Module 11: Exam Day

Operational notes for the actual EX200 sitting.

Format reminders

3 hours, no breaks (you can pause but the clock runs).
70% to pass.
Two RHEL systems via virtual console.
Kiosk mode — you don't see the host OS.
No internet, no notes, no phones.
Available reference: man pages, --help, /usr/share/doc/.
Results emailed within 3 business days.

What to bring

Government photo ID.
Yourself, rested. The exam is not technically hard if you've done the labs; it's an endurance test of speed and accuracy.

What NOT to bring (it'll be confiscated)

Smart watches, fitness trackers, phones.
Notes, books, paper.
Bag (small purse may be allowed; check with the proctor).

Time-budget strategy

Phase	Time
Read all tasks	5 min
Triage easy/familiar tasks	1 hour
Hard tasks	1 hour
Reboot verification + sweep for missed items	30 min
Buffer	25 min

Reboot at least twice during the exam — once after each major batch of tasks. Anything not in persistent config won't survive. The exam grades the systems' state AFTER A REBOOT, not what you set at runtime.

Triage order

Tasks worth the most points first (the exam will hint via task difficulty).
Tasks with no dependencies (do these in parallel mentally).
SELinux / firewalld tasks — easy points, often forgotten in the rush.
Reboot. Verify.
The hard task you skipped.
Reboot again. Sweep for anything broken.

Common mistakes

Setting a boolean without -P. Reboot wipes it. You fail that task.
Editing /etc/fstab without running mount -a first. If the entry is bad, the system won't boot.
Changing root password without touch /.autorelabel after a recovery boot.
Forgetting firewall-cmd --reload after --permanent adds.
Forgetting systemctl daemon-reload after editing a unit file.
Not enabling a service after starting it. enable --now is the safe pattern.

The reboot ritual

Before each reboot:


mount -a                              # validates fstab
systemctl daemon-reload               # picks up unit changes
firewall-cmd --reload                 # picks up --permanent changes
getsebool -P <booleans you set>       # verify persistence (the -P confirms it's in the policy)

After reboot:


systemctl list-units --failed         # any service refuse to start?
journalctl -b -p err                  # any errors this boot?

If you see failures, FIX THEM before moving on. Don't accumulate broken state.

Recovery if you break SSH

The exam gives you a console — you can always log in directly even if SSH dies. Don't panic. If you can't log in at all (you locked the user or broke PAM), reboot to single-user / rd.break and fix it (see Module 2).

After the exam

Drink water. Eat. Your results email arrives within 3 business days. If you fail by a few points, retake within 30 days — most of the muscle memory survives.

What this course can't replace

Pressure. The exam clock is unforgiving. The only way to beat it is to have done the labs in this kit at least three times each, end-to-end, without checking the answer sheet. By the third pass the workflow should be reflex.

End of course. Reset your lab VMs to clean baseline and run the labs cold. Good luck.

End of Course KZN-DEV-2026-003.

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