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Failed RHCSA twice, what am I missing in my study approach?

by Alex G. 38 views3 replies
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Alex G.OP
May 27, 2026

So I just got my second failed attempt back — scored a 198 out of 300, and the passing mark is 210. I'm honestly frustrated because I've been studying for about four months now and I feel like I know the material. I've gone through Sander van Vugt's book cover to cover twice, watched all his video courses, and I've been spinning up RHEL 9 VMs on my laptop to practice commands hands-on.

The problem I think is that my lab work is too slow. During the exam I ran out of time with two tasks left, both involving SELinux and container management — which, let's be honest, are always the tricky ones. I've been using an RHCSA practice test to drill individual topics, but maybe I'm not simulating real exam pressure enough. Does anyone have a structured study guide approach that specifically helps with time management, not just topic coverage?

My exam tips from round one clearly weren't enough. I'm booking attempt three for six weeks out. What would you do differently if you were me?

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Chris D.
May 28, 2026
Containers always burned me too. The key thing nobody tells you upfront is that on RHEL 9 they want you using Podman with systemd integration — like generating a service file with `podman generate systemd`. If you're practicing Docker workflows in your head you'll waste time translating. Also, are you doing full timed mock exams start to finish? There's a difference between knowing individual tasks and actually completing a full 2.5-hour session under pressure. Try timing yourself on complete scenario sets rather than topic drills.
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Carlos B.
May 28, 2026
Six weeks is plenty of time. Honestly just do a full timed mock every other day and review whatever you couldn't finish. The gap between 198 and 210 is smaller than it sounds — probably one or two tasks. You've got this, just tighten up the time management side.
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Chris D.
May 28, 2026
198 is actually really close — you're not far off at all. What helped me most was setting a hard 45-minute timer for each practice session and forcing myself to move on whether I finished or not. SELinux specifically: just drill `ausearch`, `semanage fcontext`, and `restorecon` until they're muscle memory. I passed on my second attempt after doing exactly that for three weeks straight. The exam isn't testing if you know it — it's testing if you know it fast.

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