Red Hat Certified Engineer (RHCE) exam Practice Test

Clone a GIT repository from within VS Code

• Git clone via VS Code
• Repository navigation

• Not configuring Git credentials properly
• Cloning to the wrong directory

Create playbooks and push them to a GIT repository from within VS Code

• Playbook creation in VS Code
• Git commit and push

• Forgetting to stage files before committing
• Not configuring git user.name and user.email

Configure ansible-navigator from within VS Code

• ansible-navigator.yml editing
• VS Code integrated terminal usage

• Incorrect YAML syntax in configuration files
• Wrong execution environment image paths

Run playbooks using an Ansible development container from within VS Code

• Running containerized Ansible playbooks
• Execution environment management

• Not pulling the correct execution environment image
• Container permission issues
• EE image running as wrong user

Understand how Ansible inventories define hosts and groups

• Static inventory file creation
• Group hierarchy design

• Incorrect INI or YAML syntax
• Misunderstanding variable precedence from inventory sources

Understand how Ansible modules provide task functionality

• Module selection and usage
• Module documentation lookup

• Using shell/command modules when a dedicated module exists
• Not checking module parameters in documentation

Understand how variables work in Ansible and their precedence

• Variable definition and usage
• Variable precedence management

• Misunderstanding variable precedence order
• Overwriting variables unintentionally

Understand how Ansible facts provide system information

• Fact gathering and usage
• Custom fact deployment

• Referencing facts with incorrect variable names
• Not gathering facts when needed

Understand and use loops in Ansible playbooks

• Loop implementation
• Complex iteration patterns

• Confusing loop and with_items syntax
• Not using item variable correctly in loop body

Use conditionals to control play execution

• Conditional task implementation
• Complex conditional logic

• Using Jinja2 delimiters inside when clauses
• Incorrect boolean comparisons

Understand the structure and execution of plays and playbooks

• Playbook authoring
• Multi-play design

• Incorrect YAML indentation
• Confusing play-level and task-level directives

Configure error handling in Ansible playbooks

• Error handling implementation
• Block/rescue/always patterns

• Overusing ignore_errors instead of proper error handling
• Not understanding block/rescue/always execution flow

Understand Ansible configuration file structure and precedence

ansible.cfg creation and modification

• Not knowing the configuration file search order
• Placing ansible.cfg in wrong location

Understand Ansible role structure, creation, and usage

• Role creation
• Role directory structure management

• Confusing defaults and vars directories
• Not defining role dependencies correctly

Use provided documentation to look up specific information about Ansible modules and commands

• Documentation lookup
• Module parameter discovery

• Not practicing with ansible-doc before the exam
• Not knowing how to find examples in documentation

Install required packages for Ansible automation

• Package installation
• Repository configuration

• Installing community Ansible instead of AAP packages
• Missing Python dependencies

Create and modify ansible.cfg configuration files

• ansible.cfg creation
• Configuration tuning

• Incorrect section names in ansible.cfg
• Not setting become_method or become_user correctly

Modify ansible-navigator.yml configuration settings

• ansible-navigator.yml editing
• Execution environment configuration

• Incorrect YAML indentation in navigator config
• Wrong execution environment image name or pull policy

• Create a static host inventory file
• Create and use static inventories to define groups of hosts

• Inventory file authoring
• Group hierarchy design

• Syntax errors in INI vs YAML inventory formats
• Not defining children groups correctly

Create and distribute SSH keys to managed nodes

• SSH key generation
• Key distribution to multiple nodes

• Incorrect file permissions on .ssh directory or authorized_keys
• Not testing SSH connectivity before running playbooks

Configure privilege escalation on managed nodes

• Sudo configuration
• Privilege escalation setup

• Not configuring NOPASSWD for the Ansible user
• Incorrect sudoers syntax causing lockout

