The Red Hat Certified Specialist in Cloud Infrastructure exam (EX210) tests the skills, knowledge, and abilities needed to create, configure, and manage private clouds using Red Hat® Enterprise Linux® and Red Hat® OpenStack Platform. The exam focuses on the tasks necessary to maintain a functioning Red Hat OpenStack Platform cluster and manage day-to-day operations.

By passing this exam, you become a Red Hat Certified Specialist in Cloud Infrastructure, which also counts toward becoming a Red Hat Certified Architect (RHCA®).

This exam is based on Red Hat OpenStack Platform 16.1.

To become a Red Hat Certified System Administrator in Red Hat OpenStack, you will validate your ability to perform these tasks:

• Manage the Red Hat OpenStack Platform control plane
  • Manage control plane services
  • Backup and restore control plane
  • Start and stop an overcloud
• Manage infrastructure security
  • Manage end-to-end secure services
  • Manage file-based component security with AIDE
• Manage user security
  • Manage an integrated IdM back-end configuration
  • Manage scoped service access
  • Manage project organization
  • Create a Red Hat OpenStack Platform domain for a client organization
  • Maintain token keys
  • Customize user roles
• Manage application deployment resources
  • Create images and flavors
  • Create and customize images
  • Initialize an instance during deployment
• Manage storage in Red Hat OpenStack Platform
  • Manage a Red Hat OpenStack Platform-dedicated Ceph storage cluster
  • Implement storage choices in Red Hat OpenStack Platform
  • Manage a Ceph storage cluster
  • Configure storage infrastructure
  • Manage Swift storage
• Manage networking
  • Configure Open Virtual Networking (OVN) services
  • Create and manage shared networks
• Manage compute node operations
  • Administer compute nodes
  • Manage compute resource capacity
  • Manage hyperconverged resource capacity
  • Re-balance compute node workloads
• Monitor operations
  • Implement the Service Telemetry Framework
  • Understand the flow of Red Hat OpenStack Platform services and components logging
• Automate cloud application deployment
  • Manage mass-scale application deployment
  • Write heat orchestration templates
  • Deploy applications using Ansible
  • Create a load-balanced application stack
• Troubleshoot operations
  • Diagnose issues
  • Troubleshoot common core issues
  • Trace heat stack events and troubleshoot failures

As with all Red Hat performance-based exams, configurations must persist after reboot without intervention.

We encourage you to consider attending Red Hat OpenStack Administration I: Core Operations for Cloud Operators (CL110) and Red Hat Openstack Administration II: Day 2 Operations for Cloud Operators (CL210) to help prepare. Attendance in these classes is not required; students can choose to take just the exam.

While attending Red Hat classes can be an important part of your preparation, attending class does not guarantee success on the exam. Previous experience, practice, and native aptitude are also important determinants of success.

Many books and other resources on system administration for Red Hat products are available. We do not endorse any of these materials as preparation guides for exams. Nevertheless, you may find additional reading helpful to deepen your understanding.

This exam is a performance-based evaluation of Red Hat OpenStack Platform skills and knowledge.  Candidates perform a number of systems administration tasks focused on configuring and administering a Red hat OpenStack Platform cloud and are evaluated on whether they have met specific objective criteria.  Performance-based testing means that candidates must perform tasks similar to what they would perform on the job.

This course is intended to develop the skills needed for the daily operation of a private cloud. A private cloud can reduce costs through fine-grained resource control, simplifying regulatory compliance, and permitting easier integration with legacy systems. Using the skills taught in this course, cloud operators will be able to manage and operate hybrid cloud Red Hat OpenStack Platform infrastructure.

Customer organizations will find this version to be easier to install and manage while handling more diverse types of cloud and legacy workloads with an expanding portfolio of flexible resource configuration. Enhancements in the RHOSP 16 version address evolving customer requirements for enterprise cloud infrastructures:

• Industry-popular Ansible Automation for installation, upgrading, and patching.
• Open Virtual Networking (OVN),  an advanced SDN framework evolved from Open vSwitch.
• Hyperconverged technology, combining storage and compute resources for lower latency and higher performance.

You will learn how to operate and manage a Red Hat OpenStack Platform installation using all of the common core features and services used by enterprise private/hybrid cloud customers. Successful attendees will be able to monitor, troubleshoot, and automate operations handling compute, storage, networking, deployment, and application support resources and services tailored to their enterprise needs.