RHCSA Study Guide 2026
Everything you need to pass the RHCSA exam in one place: the exam format, every topic to study, real practice questions with explanations, flashcards, and full-length practice tests. Free, no sign-up needed.
📋 RHCSA Exam Format at a Glance
📚 RHCSA Topics to Study (21)
✍️ Sample RHCSA Questions & Answers
1. Where does a system obtain its first supply of time when it starts up?
When a system is started, it initially gets the system time from the hardware clock, also known as the real-time clock (RTC) or the BIOS clock. The hardware clock is a component of the computer's motherboard that keeps track of the current time and date even when the system is powered off or restarted.
2. What does `#!/bin/bash -x` at the top of a script do?
The `-x` flag enables shell trace mode, printing each command and its arguments to stderr before execution.
3. Where is the authorized public keys file stored for SSH key-based login on RHEL?
The SSH daemon checks `~/.ssh/authorized_keys` in the target user's home directory for permitted public keys.
4. Which file on RHEL must be updated to allow the new SSH port through the SELinux policy?
You use `semanage port -a -t ssh_port_t -p tcp ` to add the new port to the SELinux SSH port type policy.
5. What does the `read` command do in a Bash script?
The `read` command reads a line from standard input and stores it in the specified variable name.
6. A system administrator needs to find all files within the `/etc` directory that are owned by the `root` user and have been modified in the last 7 days. Which command will accomplish this?
The correct command is `find /etc -user root -mtime -7`. The `find` command searches the specified path (`/etc`). The `-user root` predicate selects files owned by 'root'. The `-mtime -7` predicate selects files whose data was modified less than 7 days ago (i.e., within the last 7 days). `-mtime +7` would find files modified more than 7 days ago, and `-mtime 7` would find files modified exactly 7 days ago.