Offtopic - Going for RHCA again in 2024

Roughly three years ago I've started my RHCA Journey for the first time. Since then, quite a lot has happened and my knowledge gained in the first round has still served me well so far but since the Certs are expiring soon, it's time to get 5 new Certs in order to maintain my status.

This time, I'have gone for the following certifications:

EX280 - OpenShift Administration (242/300)

EX380 - OpenShift Automation and Integration (300/300)

EX316 - OpenShift Virtualization (257/300)

EX188 - Containers (274/300)

EX480 - Multicluster Management with RHACM and RHACS (252/300)

Unfortunately, I don't have detailed stats like last time but I've started to learn for EX280 roughly mid May 2024 and achieved my results for EX480 on 18th September 2024, so roughly 4 months.

I had some experience with OpenShift before starting this journey but I had no exposure at all to RHACM and RHACS and only briefly touched OpenShift Virtualization.

Here are my thoughts on each Exam:

EX280 (v4.14)

I rushed through DO180 and DO280 in roughly 1.5 weeks, then spend 2 Days practicing with the reviews of each chapter. I think the exam was good and worth it. Having prior OpenShift exposure definitely helps with this one and I'd recommend going for it.

EX380 (v4.14)

I was definitely not aware of what I was in for ... I'll just leave this here: Failed 2 times on EX380

I think this is one of the hardest available Exams from Red Hat. It can be achieved but it's definitely hard and takes a lot of dedication. The course on the other hand (DO380) was actually good and did provide some nice insights. I'd recommend going for the course but the Exam experience was subpar.

EX316 (v4.14)

Considering this is the future for a virtualization Product from Red Hat, I was definitely interested. I think the Course and Exam were fair and provide insights and knowledge on KubeVirt and OpenShift Virtualization. If you're interested in KubeVirt and Virtualization, I'd definitely recommend going for it.

EX188 (v4)

The Podman Exam was a no brainer considering I've dabbled a fair bit with podman for prototyping applications and building stuff quickly. I don't have much to say here, besides go for it.

EX480 (v4.10)

I was a bit afraid of this one considering my Experience with EX380, but in the end I went for it. The course will teach a bit about RHACM and RHACS as well as Quay and how to integrate all together.

If you're managing a fleet of OpenShift Clusters I'd consider this one to be a must-have. I found it to be fairly easy but still practical and I'd recommend going for this one.

This time, the exams I chose were quite Container- and OpenShift focused but I did learn quite a lot of stuff and tricks for my daily work with OpenShift and Podman.

What's next?

Well ... I've got a whole list left including one more OpenShift-related Course that I'd like to learn about and a few ansible ones. But for now, I'll take a break until November most likely.

Cheers.

Comments

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