The Three Main Red Hat Certification Levels: Boosting Your Credibility in DevOps and Cloud

Based on our customers’ requirements, we recently released study materials for the Red Hat exams. For the professionals who want to boost their credibility in DevOps & Cloud, earning the Red Hat certifications should be the proper choice.

Top Benefits of Red Hat Certifications

1. Industry Recognition

• Red Hat certifications like RHCSA, RHCE, and RHCA are globally respected.
• Employers value Red Hat credentials because they validate real-world, hands-on skills, not just theory.

2. Career Advancement

• Opens doors to roles like:
  • Linux System Administrator
  • DevOps Engineer
  • Cloud Engineer
  • Site Reliability Engineer (SRE)
  • Red Hat Consultant
• Certified professionals are often preferred for lead roles and higher responsibilities.

3. Higher Earning Potential

• According to multiple salary surveys (e.g., Global Knowledge), RHCE and RHCA holders are among the top-paid IT professionals.
• Red Hat certifications often lead to salary increases or promotions.

4. Practical, Hands-on Skills

• Exams are performance-based, ensuring you can configure, troubleshoot, and automate systems.
• You gain confidence in managing real environments.

5. Versatility in IT Domains

• Red Hat offers specialist certifications in:
  • Automation (Ansible)
  • Containers & Kubernetes
  • OpenShift
  • Cloud infrastructure
  • Security
• You can tailor your certification path to fit your career goals.

6. Pathway to RHCA (Red Hat Certified Architect)

• RHCA is one of the most elite open-source certifications, proving expert-level mastery.
• You can choose from many specialist exams to build your own RHCA path.

7. Trust from Employers and Clients

• Red Hat certs assure employers that you:
  • Understand best practices
  • Can deploy secure, scalable solutions
  • Are prepared to work in enterprise Linux or hybrid cloud environments

8. Staying Relevant with Emerging Tech

• Red Hat frequently updates certifications to include:
  • Cloud-native technologies
  • Kubernetes/OpenShift
  • Infrastructure as Code (IaC)
• Helps you stay current with modern IT practices.

9. Access to Red Hat Ecosystem

• Certified professionals get:
  • Invitations to exclusive webinars
  • Access to the Red Hat customer portal knowledge base
  • Early insights into new tools and features

10. Boosts Your Credibility in DevOps & Cloud

• Red Hat certifications align with DevOps practices and cloud-native development (e.g., Ansible Automation, OpenShift).
• Ideal for hybrid cloud, CI/CD, container orchestration, etc.

Three Main Red Hat Certification Levels

To earn the Red Hat certifications, you must know the three main Red Hat certification levels:

• Red Hat Certified System Administrator (RHCSA) – Entry Level
• Red Hat Certified Engineer (RHCE) – Intermediate/Advanced Level
• Red Hat Certified Architect (RHCA) – Expert Level

Red Hat Certified System Administrator (RHCSA)

The Red Hat Certified System Administrator (RHCSA) certification validates your core system administration skills in Red Hat Enterprise Linux environments. You earn this certification by passing the Red Hat Certified System Administrator (RHCSA) Exam (EX200). The certification demonstrates your ability to perform these tasks:

• Understand and use essential tools for handling files, directories, command-line environments, and documentation
• Create simple shell scripts
• Operate running systems, including booting into different run levels, identifying processes, starting and stopping virtual machines, and controlling services
• Configure local storage using partitions and logical volumes
• Create and configure file systems and file system attributes, such as permissions, encryption, access control lists, and network file systems
• Deploy, configure, and maintain systems, including software installation, updates, and core services
• Manage users and groups
• Manage security, including basic firewall and SELinux configuration

Red Hat Certified Engineer (RHCE)

RHCE demonstrates your automation skills, particularly valuable for managing multiple systems. When starting for the RHCE certification, you must first become a Red Hat Certified System Administrator (RHCSA) by passing EX200, then pass the EX294 exam.

If you hold an RHCE certification for an older version (such as RHEL 7), you can upgrade by taking the EX294 exam, which covers RHEL 8/9 and Ansible. While recertification isn’t required, EX294 provides valuable automation skills for modern container and cloud environments.

