RHCSA Certification Study Repository

A comprehensive study repository for Red Hat Certified System Administrator (RHCSA) exam preparation, containing practical lab scenarios, skills assessments, and memorization aids.

Repository Contents

📚 Study Materials

🌐 Online Documentation Site

• GitHub Pages: https://kraker.github.io/rhcsa/ (live documentation site)
• Built with MkDocs using the readthedocs theme
• Mobile-friendly and searchable interface

📁 Local Files

• docs/ - All study materials (MkDocs source)
  • rhcsa_synthesis/ - 15 comprehensive study modules
  • exam_quick_reference.md - Essential commands for exam day
  • command_reference_by_topic.md - Commands organized by functional area
  • rhcsa_acronyms_glossary.md - Comprehensive glossary
  • ebook_summary.md - Analysis from major RHCSA study books
• anki/rhcsa_deck.csv - 169 comprehensive flashcards for Anki import

🏗️ Lab Environment

• vagrant/ - Automated RHEL 10 VM provisioning with Vagrant
  • Vagrantfile - VM configuration for rhel10a and rhel10b instances
  • playbook.yml - Ansible playbook for environment setup

📖 External Resources (sources/ directory, not tracked)

• Official Red Hat documentation (PDFs)
• Study book materials (EPUBs)
• Book summaries and extracted content
• Reference images from study materials

Quick Start

Using the Anki Flashcards

1. Import anki/rhcsa_deck.csv into Anki
2. The deck includes 169 cards organized by topic tags:
   • user_management, permissions, systemd
   • storage, lvm, selinux, firewall
   • networking, flatpak, monitoring
   • rhel10_specific, exam_pressure, syntax_heavy

Lab Environment Setup

Vagrant VM Provisioning:

• See vagrant/ directory for automated lab environment setup
• RHEL 10 VMs configured with proper resources and networking
• Automated subscription registration and storage disk configuration
• Prerequisites: Vagrant, VirtualBox, Red Hat Developer subscription

Setup Steps:

1. Edit vagrant/.rhel-credentials with your Red Hat Developer credentials
2. Source credentials and start VMs: cd vagrant && source .rhel-credentials && vagrant up

Study Workflow

1. Visit the Documentation Site: Browse https://kraker.github.io/rhcsa/ for organized study materials
2. Start with RHCSA Synthesis: Begin with the 15 comprehensive study modules
3. Use Anki flashcards (anki/rhcsa_deck.csv) for command memorization and spaced repetition
4. Reference quick guides for exam preparation
5. Practice with Vagrant VMs using the Asghar Ghori book labs
6. Focus on hands-on command execution and verification

Local Development

To run the documentation site locally:

# Install dependencies
uv sync

# Serve the site locally
uv run mkdocs serve

# Build static site
uv run mkdocs build

# Build static site with PDF (requires WeasyPrint system deps)
ENABLE_PDF_EXPORT=1 uv run mkdocs build

The site will be available at http://127.0.0.1:8000

PDF generation is gated behind the ENABLE_PDF_EXPORT environment variable to keep mkdocs serve fast. The generated PDF is output to site/pdf/rhcsa-study-guide.pdf. WeasyPrint requires system libraries (Pango, HarfBuzz) — on Fedora: sudo dnf install pango harfbuzz, on Ubuntu/Debian: sudo apt-get install libpango-1.0-0 libpangoft2-1.0-0 libharfbuzz-subset0.

Key RHCSA Command Categories

The flashcards and lab scenarios cover all essential areas:

• System Management: systemctl, journalctl, service configuration
• User/Group Management: useradd, usermod, chage, permissions
• Storage & LVM: fdisk, pvcreate, vgcreate, lvcreate, filesystem management
• Security & SELinux: getenforce, setsebool, restorecon, firewall-cmd
• Networking: nmcli, static IP configuration, SSH setup
• Flatpak: Flatpak repository and application management

Lab Scenarios

Each lab includes:

• Time limits matching exam conditions
• Step-by-step task instructions
• Verification commands to confirm completion
• Prerequisites and setup requirements

Linting & Pre-commit Hooks

This repository uses prek (a fast, drop-in replacement for pre-commit) with markdownlint to enforce consistent markdown formatting.

# Install git hooks (one-time setup)
prek install

# Lint all markdown files
markdownlint '**/*.md'

# Auto-fix fixable issues
markdownlint --fix docs/

# Run all hooks against all files
prek run --all-files

Key markdown conventions:

• Use 4-space indentation for content under ordered list items (Python-Markdown requirement)
• Always specify a language on fenced code blocks (bash, text, etc.)
• Use 4 backticks (``````) for outer fences when nesting code blocks (e.g., heredocs)
• Escape | as \| inside markdown table cells

See .markdownlint.yaml for the full rule configuration.

Notes

• Lab 3 (SELinux) contains a TODO section requiring completion
• All scenarios designed for RHEL 10 environments
• Commands in flashcards represent real exam tasks