RHCSA RHEL 10 (EX200 v10): Complete 2026 Guide with Exam Labs

Key takeaways

• EX200 on RHEL 10 is a 3-hour hands-on exam with no internet, and tasks are scored on whether they still work after reboot.
• If you know RHEL 8 or 9, concentrate on Flatpak alongside RPM and tuned profiles, since most other skills carry over.
• Rebuild each lab yourself on a VM, covering LVM, nmcli, SELinux and firewalld, and finish with a full reboot check.

If you learned RHCSA on RHEL 8 or 9, most of your skills still apply. The exam format is unchanged, but RHEL 10 shifts a few objectives and adds new software tooling. Below is what changed, what the exam tests, and a practice plan that fits the way the exam is actually scored.

What changed with RHEL 10 and EX200 v10?

RHEL 10 was released on 20 May 2025 and ships with Linux kernel 6.12. For the exam, three practical points matter more than the marketing features:

• Flatpak sits alongside RPM. You should be able to add a Flatpak remote and install an app, as well as manage RPM packages with dnf.
• Image mode (bootc) exists but is not a core RHCSA skill. RHEL 10 can be built and deployed as an immutable bootc image. Know the concept, but spend your revision time on the traditional package and configuration tasks.
• AI tooling (Lightspeed) and post-quantum cryptography are platform features, not exam tasks. You get no internet during the exam, so nothing AI-assisted helps you. Verify your work with man, dnf and your own testing instead.

Two rules have not changed since the RHEL 8 era, and they decide most pass or fail outcomes. You get no internet during the exam, and every change must survive a reboot. More candidates lose marks because a configuration did not persist than because they did not know the command.

What is the exam format at a glance?

EX200 is performance based. You are placed in a running RHEL 10 environment and complete real administration tasks against a time limit.

Red Hat reports a total score rather than a per-task breakdown. The pass mark is commonly cited as 210 out of 300 (about 70 percent), but confirm the current scoring and the exact RHEL version on the official Red Hat EX200 page before you book, because these details change between versions. For a fuller breakdown of booking, attempts and rescheduling, see the RHCSA exam format guide.

Who should take it, and what should you know first?

RHCSA suits people moving into Linux administration, support or DevOps roles, and anyone planning to progress to RHCE (EX294) later. There are no formal prerequisites, but roughly six months of command-line experience makes the difference between finishing in time and running out of it. If you are new, get comfortable with the shell, file navigation, editing files in vim, and reading man pages before you touch SELinux or LVM. For a gentler introduction to the credential itself, read what RHCSA is and who it is for.

The exam domains, with practice commands

Red Hat's published objectives group into a handful of areas. Treat each as a lab you can complete without notes.

Essential tools and file management

Expect tasks that ask you to find, archive and link files. Practise these until they are automatic:

grep -E '^root' /etc/passwd > /root/lines.txt
find / -user harry -type f -exec cp -a {} /root/found/ \; 2>/dev/null
tar -czvf /root/etc.tar.gz /etc
ln -s /data/file /data/soft

Software management: RPM, DNF and Flatpak

You often have to configure a repository rather than rely on an already-working one. Create the repo file by hand so a typo in a command does not cost you the task:

cat > /etc/yum.repos.d/exam.repo <<'EOF'
[BaseOS]
name=BaseOS
baseurl=http://content.example.com/rhel10/BaseOS
enabled=1
gpgcheck=0
EOF
dnf repolist
dnf install -y httpd
rpm -q httpd

For Flatpak, know how to add a remote and install from it:

flatpak remote-add --if-not-exists myremote https://example.com/repo/myremote.flatpakrepo
flatpak install myremote org.example.App
flatpak list

Use whatever repository URL the task gives you. The addresses above are placeholders.

System boot, targets and recovery

You may be asked to change the default boot target, switch targets live, or reset a lost root password. The password reset is a classic task, so rehearse it until the SELinux relabel step is second nature:

1. Reboot. At the GRUB menu, press e on the kernel entry.
2. Add rd.break to the end of the line starting with linux, then press Ctrl+x.
3. Run mount -o remount, rw /sysroot and chroot /sysroot.
4. Run passwd root, then touch /.autorelabel. Skipping the relabel blocks logins afterwards.
5. Type exit twice and let the system relabel and reboot.

