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Revision as of 20:04, 10 January 2012 by Herlo (talk | contribs) (this is RHCSA)

This is the RHCSA Study Guide for the System Administration Study Group.

The study guide is intended to be printed by those who wish to study common tasks performed by many system administrators. This study guide is based upon the Red Hat Certified System Administrator Exam Objectives. Other useful study components will be added here. Community contributions are always welcome.

Understand and Use Essential Tools

Access a shell prompt and issue commands with correct syntax








Use input-output redirection (>, >>, |, 2>, etc.)









Use grep and regular expressions to analyze text








Access remote systems using ssh and VNC








Log in and switch users in multi-user runlevels








Archive, compress, unpack and uncompress files using tar, star, gzip, and bzip2








Create and edit text files








Create, delete, copy and move files and directories








Create hard and soft links








List, set and change standard ugo/rwx permissions








Locate, read and use system documentation including man, info, and files in /usr/share/doc .









Operate Running Systems

Boot, reboot, and shut down a system normally








Boot systems into different runlevels manually








Use single-user mode to gain access to a system








Identify CPU/memory intensive processes, adjust process priority with renice, and kill processes









Locate and interpret system log files








Access a virtual machine's console










Start and stop virtual machines








Start, stop and check the status of network services








Configure Local Storage

List, create, delete and set partition type for primary, extended, and logical partitions








Create and remove physical volumes, assign physical volumes to volume groups, create and delete logical volumes








Create and configure LUKS-encrypted partitions and logical volumes to prompt for password and mount a decrypted file system at boot









Configure systems to mount file systems at boot by Universally Unique ID (UUID) or label








Add new partitions, logical volumes and swap to a system non-destructively








Create and Configure File Systems

Create, mount, unmount and use ext2, ext3 and ext4 file systems








Mount, unmount and use LUKS-encrypted file systems








Mount and unmount CIFS and NFS network file systems








Configure systems to mount ext4, LUKS-encrypted and network file systems automatically








Extend existing unencrypted ext4-formatted logical volumes









Create and configure set-GID directories for collaboration








Create and manage Access Control Lists (ACLs)









Diagnose and correct file permission problems








Deploy, Configure and Maintain Systems

Configure networking and hostname resolution statically or dynamically








Schedule tasks using cron








Configure systems to boot into a specific runlevel automatically








Install Red Hat Enterprise Linux automatically using Kickstart









Configure a physical machine to host virtual guests









Install Red Hat Enterprise Linux systems as virtual guests









Configure systems to launch virtual machines at boot









Configure network services to start automatically at boot








Configure a system to run a default configuration HTTP server








Configure a system to run a default configuration FTP server








Install and update software packages from a remote repository, or from the local filesystem








Update the kernel package appropriately to ensure a bootable system








Modify the system bootloader








Configure a system to run a default configuration NTP server and synchronize time using other NTP peers








Manage Users and Groups

Create, delete, and modify local user accounts








Change passwords and adjust password aging for local user accounts








Create, delete and modify local groups and group memberships








Configure a system to use an existing LDAP directory service for user and group information








Manage Security

Configure firewall settings using system-config-firewall or iptables









Set enforcing and permissive modes for SELinux








List and identify SELinux file and process context








Restore default file contexts









Use boolean settings to modify system SELinux settings









Diagnose and address routine SELinux policy violations