Red Hat RHCSA 10 Cert Guide: EX200

Description

Learn, prepare, and practice for the Red Hat RHCSA 10 (EX200) exam

• Master Red Hat RHCSA 10 EX200 exam topics
• Assess your knowledge with chapter-ending quizzes and labs
• Review key concepts with exam-preparation tasks
• Practice with four unique practice tests

Red Hat RHCSA 10 Cert Guide: EX200 is a comprehensive exam study guide. Leading Linux consultant, author, and instructor Sander van Vugt shares preparation hints and test-taking tips, helping you identify areas of weakness and improve both your conceptual knowledge and hands-on skills. The material is presented in a concise manner, focusing on increasing your understanding and retention of exam topics.

The book presents you with an organized test-preparation routine through the use of proven series elements and techniques. Exam topic lists make referencing easy, and chapter-ending Exam Preparation Tasks help you drill deep on key concepts you must know thoroughly to pass the exam. Review questions help you assess your knowledge, and a final preparation chapter guides you through tools and resources to help you craft your final study plan.

Well regarded for its level of detail, assessment features, and challenging review questions and exercises, this study guide helps you master the concepts and techniques that will enable you to succeed on the exam the first time, including

• Basic system management: Installation, tools, file management, text files, RHEL 10 connections, user/group management, permissions, and network configuration
• Operating running systems: Managing software, processes, storage, and advanced storage; working with Systemd; scheduling tasks; and configuring logging
• Advanced system administration: Managing the kernel and boot procedures, essential troubleshooting, bash shell scripting
• Managing network services: Configuring SSH, firewalld, and time services; managing Apache HTTP services and SELinux and accessing network storage