After achieving RHCE, you can progress toward RHCA (Red Hat Certified Architect). Red Hat recommends two advanced exams:

• EX374: Specialist in Developing Automation with Ansible
• EX467: Specialist in Managing Automation with Ansible

These certifications enhance your Ansible expertise while counting toward RHCA requirements.

Red Hat Certified Architect (RHCA)

The Red Hat Certified Architect (RHCA) is the highest-level Red Hat certification. You can start your RHCA journey after becoming one of the following:

• RHCE – Red Hat Certified Engineer
• RHCEMD – Red Hat Certified Enterprise Microservices Developer
• RHCCD – Red Hat Certified Cloud-native Developer

To earn RHCA, you must pass and maintain at least five additional certifications from Red Hat’s list. And you need to know, there are two RHCA tracks:

• RHCA in Infrastructure

To attain and maintain RHCA status, an RHCE must pass at least 5 of the following exams and keep the associated certifications current:

1. EX188 Red Hat Certified Specialist in Containers exam
2. EX210 Red Hat Certified Specialist in Cloud Infrastructure exam
3. EX229 Red Hat Certified Specialist in ROSA exam
4. EX240 Red Hat Certified Specialist in API Management exam
5. EX248 Red Hat Certified Specialist in Enterprise Application Server Administration exam
6. EX260 Red Hat Certified Specialist in Ceph Cloud Storage exam
7. EX267 Red Hat Certified Specialist in OpenShift AI exam
8. EX280 Red Hat Certified OpenShift Administrator exam
9. EX288 Red Hat Certified Specialist in OpenShift Application Development exam
10. EX316 Red Hat Certified Specialist in OpenShift Virtualization Exam
11. EX328 Red Hat Certified Specialist in Building Resilient Microservices exam
12. EX342 Red Hat Certified Specialist in Linux Diagnostics and Troubleshooting Exam
13. EX358 Red Hat Certified Specialist in Services Management and Automation exam
14. EX362 Red Hat Certified Specialist in Identity Management Exam
15. EX370 Red Hat Certified Specialist in OpenShift Data Foundation exam
16. EX374 Red Hat Certified Specialist in Developing Automation with Ansible Automation Platform exam
17. EX380 Red Hat Certified Specialist in OpenShift Automation and Integration exam
18. EX403 Red Hat Certified Specialist in Deployment and Systems Management exam
19. EX415 Red Hat Certified Specialist in Security: Linux exam
20. EX417 Red Hat Certified Specialist in Microsoft Windows Automation with Ansible exam
21. EX436 Red Hat Certified Specialist in High Availability Clustering exam
22. EX442 Red Hat Certified Specialist in Linux Performance Tuning exam
23. EX457 Red Hat Certified Specialist in Ansible Network Automation exam
24. EX467 Red Hat Certified Specialist in Managing Automation with Ansible Automation Platform exam
25. EX480 Red Hat Certified Specialist in MultiCluster Management exam

• RHCA in Enterprise Applications

This track is targeted at developers (RHCEMDs or RHCCDs), and Red Hat recommends starting with 5 of the following exams:

1. EX188 Red Hat Certified Specialist in Containers exam
2. EX240 Red Hat Certified Specialist in API Management exam
3. EX248 Red Hat Certified Specialist in Enterprise Application Server Administration exam
4. EX280 Red Hat Certified OpenShift Administrator exam
5. EX288 Red Hat Certified Specialist in OpenShift Application Development exam
6. EX328 Red Hat Certified Specialist in Building Resilient Microservices exam
7. EX374 Red Hat Certified Specialist in Developing Automation with Ansible Automation Platform exam
8. EX378 Red Hat Certified Cloud-native Developer exam
9. EX380 Red Hat Certified Specialist in OpenShift Automation and Integration exam
10. EX480 Red Hat Certified Specialist in MultiCluster Management exam
11. EX482 Red Hat Certified Specialist in Event-Driven Application Development exam