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Exam Information
Official specifications published by Red Hat
Exam Format
Registration
Skills this practice test covers
- Log in with oc login and inspect resources with oc get, oc describe and oc explain.
- Collect support data for Red Hat support with oc adm must-gather.
- Deploy an application from a container image or a template with oc new-app.
- Expose an application through a Service and a Route, and scale its replicas.
- Move settings into a ConfigMap or a Secret and attach a PersistentVolumeClaim.
- Add liveness, readiness and startup probes, and set CPU and memory requests and limits.
Explore related topics
EX180 exam content
4 domains · 12 topics · 150 questions
Manage OpenShift Container Platform37 questions
This domain covers the tools for working with a cluster. Candidates install and configure the oc client, inspect Kubernetes resources from both the CLI and the web console, and gather support data for Red Hat support.
Skills tested
- Install the oc client and log in to a cluster with oc login.
- Switch between projects and kubeconfig contexts.
- Inspect resources with oc get, oc describe and oc explain, and find the same details in the web console.
- Run oc adm must-gather to collect cluster diagnostics for a support case.
Questions by topic
- Install and configure the OpenShift CLI tool12
- Inspect Kubernetes resources using both the CLI and the Web UI15
- Collect cluster support data from an OpenShift cluster for Red Hat support10
Deploy applications on Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform38 questions
This domain is about getting workloads running. Candidates create containers and pods, find and inspect images in a registry, deploy from an image or a template, and then scale the application and open it to outside users.
Skills tested
- Create a pod from a container image with oc run.
- Find images in a registry such as quay.io and inspect them with skopeo or podman.
- Deploy an application from an image or a template with oc new-app.
- Scale a Deployment with oc scale and check its replicas.
- Expose an application with a Service and a Route for external access.
Questions by topic
- Create Linux containers and Kubernetes pods10
- Find and inspect container images9
- Deploy applications from an image and from a template7
- Scale and expose applications to external access12
Manage storage for application configuration and data38 questions
This domain keeps configuration and data outside the container image. Candidates move settings into ConfigMaps and Secrets, and attach persistent volumes so that data survives when pods are replaced.
Skills tested
- Store settings in a ConfigMap and sensitive values in a Secret.
- Inject configuration as environment variables with oc set env, or as volume-mounted config.
- Request storage with a PersistentVolumeClaim, choosing a StorageClass and an access mode.
- Attach a volume to a Deployment with oc set volume.
Questions by topic
- Externalize the configuration of applications20
- Provision persistent data volumes18
Configure applications for reliability37 questions
This domain helps applications stay up under load and recover from failure. Candidates add health probes, reserve and limit CPU and memory, and set up automatic scaling.
Skills tested
- Add liveness, readiness and startup probes of the HTTP, TCP or exec type.
- Set CPU and memory requests and limits, and explain their effect on scheduling.
- Apply a ResourceQuota or a LimitRange to a project.
- Create a HorizontalPodAutoscaler with oc autoscale, with minimum and maximum replicas.
Questions by topic
- Configure application health probes12
- Configure application autoscaling11
- Reserve and limit compute capacity for applications14
Requirements
- No formal prerequisites: anyone can book the exam.
- Recommended: Red Hat System Administration I (RH124) and II (RH134), or the same Linux experience.
- Recommended: Red Hat OpenShift Administration I: Operating a Production Cluster, or equivalent experience.
About the EX180 exam
EX180 is Red Hat's hands-on exam for people who deploy and run applications on OpenShift Container Platform. Candidates complete real tasks on a live cluster, from the oc command line and the web console to containers, images, templates, configuration, storage and reliability settings. Passing earns the Red Hat Certified Technologist in OpenShift credential. It is a foundational step on Red Hat's OpenShift path.
Questions in the PlanetCert practice test are multiple choice. They build the knowledge behind each task, while speed at the command line comes from lab work. The questions are spread evenly across the four domains, with the most on externalized configuration and persistent volumes. The explanations help with pairs that are easy to confuse, such as resources.requests and resources.limits, or a readiness probe and a liveness probe. Brainy AI Assistant can explain what a command such as oc set volume changes in a Deployment before it is tried on a cluster.