Sample Content

Table of Contents

Introduction xxx
Part I: Performing Basic System Management Tasks
Chapter 1 Installing Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3
Do I Know This Already? Quiz 3
Foundation Topics 6
Preparing to Install Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6
    What Is Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 Server? 6
    Getting the Software 7
        Using Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
        Using CentOS Stream 8
        Other Distributions 8
    Understanding Access to Repositories 8
    Setup Requirements 9
    Cert Guide Environment Description 10
Performing an Installation 10
Summary 21
Exam Preparation Tasks 21
End-of-Chapter Lab 22
Chapter 2 Using Essential Tools 25
Do I Know This Already? Quiz 25
Foundation Topics 28
Basic Shell Skills 28
    Understanding Commands 28
    Executing Commands 28
    I/O Redirection 30
    Using Pipes 32
    History 33
    Bash Completion 35
Editing Files with vim 35
Editing Files with nano 38
Understanding the Shell Environment 39
    Understanding Variables 39
    Recognizing Environment Configuration Files 40
    Using /etc/motd and /etc/issue 41
Finding Help 42
    Using --help 42
    Using man 42
    Finding the Right man Page 43
    Updating mandb 45
    Using RHEL Lightspeed 46
Summary 47
Exam Preparation Tasks 47
End-of-Chapter Lab 49
Chapter 3 Essential File Management Tools 51
Do I Know This Already? Quiz 51
Foundation Topics 54
Working with the File System Hierarchy 54
    Defining the File System Hierarchy 54
    Understanding Mounts 55
Managing Files 60
    Working with Wildcards 60
    Managing and Working with Directories 60
    Working with Absolute and Relative Pathnames 61
    Listing Files and Directories 62
    Copying Files and Directories 63
    Moving Files and Directories 64
    Deleting Files and Directories 65
Using Links 66
    Understanding Hard Links 66
    Understanding Symbolic Links 67
    Creating Links 68
    Removing Links 69
Working with Archives and Compressed Files 70
    Managing Archives with tar 70
        Creating Archives with tar 71
        Monitoring and Extracting tar Files 71
    Using Compression 72
Summary 74
Exam Preparation Tasks 74
End-of-Chapter Lab 76
Chapter 4 Working with Text Files 79
Do I Know This Already? Quiz 79
Foundation Topics 82
Using Common Text FileRelated Tools 82
    Doing More with less 82
    Showing File Contents with cat 83
    Displaying the First or Last Lines of a File with head and tail 84
    Filtering Specific Columns with cut 85
    Sorting File Contents and Output with sort 85
    Counting Lines, Words, and Characters with wc 86
A Primer to Using Regular Expressions 87
    Using Line Anchors 88
    Using Escaping in Regular Expressions 89
    Using Wildcards and Multipliers 89
    Using Extended Regular Expressions 90
Using grep to Analyze Text 91
Working with Other Useful Text Processing Utilities 92
Summary 94
Exam Preparation Tasks 94
End-of-Chapter Lab 96
Chapter 5 Connecting to Red Hat Enterprise Linux 99
Do I Know This Already? Quiz 99
Foundation Topics 102
Working on Local Consoles 102
    Logging In to a Local Console 102
    Switching Between Terminals in a Graphical Environment 103
    Working with Multiple Terminals in a Nongraphical Environment 105
    Understanding Pseudo Terminal Devices 106
    Booting, Rebooting, and Shutting Down Systems 107
Using SSH and Related Utilities 108
    Accessing Remote Systems Using SSH 108
    Securely Transferring Files Between Systems 111
        Using scp to Securely Copy Files 111
        Using sftp to Securely Transfer Files 112
        Using rsync to Synchronize Files 113
    Configuring Key-Based Authentication for SSH 113
    Using Passphrases or Not? 114
Using Cockpit 114
    Understanding Cockpit 115
    Performing Common Tasks with Cockpit 115
Summary 116
Exam Preparation Tasks 117
End-of-Chapter Labs 118
Chapter 6 User and Group Management 121
Do I Know This Already? Quiz 121
Foundation Topics 124
Understanding Different User Types 124
    Users on Linux 124
    Working as Root 124
    Using su 125
    sudo 126
    PolicyKit 128
Creating and Managing User Accounts 129
    System Accounts and Normal Accounts 129
    Creating Users 132
        Modifying the Configuration Files 133
        Using useradd 133
