes, Tasks, systemd, Logging

4

13-16

Storage, File Systems, Boot

5

17-21

SELinux, SSH, Firewall, Containers

6

22 + Review

Practice Exams

Assessment

Lab Readiness Checklist

Before starting any phase, verify:

  • KVM/libvirt installed and running (systemctl status libvirtd)

  • User in libvirt/kvm groups (groups | grep -E '(libvirt|kvm)')

  • Rocky 9 ISO downloaded (ls ~/isos/Rocky-9-latest-x86_64-minimal.iso)

  • server1 VM created and accessible via SSH

  • server2 VM created (needed for NFS/clustering — chapters 15, 18)

  • Base snapshot taken (virsh snapshot-list rhcsa-server1)

  • Extra 5GB disks attached for storage labs (chapters 11-14)

  • SSH key copied to VMs (ssh admin@server1 'hostname')

See Phase 0: Lab Setup for full setup guide.

Prior Knowledge

Domain Confidence Evidence

File operations (cp, mv, rm, find)

✅ Strong

Daily CLI mastery drills, Terminal Mastery track complete

Text processing (grep, sed, awk)

✅ Strong

Codex pages, reMarkable workbooks, daily practice

Vim editing

✅ Strong

Primary editor, Vim Mastery track in progress

Networking (ip, ss, nmcli)

✅ Strong

CCNP background, domus infrastructure

SSH and remote access

✅ Strong

802.1X EAP-TLS project, daily use

systemd

⚠️ Moderate

Use daily, need deeper unit file authoring

Storage / LVM

⚠️ Moderate

Arch uses btrfs; LVM resize needs practice

SELinux

❌ Weak

Arch doesn’t use SELinux; need dedicated lab time

Podman / containers

⚠️ Moderate

Docker experience, Podman syntax differences

Kickstart / automated install

❌ Weak

Never authored a kickstart file

NFS / autofs

❌ Weak

Limited exposure

Risk Areas

  1. SELinux — #1 exam failure topic. Zero daily exposure on Arch. Requires dedicated Rocky 9 VM practice with deliberate SELinux troubleshooting scenarios.

  2. LVM resize under pressure — Extend/reduce without data loss under 3-hour time constraint.

  3. nmcli memorization — Know the concepts, need command muscle memory for RHEL-specific syntax.

  4. Exam is no-internet — Must know man page navigation cold. Cannot rely on web docs.

Study Strategy

The exam is 100% practical. You must TYPE commands from memory. Reading alone is insufficient.

  1. Read — Review chapter concepts

  2. Type — Execute every command (no copy-paste for learning)

  3. Document — Capture what works, what breaks in phase partials

  4. Diagram — Visualize with D2 diagrams

  5. Break it — Use Rocky 9 VM, break things, fix them

  6. Time — Practice under exam time pressure (3 hours)

Chapter Dependencies

Chapters Requires Why

1-5

None

Foundation chapters — installation, tools, files, text, SSH

6-7

Ch 2 (vim, shell)

User/permission editing requires shell competence

8

None

Networking is standalone (your CCNP strength)

9

Ch 1 (installation)

Package management builds on repo config from install

10

Ch 2 (shell basics)

systemd commands require shell fluency

11-14

Ch 1 (LVM from install)

Storage/LVM builds on partitioning concepts

15

Ch 10 (systemd)

systemd timers require systemd knowledge

16

Ch 10 (journalctl)

Logging depends on systemd journal concepts

17

Ch 7 (permissions)

SELinux contexts extend the permission model — hardest chapter

18

Ch 8 (networking)

NFS/autofs requires network config working first

19

Ch 10 (systemd)

chronyd is a systemd-managed service

20

None

Podman is standalone — containers are self-contained

21

ALL

Practice exam covers every domain

Advantage: Network Engineer Background

You hold CCNP-level networking knowledge. This means: - Chapters 5 (SSH), 8 (Networking), 19 (Firewall) are mostly review - Translate Cisco mental models to Linux equivalents - See Network Engineer’s Guide to Linux

Metadata

Field Value

EDU ID

EDU-2026-02-rhcsa

Author

Evan Rosado

Created

2026-02-27

Last Updated

2026-04-05

Status

Active

Category

Certification

Priority

P0

Target Completion

2026-06-01

Primary Resource

Red Hat RHCSA 9 Cert Guide — Sander van Vugt (Pearson)

Exam Code

EX200

Duration

3 hours

Format

Performance-based (hands-on tasks)

Passing Score

210 / 300 (70%)

Practice Environment

Rocky 9 VMs on kvm-01, Arch Linux (modestus-razer)

Certification Body

Red Hat

Related Tracker

partials/trackers/education/rhcsa.adoc

Related

This Project

Prerequisite Skills

Follow-On Certifications

  • RHCE (EX294) — Ansible automation, next Red Hat cert

  • LPIC-1 — complementary Linux cert (Debian/Ubuntu coverage)

  • CISSP — broader security context for enterprise Linux