How to earn the certification
- Earns
- Red Hat Certified Technologist in OpenShiftFoundational
- After
- EX280 Red Hat Certified OpenShift Administrator
The next step on Red Hat's OpenShift path, with administration of the cluster itself.
- EX280 Red Hat Certified OpenShift Administrator
How to prepare for EX180
- 1
Get access to a practice cluster
Every EX180 task runs on a live OpenShift cluster, so practice needs one too. A lab from Red Hat OpenShift Administration I works, and so does any test cluster where oc login succeeds.
- 2
Drill the oc commands daily
Repeat oc get, oc describe, oc explain, oc new-app, oc set env and oc set volume until each comes without notes. The oc explain command shows the fields of any resource, which saves time when YAML needs a change.
- 3
Rebuild one app from scratch
Deploy one application from an image, expose it with a Route, move its settings into a ConfigMap and a Secret, and attach a PersistentVolumeClaim. Then delete everything and build it again faster.
- 4
Watch probes and autoscaling react
Point a readiness probe at a wrong path and watch the pod leave the Service endpoints, then fix it. Set a CPU request, add a HorizontalPodAutoscaler with oc autoscale, and watch the replica count change under load.
- 5
Use the practice test to find gaps
Take the EX180 practice test in Study Mode one domain at a time, then as a timed run. For each miss, ask Brainy AI Assistant for the oc command or YAML field involved, and repeat the task on the cluster.
Start a timed EX180run
Red Hat recommends Red Hat OpenShift Administration I: Operating a Production Cluster, with Red Hat System Administration I (RH124) and II (RH134) for the Linux background.
Who EX180 is for
- System administrators who know Linux and now need to deploy workloads on OpenShift.
- Developers who deploy and scale their own applications on an OpenShift cluster.
- Operations staff who support OpenShift users and collect data for Red Hat support cases.
- Candidates who plan to continue to Red Hat Certified OpenShift Administrator.
Typical job titles: OpenShift administrator · Linux system administrator · DevOps engineer · Platform engineer · Application support engineer
EX180 glossary
18 terms from the exam objectives and the vendor's official material, each defined in a sentence.
- ConfigMap
- A resource that holds plain configuration values, which pods read as environment variables or files.
- Deployment
- A Kubernetes resource that keeps the requested number of pod replicas running and rolls out updates to them.
- HorizontalPodAutoscaler
- A resource that adds or removes pod replicas to keep a target metric, such as CPU use, near its goal.
- LimitRange
- A project setting that gives containers default requests and limits and sets their minimum and maximum.
- liveness probe
- A check that tells OpenShift whether a container still works; if it fails, the container is restarted.
- oc adm must-gather
- A command that collects logs and cluster data into one archive that Red Hat support can analyze.
- oc new-app
- A command that creates an application, with its Deployment and Service, from an image, a template or source code.
- OpenShift CLI
- The oc command-line tool for working with an OpenShift cluster, from logging in to deploying and inspecting resources.
- PersistentVolumeClaim
- A request for storage of a given size and access mode, which the cluster binds to a matching PersistentVolume.
- Pod
- The smallest unit Kubernetes runs: one or more containers that share a network address and storage.
- readiness probe
- A check that tells OpenShift when a container can take traffic; until it passes, the pod receives no Service traffic.
- ResourceQuota
- A limit on the total CPU, memory or number of objects that one project can use.
- Route
- An OpenShift resource that gives a Service an external host name, so users outside the cluster can reach it.
- Secret
- A resource that holds sensitive values, such as passwords or tokens, apart from the application image.
- Service
- A stable name and address inside the cluster that sends traffic to the matching pods.
- startup probe
- A check that gives a slow-starting container time to start before the other probes begin.
- StorageClass
- A definition of a type of storage, used to create persistent volumes on demand.
- Template
- An OpenShift resource that describes a set of objects with parameters, so a whole application deploys in one step.