Users, groups and permissions

Several tasks always touch identities and access. Practise creating users with set IDs, group membership, password ageing, and both standard permissions and ACLs:

useradd -u 2026 trainee
usermod -aG developers trainee
chage -M 60 trainee
chmod 2770 /project # SGID so new files inherit the group
chown:developers /project
setfacl -m u:natasha:rw /project/report
getfacl /project/report

Storage, LVM and swap

Storage is heavily tested because a mistake here means lost data in production. Be fluent with partitions, LVM resize and persistent mounts. Always add the mount to /etc/fstab and test it before you move on:

parted /dev/vdb mklabel gpt
parted /dev/vdb mkpart primary 1MiB 2GiB
pvcreate /dev/vdb1
vgcreate datavg /dev/vdb1
lvcreate -n datalv -L 1G datavg
mkfs.xfs /dev/datavg/datalv
echo '/dev/datavg/datalv /data xfs defaults 0 0' >> /etc/fstab
mount -a && df -h /data

To grow a logical volume and its XFS filesystem:

lvextend -L +500M /dev/datavg/datalv
xfs_growfs /data

Use resize2fs instead of xfs_growfs for ext4 filesystems.

Networking with nmcli

Set static addresses and hostnames with NetworkManager, and make them persistent. The man page man nmcli-examples is available during the exam and is worth knowing:

nmcli con add type ethernet con-name static0 ifname ens3 ip4 192.168.4.10/24 gw4 192.168.4.1
nmcli con mod static0 ipv4.dns 192.168.4.254 ipv4.method manual
nmcli con up static0
hostnamectl set-hostname servera.lab.example.com

Systemd, services and scheduled jobs

Know how to enable services at boot, read their logs, and schedule work:

systemctl enable --now httpd
systemctl status httpd
journalctl -u httpd --since today
systemctl list-timers

SELinux and firewalld

Do not disable SELinux to make a task work. You lose the marks. Learn to set the mode, fix contexts and set booleans, and to open firewall services:

getenforce
setenforce 1
restorecon -Rv /web
semanage fcontext -a -t httpd_sys_content_t "/web(/.*)?"
setsebool -P httpd_can_network_connect on
firewall-cmd --add-service=http --permanent
firewall-cmd --reload

Simple shell scripts and tuning

RHEL 10 keeps tuned-adm for performance profiles and expects basic scripting. A script task usually involves arguments and a loop:

#!/bin/bash
if [ $# -ne 1 ]; then echo "Usage: $0 file"; exit 1; fi
for u in $(cat "$1"); do id "$u" &>/dev/null && echo "$u exists" || useradd "$u"
done

Make it executable with chmod +x and place it at the exact path the task names.

A four-week preparation plan

This plan assumes you already have Linux basics and can spend an hour or two a day in a lab such as an RHEL 10 virtual machine or Red Hat's own training environment.

The single most useful habit is to reboot your lab after every task and check the result still holds. For a tactics-focused read on exam day, see how to pass EX200 on your first attempt.

Where RHCSA leads

RHCSA is the entry point to the Red Hat track and a common requirement for Linux administrator, support and junior DevOps roles, including regulated sectors that mandate certified staff. It is also the prerequisite path toward RHCE (EX294), which adds Ansible automation. Treat it as proof you can run an RHEL system, not as a finish line.

Next step: stand up an RHEL 10 virtual machine today, pick one domain from the table above, and practise every task in it without notes until the reboot test passes. If you would rather learn with a structured lab and a trainer, our RHCSA EX200 training covers the full objective list with guided practice.

Related reading

• New Features in Red Hat Enterprise Linux | RH304 Training & Certification
• Online RHCSA EX200 v10 Training & Certification | Study Material & Exam Readiness for RHEL 10
• Best Linux Training Institute in Pune | RHCSA Certification & Hands-On Skills