Deploy files to managed nodes

• File deployment
• Permission management

• Not setting correct file permissions
• Forgetting to set ownership

Know how to run playbooks with ansible-navigator

• Playbook execution
• Output interpretation

• Not specifying the correct mode (stdout vs interactive)
• Forgetting to specify execution environment

Use ansible-navigator to find new modules in available Ansible Content Collections and use them

• Collection browsing
• Module documentation access

• Not using FQCN when calling collection modules
• Not knowing how to browse collections in ansible-navigator

Use ansible-navigator to create inventories and configure the Ansible environment

• Inventory inspection
• Environment verification

Not verifying inventory contents before running playbooks

Know how to work with commonly used Ansible modules

Module selection and implementation

• Using command/shell when a specific module exists
• Not leveraging module idempotency

Use variables to retrieve the results of running a command

• Variable registration
• Output parsing

• Not accessing the correct attribute of registered variable (e.g., .stdout vs .stdout_lines)
• Forgetting to register output before referencing it

Use conditionals to control play execution

• Conditional implementation
• Multi-platform playbooks

• Using Jinja2 {{ }} inside when clauses
• Incorrect operator usage in conditions

Configure error handling in playbooks

Error handling pattern implementation

• Excessive use of ignore_errors
• Not understanding block/rescue execution order

Create playbooks to configure systems to a specified state

• End-to-end playbook authoring
• System state verification

• Not testing playbooks for idempotency
• Missing handlers for service restarts
• Not ensuring persistence across reboots

Create and work with roles

• Role creation with ansible-galaxy init
• Role directory management

• Incorrect directory structure
• Mixing up defaults and vars precedence

Install roles and use them in playbooks

• Role installation
• Playbook role integration

• Not specifying correct role source in requirements.yml
• Role path configuration issues

Install Content Collections and use them in playbooks

• Collection installation
• FQCN usage

• Not using FQCN when referencing collection modules
• Collection path misconfiguration

Obtain a set of related roles, supplementary modules, and other content from content collections, and use them in a playbook

• Collection content discovery
• RHEL System Roles usage

• Not knowing which collections are available in the execution environment
• Not checking collection compatibility with execution environment version

Automate software package and repository management

• Package automation
• Repository configuration

• Not specifying state parameter correctly
• Missing GPG key configuration for repositories

Automate service management

• Service state management
• Boot persistence configuration

• Not enabling services (only starting them)
• Forgetting daemon_reload when adding new unit files

Automate firewall rule management

Firewall rule automation

• Not setting permanent: true for persistent rules
• Forgetting immediate: true to apply rules without reload

Automate file system creation and mounting

• File system automation
• Mount management

• Not creating the mount point directory before mounting
• Incorrect fstab entries causing boot failures

Automate storage device management

• LVM automation
• Partition management

• Not specifying correct size units for lvol
• Forgetting to create physical volumes before volume groups

Automate file content management

• File content manipulation
• Permission management

• Incorrect regex patterns in lineinfile
• Not handling SELinux contexts for deployed files

Automate archiving operations

Archive creation and extraction

• Not setting remote_src correctly
• Incorrect archive format specification

Automate task scheduling

Cron job management

• Not providing a name for cron entries (making them non-idempotent)
• Incorrect cron time specification

Automate security configuration

• SELinux automation
• Security hardening

• Forgetting to run restorecon after setting contexts
• Not making SELinux boolean changes persistent

Automate user and group management

• User lifecycle management
• Group management
• SSH key deployment

• Not hashing passwords before setting them
• Incorrect group membership specification

Create and use templates to create customized configuration files

• Jinja2 template authoring
• Template deployment

• Incorrect Jinja2 syntax
• Not understanding template variable scope
• Missing newline at end of template

Use Ansible Vault in playbooks to protect sensitive data

• Vault encryption and decryption
• Vault-integrated playbook execution

• Forgetting to specify vault password when running playbooks
• Encrypting entire files when only specific variables need protection
• Losing vault password