        Home Directories 133
        Default Shell 134
    Managing User Properties 134
    Configuration Files for User Management Defaults 135
    Managing Password Properties 135
    Creating a User Environment 136
Creating and Managing Group Accounts 137
    Understanding Linux Groups 137
    Creating Groups 138
    Creating Groups with vigr 138
        Using groupadd to Create Groups 139
    Managing Group Properties 139
Summary 140
Exam Preparation Tasks 140
End-of-Chapter Labs 142
Chapter 7 Permissions Management 145
Do I Know This Already? Quiz 145
Foundation Topics 148
Managing File Ownership 148
    Displaying Ownership 148
    Changing User Ownership 149
    Changing Group Ownership 149
    Understanding Default Ownership 150
Managing Basic Permissions 151
    Understanding Read, Write, and Execute Permissions 151
    Applying Read, Write, and Execute Permissions 152
Managing Advanced Permissions 155
    Understanding Advanced Permissions 155
    Applying Advanced Permissions 157
Setting Default Permissions with umask 159
Working with User-Extended Attributes 160
Summary 161
Exam Preparation Tasks 162
Review All Key Topics 162
End-of-Chapter Lab 163
Chapter 8 Configuring Networking 165
Do I Know This Already? Quiz 165
Foundation Topics 168
Networking Fundamentals 168
    IP Addresses 168
    IPv6 Addresses 169
    IPv4 Network Masks 169
    Binary Notation 170
    MAC Addresses 171
    Protocol and Ports 171
Managing Network Addresses and Interfaces 172
Validating Network Configuration 173
    Validating Network Address Configuration 173
    Validating Routing 176
    Validating the Availability of Ports and Services 177
Managing Network Configuration with nmtui and nmcli 178
    Required Permissions to Change Network Configuration 179
    Configuring the Network with nmcli 180
    Configuring the Network with nmtui 182
    Working on Network Configuration Files 184
Setting Up Hostname and Name Resolution 185
    Hostnames 185
    DNS Name Resolution 187
Summary 189
Exam Preparation Tasks 189
End-of-Chapter Lab 191
Part II: Operating Running Systems
Chapter 9 Managing Software 193
Do I Know This Already? Quiz 193
Foundation Topics 196
Managing Software Packages with dnf 196
    Understanding the Role of Repositories 196
    Registering Red Hat Enterprise Linux for Support 197
    Managing Subscriptions 197
    Specifying Which Repository to Use 198
    Understanding Repository Security 200
    Creating Your Own Repository 202
Using dnf 204
    Using dnf to Find Software Packages 204
    Getting More Information About Packages 206
    Installing and Removing Software Packages 207
    Showing Lists of Packages 209
    Updating Packages 210
        Using dnf History 214
Managing Software Packages with rpm 215
    Understanding RPM Filenames 216
    Querying the RPM Database 216
    Querying RPM Package Files 217
Managing Software with Flatpak 219
    Understanding Flatpak 219
    Installing Flatpak 220
    Managing Flatpak Applications 220
Summary 221
Exam Preparation Tasks 222
End-of-Chapter Lab 223
Chapter 10 Managing Processes 227
Do I Know This Already? Quiz 227
Foundation Topics 230
Introducing Process Management 230
Managing Shell Jobs 230
    Running Jobs in the Foreground and Background 230
    Managing Shell Jobs 231
    Understanding ParentChild Relations 233
Using Common Command-Line Tools for Process Management 233
    Understanding Processes and Threads 234
    Using ps to Get Process Information 235
    Understanding Process Priorities 237
        Exploring Relations Between Slices 237
        Managing Process Priorities 238
    Sending Signals to Processes with kill, killall, and pkill 239
    Killing Zombies 241
Using top to Manage Processes 242
Using tuned to Optimize Performance 244
Summary 245
Exam Preparation Tasks 246
End-of-Chapter Lab 247
Chapter 11 Working with Systemd 249
Do I Know This Already? Quiz 249
Foundation Topics 252
Understanding Systemd 252
    Understanding Systemd Unit Locations 252
    Understanding Systemd Service Units 253
    Understanding Systemd Mount Units 254
    Understanding Systemd Socket Units 255
    Understanding Systemd Target Units 256
Managing Units Through Systemd 257
    Managing Dependencies 260
    Managing Unit Directives 262
Summary 265
Exam Preparation Tasks 265
End-of-Chapter Lab 266
Chapter 12 Scheduling Tasks 269
