As another step to becoming a Red Hat Certified Architect, I recent took the Red Hat Specialist in OpenShift Administration exam. It took a while to get to that point, but I am happy to say that I was able to pass it and add another certification to my portfolio.
Rationale
The biggest reason why I took the test is to solidify my credentials as a cloud architect. In this case, a deep dive and certification of the OpenShift platform gives me the ability to design and build infrastructure that allows cloud native apps to be deployed quickly and everywhere, regardless of whether it is on-premise or in the public cloud. For many IT-based businesses, this is ideal as it reduces a risk of being beholden to vendors and providers, maximize development agility, and minimize time to market. With this credential, I can definitely help those business accomplish those goals using a container-based platform like OpenShift.
Preparation
While Red Hat offers training on OpenShift, it is fairly expensive, so instead, I choose to take OpenShift course at Linux Academy (disclosure: I wrote some of the Linux Academy guides). Their courses goes through a high-level overview of Openshift, including implementation, configuration as well as operation of OpenShift. From there, I got a fairly basic understanding on how to deploy OpenShift.
Then, I built my own OpenShift lab via Terraform and start practicing what I learned. I first deployed it on Digital Ocean, then I resetup it on AWS so as take advantage of their NFS and DNS services to reduce my lab footprint. In both cases, building the lab using infrastructure as code allowed me to practice OpenShift at any location with an internet connection, as well as minimize cost and maintenance by tearing them down when not in use.
Towards the second half of preparation, I bought the book OpenShift in Action for additional material. It quickly became my favorite technical book as it not only covers all the exam objectives but also dig deeps into the technology behind OpenShift. It was this book that allowed me to get a clear idea of how OpenShift works from an architecture perspective and thus gave me the confidence to move forward with scheduling and taking the exam.
Exam Actual
The exam itself, as with all Red Hat tests, is a performance based test where you attempt to complete a series of tasks given to you. While NDA prevents me from the commenting on what is actually in the exam, it is fair to say that there are no surprises - what Red Hat outlined in the exam objectives is what you will encounter.
Closing Thoughts
If you decide to take the OpenShift exam in near future, here are some of my recommendations that can help you succeed in passing the exam.
- If you have never taken a performance-based exam, I recommend you take either the Red Hat Certified Systems Administrator or Linux Foundation Certified Systems Administrator. Most of the exams involves basic system administration hands-on operations, so taking the above two exams will you given an idea of the environment as well the tooling you will have available when you decided to take more advanced tests.
- If you can, take either a course from either Red Hat or a reputable third-party provider to learn about OpenShift. Pay attention to the course material provided and use additional resources to enhanced your learning, including OpenShift's documentation.
- Finally, being that this is a performance-based exam, build your own lab and practice until you understand how to complete the objectives by heart. Experiment with some of commands that you are practicing with, whether through the CLI or through the web console. That way, when you encounter something during the exam that you didn't think you can do, you can take step back to regain your composure, and then start experimenting until you figure out a way to accomplish the objective