it-knowledge/src/practice-scenarios/mock-rhcsa-exam-v2.md

Mock RHCSA (EX200) Practice Exam - Version 2

Introduction

This is the second version of our mock RHCSA exam, featuring new tasks to further test your Red Hat system administration skills. Like the first version, it covers the key objectives of the official RHCSA exam (EX200).

Exam Guidelines:

• Duration: 2.5 hours
• All configurations must persist after system reboot
• Complete as many tasks as possible - 70% is the passing score
• You may use Red Hat documentation available on the system

Exam Environment:

• Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9
• Virtual machine with 4GB RAM, 40GB disk space
• Internet access is NOT available
• Root access is available

Exam Tasks

Task 1: User and Group Management

1. Create a user named devops with UID 3030
2. Set the password for devops to DevOps2023
3. Configure the devops account to expire on December 31, 2023
4. Create a group named developers with GID 4040
5. Create 3 users: dev1, dev2, and dev3, all belonging to the developers group as their primary group
6. Ensure the primary group for all new users created in the system is developers
7. Configure all members of the developers group to have a password change required every 60 days

Task 2: File System Management

1. Create a directory /projects owned by devops with developers as the group owner
2. Set special permissions on the /projects directory so all new files created within it inherit the developers group ownership
3. Configure permissions so that:
   • Members of the developers group can create files in the directory
   • Only file owners can delete their own files (using the sticky bit)
   • Users outside the developers group cannot access the directory
4. Create a file /projects/readme.md with the content "Development Projects Directory"
5. Set ACLs on the /projects directory to give user dev1 full control, while dev2 and dev3 have read and execute permissions only

Task 3: LVM Storage Configuration

1. Create a 2GB partition on an available disk
2. Create a volume group named vg_projects using this partition
3. Create two logical volumes in the vg_projects volume group:
   • lv_data (800MB)
   • lv_backup (400MB)
4. Format lv_data with XFS filesystem and lv_backup with ext4 filesystem
5. Mount lv_data at /projects/data and lv_backup at /projects/backup permanently
6. Configure the system to automatically snapshot lv_data daily (hint: you'll need to leave free space in the volume group)

Task 4: Storage with VDO and Stratis

1. Install the necessary packages for VDO (Virtual Data Optimizer)
2. Create a 1GB partition on an available disk
3. Configure VDO on this partition with a logical size of 3GB
4. Format the VDO volume with XFS and mount it at /vdo permanently
5. Install the Stratis storage management tools
6. Create a Stratis pool named stratis_pool using another 1GB partition
7. Create a Stratis filesystem named stratis_fs and mount it at /stratis permanently

Task 5: Advanced Container Management

1. Install the container tools (podman)
2. Configure a persistent container storage location at /container_storage
3. Pull the MariaDB container image
4. Run a MariaDB container named db_server with:
   • The container accessible on port 3306
   • A root password of dbpassword
   • A persistent volume at /container_storage/mysql_data mounted to the container's /var/lib/mysql
   • Environment variables set for a database named webapp and a database user webuser with password webpass
5. Configure the container to start automatically at system boot using systemd
6. Create a simple bash script /usr/local/bin/db_backup.sh that creates a backup of the MariaDB container data

Task 6: Automating System Tasks

1. Create a systemd timer that runs a filesystem usage check every 4 hours and logs the results to /var/log/disk_usage.log
2. Configure a cron job for the devops user to run every Monday at 2:30 AM that:
   • Archives files older than 30 days in /projects/data
   • Moves the archives to /projects/backup
3. Configure a systemd service called project-backup that:
   • Creates a tar archive of the /projects directory
   • Runs automatically at system shutdown
   • Places the backup in /var/backups with a timestamp in the filename

Task 7: System Boot Configuration

1. Configure the system to boot into emergency mode with a 5-second timeout
2. Create a new GRUB menu entry that boots the system with the kernel parameter enforcing=0
3. Set the default boot target to multi-user (non-graphical)
4. Create a custom systemd target called developer-mode.target that:
   • Starts all the services of multi-user target
   • Additionally starts the MariaDB container
   • Mounts all project-related filesystems

Task 8: Network Configuration and Services

1. Configure the primary network interface with:
   • Static IP: 192.168.10.200/24
   • Gateway: 192.168.10.1
   • DNS servers: 192.168.10.1 and 8.8.8.8
2. Configure the hostname as rhcsa-server
3. Add a second IP address (192.168.10.201/24) to the same interface
4. Install and configure an NFS server that:
   • Exports /projects/data as read-write to 192.168.10.0/24
   • Exports /projects/backup as read-only to 192.168.10.0/24
5. Configure the firewall to allow NFS and MariaDB traffic from the local network only

Task 9: Security Configuration

1. Configure SELinux contexts so that:
   • The web server can access files in /projects/data
   • The MariaDB container can access /container_storage/mysql_data
2. Configure SSH to:
   • Allow access only for the devops user
   • Disable password authentication (key-based only)
   • Listen on an alternate port (2222)
3. Set up key-based authentication for the devops user
4. Configure the firewall to allow SSH on the new port
5. Create a sudo configuration that allows devops to run commands as root without a password, but logs all commands

Task 10: System Analysis and Troubleshooting

1. Configure system logging to:
   • Keep logs for 90 days
   • Forward system and audit logs to the rsyslog service
   • Create separate log files for container operations
2. Create a script /usr/local/bin/system_health.sh that:
   • Checks system load average
   • Monitors memory usage
   • Verifies connectivity to the gateway
   • Reports if any key services are down
   • Emails the report to root@localhost
3. Create a systemd service and timer to run this health check script every hour

Task 11: Advanced Shell Scripting

1. Create a script /usr/local/bin/user_report.sh that:
   • Finds all users in the developers group
   • Reports their last login time
   • Lists all files owned by each user in the /projects directory
   • Sorts the output by file size
   • Saves a formatted report to /var/reports/user_report.txt
2. Make the script executable and set up a weekly cron job to run it
3. Create a directory /var/reports with appropriate permissions for storing reports

Task 12: Advanced FileSystem Management

1. Create a 500MB file using dd to serve as a loopback device
2. Configure this file as a loopback device
3. Create a LUKS encrypted container on the loopback device
4. Format the encrypted container with XFS
5. Configure the system to automatically unlock the encrypted container at boot using a key file
6. Mount the encrypted filesystem at /projects/secure permanently

Scoring Guide

Each task has approximately equal weight. To pass this mock exam, you need to successfully complete 70% of the tasks.

After completing the exam, test your configurations by:

1. Rebooting the system to verify persistence
2. Logging in as the created users to verify access
3. Testing that services start correctly
4. Verifying container operation
5. Checking encrypted storage and mounts

Good luck with your practice exam!