Do I Know This Already? Quiz 269
Foundation Topics 272
Understanding Task Scheduling Options in RHEL 272
Using Systemd Timers 272
Configuring cron to Automate Recurring Tasks 274
    Managing the crond Service 274
    Understanding cron Timing 276
    Managing cron Configuration Files 276
    Understanding the Purpose of anacron 279
    Managing cron Security 280
Configuring at to Schedule Future Tasks 281
Summary 281
Exam Preparation Tasks 282
End-of-Chapter Lab 283
Chapter 13 Configuring Logging 285
Do I Know This Already? Quiz 285
Foundation Topics 288
Understanding System Logging 288
    Understanding the Role of systemd-journald and rsyslogd 288
    Reading Log Files 290
    Understanding Log File Contents 291
    Live Log File Monitoring 292
Working with systemd-journald 292
    Using journalctl to Find Events 292
    Preserving the Systemd Journal 296
Configuring rsyslogd 298
    Understanding rsyslogd Configuration Files 298
    Understanding rsyslog.conf Sections 298
    Understanding Facilities, Priorities, and Log Destinations 298
Rotating Log Files 302
    Using logger 304
Summary 305
Exam Preparation Tasks 305
End-of-Chapter Lab 306
Chapter 14 Managing Storage 309
Do I Know This Already? Quiz 309
Foundation Topics 312
Understanding MBR and GPT Partitions 312
    Understanding the MBR Partitioning Scheme 312
    Understanding the Need for GPT Partitioning 313
    Understanding Storage Measurement Units 314
Managing Partitions and File Systems 315
    Creating MBR Partitions with fdisk 316
    Using Extended and Logical Partitions on MBR 318
    Creating GPT Partitions with fdisk 320
    Creating GPT Partitions with parted 322
    Creating File Systems 323
    Changing File System Properties 325
        Managing Ext4 File System Properties 325
        Managing XFS File System Properties 327
    Adding Swap Partitions 327
    Adding Swap Files 328
Mounting File Systems 329
    Manually Mounting File Systems 329
    Using Device Names, UUIDs, or Disk Labels 330
    Automating File System Mounts Through /etc/fstab 331
    Using Systemd Mounts 334
Summary 335
Exam Preparation Tasks 335
End-of-Chapter Lab 337
Chapter 15 Managing Logical Volumes 339
Do I Know This Already? Quiz 339
Foundation Topics 342
Understanding LVM 342
    LVM Architecture 342
    LVM Features 343
Creating LVM Logical Volumes 344
    Creating the Physical Volumes 346
    Creating the Volume Groups 350
    Creating the Logical Volumes and File Systems 351
    Understanding LVM Device Naming 352
Resizing LVM Logical Volumes 354
    Resizing Volume Groups 354
    Resizing Logical Volumes and File Systems 354
    Reducing Volume Groups 356
Summary 357
Exam Preparation Tasks 357
End-of-Chapter Labs 359
Part III: Performing Advanced System Administration Tasks
Chapter 16 Basic Kernel Management 361
Do I Know This Already? Quiz 361
Foundation Topics 364
Understanding the Role of the Linux Kernel 364
    Understanding the Use of Kernel Threads and Drivers 364
    Analyzing What the Kernel Is Doing 366
Working with Kernel Modules 368
    Understanding Hardware Initialization 368
    Managing Kernel Modules 370
    Checking Driver Availability for Hardware Devices 373
    Managing Kernel Module Parameters 374
Upgrading the Linux Kernel 375
Summary 375
Exam Preparation Tasks 376
End-of-Chapter Lab 377
Chapter 17 Managing and Understanding the Boot Procedure 379
Do I Know This Already? Quiz 379
Foundation Topics 382
Managing Systemd Targets 382
    Understanding Systemd Targets 382
        Working with Targets 382
        Understanding Target Units 383
        Understanding Wants 384
        Managing Systemd Targets 384
        Isolating Targets 385
        Setting the Default Target 387
Working with GRUB 2 388
    Understanding GRUB 2 388
    Understanding GRUB 2 Configuration Files 390
    Modifying Default GRUB 2 Boot Options 390
Summary 391
Exam Preparation Tasks 391
End-of-Chapter Labs 393
Chapter 18 Essential Troubleshooting Skills 395
Do I Know This Already? Quiz 395
Foundation Topics 398
Understanding the RHEL 10 Boot Procedure 398
Passing Kernel Boot Arguments 400
    Accessing the Boot Prompt 400
    Starting a Troubleshooting Target 401
Using a Rescue Disk 403
    Restoring System Access Using a Rescue Disk 403
    Reinstalling GRUB Using a Rescue Disk 405
    Re-creating the Initramfs Using a Rescue Disk 405
Fixing Common Issues 406
    Reinstalling GRUB 2 406
    Fixing the Initramfs 406
    Recovering from File System Issues 407
    Resetting the Root Password 407
Summary 409
Exam Preparation Tasks 409
End-of-Chapter Lab 411
Chapter 19 An Introduction to Automation with Bash Shell Scripting 413
Do I Know This Already? Quiz 413
Foundation Topics 416
Understanding Shell Scripting Core Elements 416
Using Variables and Input 418
    Using Positional Parameters 418
    Working with Variables 420
Using Conditional Loops 422
    Working with if then else 422
    Using || and && 423
    Applying for 424
    Understanding while and until 425
    Understanding case 426
    Bash Shell Script Debugging 427
Summary 428
Exam Preparation Tasks 428
End-of-Chapter Lab 429
Part IV: Managing Network Services
Chapter 20 Configuring SSH 433
Do I Know This Already? Quiz 433
Foundation Topics 436
Hardening the SSH Server 436
    Limiting Root Access 436
    Configuring Alternative Ports 437
    Modifying SELinux to Allow for Port Changes 437
    Limiting User Access 438
Using Other Useful sshd Options 439
    Session Options 440
    Connection Keepalive Options 440
Configuring Key-Based Authentication with Passphrases 441
Summary 442
Exam Preparation Tasks 442
End-of-Chapter Lab 444
Chapter 21 Managing Apache HTTP Services 447
Do I Know This Already? Quiz 447
Foundation Topics 450
Configuring a Basic Apache Server 450
    Installing the Required Software 450
    Identifying the Main Configuration File 450
    Creating Web Server Content 453
Understanding Apache Configuration Files 454
Creating Apache Virtual Hosts 456
Summary 458
Exam Preparation Tasks 458
End-of-Chapter Lab 459
Chapter 22 Managing SELinux 463
Do I Know This Already? Quiz 464
Foundation Topics 467
Understanding SELinux Working Modes 467
Understanding Context Settings and the Policy 471
    Monitoring Current Context Labels 471
    Setting Context Types 473
    Finding the Context Type You Need 476
Restoring Default File Contexts 477
Managing Port Access 479
Using Boolean Settings to Modify SELinux Settings 479
Diagnosing and Addressing SELinux Policy Violations 481
    Making SELinux Analyzing Easier 483
Summary 485
Exam Preparation Tasks 485
End-of-Chapter Lab 486
Chapter 23 Configuring a Firewall 489
Do I Know This Already? Quiz 489
Foundation Topics 493
Understanding Linux Firewalling 493
    Understanding Previous Firewalling Solutions 493
    Understanding Firewalld 493
    Understanding Firewalld Zones 494
    Understanding Firewalld Services 495
Working with Firewalld 496
Summary 500
Exam Preparation Tasks 500
End-of-Chapter Lab 502
Chapter 24 Accessing Network Storage 505
Do I Know This Already? Quiz 505
Foundation Topics 508
Using NFS Services 508
    Understanding NFS Security 508
    Setting Up NFS 508
    Mounting the NFS Share 509
Mounting Remote File Systems Through fstab 510
    Mounting NFS Shares Through fstab 510
Using Autofs to Mount Remote File Systems 511
    Understanding Autofs 512
    Defining Mounts in Autofs 512
    Configuring Autofs for NFS 512
    Using Wildcards in Autofs 513
Summary 514
Exam Preparation Tasks 514
End-of-Chapter Lab 515
Chapter 25 Configuring Time Services 517
Do I Know This Already? Quiz 517
Foundation Topics 520
Understanding Local Time 520
Using Network Time Protocol 521
Managing Time on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 521
    Using date 522
    Using hwclock 522
    Using timedatectl 523
    Managing Time Zone Settings 525
    Configuring Time Service Clients 527
Summary 528
Exam Preparation Tasks 529
End-of-Chapter Lab 530
Chapter 26 Final Preparation 533
General Tips 533
    Verifying Your Readiness 533
    Registering for the Exam 533
    On Exam Day 534
        During the Exam 535
        The Nondisclosure Agreement 536
Chapter 27 Theoretical Pre-Assessment Exam 539
Part V: RHCSA Practice Exams
RHCSA Practice Exam A 541
RHCSA Practice Exam B 543
Appendix A Answers to the Do I Know This Already? Quizzes and Review Questions 545
Appendix BRed Hat RHCSA 10 Cert Guide: EX200 Exam Updates 579
Glossary 581
Online Elements:
RHCSA Practice Exam C
RHCSA Practice Exam D
Appendix C Memory Tables
Appendix D Memory Tables Answer Key
Appendix E Study Planner
Glossary

9780135576663    TOC    4/24/2026

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