You must be able to configure networking, manage systemd services, mount filesystems persistently, and correct SELinux contexts from the command line. The single most important thing is verifying each change survives a reboot by checking the persistent configuration file, not just the running state.
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Domain overview
This domain covers day-to-day administration of a running RHEL 8/9 system: managing services with systemd, configuring networking, handling storage and filesystems, and controlling SELinux. On EX200 it is tested through hands-on tasks performed on a live system, where you must produce a working configuration rather than select an answer from a list.
Exam objectives
Configuring network interfaces with nmcli, nmtui, and NetworkManager connection profiles
Managing services and boot targets using systemctl, systemd units, and journalctl
Creating and mounting filesystems, including /etc/fstab entries and swap
Diagnosing and fixing SELinux contexts with ls -Z, restorecon, and semanage fcontext
Editing ifcfg files by hand instead of using nmcli, then failing to reload or reactivate the connection so changes never apply.
Adding an /etc/fstab entry with a wrong UUID or device name, causing the system to drop to emergency mode on reboot.
Using chcon for a permanent SELinux fix; chcon is temporary and is lost on relabel, so restorecon or semanage fcontext is needed.
Click any question to see the full explanation and answer options, or start a focused practice session above.
Which TWO statements about systemd journal and rsyslog are correct?
2Refer to the exhibit. A security analyst reviews the journal output for sshd.service. Which of the following best describes the observed pattern of events?
3Match each file system type to its description.
4Match each user/group management command to its function.
5A critical service must restart automatically after a crash. Which systemd directive should be added to the [Service] section of the service unit file?
6Which command checks if a specific systemd service is currently running?
7An ext4 filesystem on a logical volume has been extended with lvextend, but df -h still shows the old size. Which command must be run to make the filesystem aware of the new size?
8A security policy requires user passwords to expire 60 days after last change. Which command sets this for user 'jdoe'?
9Which systemctl command configures a service to start automatically at boot without starting it now?
10After a system crash, an administrator needs to review logs from the previous boot. Which command shows only logs from the boot before the current one?
11An administrator needs to combine two physical network interfaces into a single logical interface for redundancy. Which RHEL tool is recommended to configure this in RHEL 8/9?
12To mount an ext4 filesystem with the noatime option and remount read-only on errors, which file should be edited?
13After restoring files from backup, an SELinux context of a directory is not correct. Which command will restore the file contexts to the system defaults?
14Which two commands can be used to view systemd journal entries for the sshd service?
15Which three network configuration methods are valid in RHEL 8/9?
16Which three commands can be used to display overall memory usage information?
17Refer to the exhibit. What is the most likely cause of this failure?
18A system administrator receives reports that a web server service (httpd) fails to start after a reboot. The administrator checks the service status and sees it is disabled. Which of the following is the most appropriate command to ensure the service starts automatically on future reboots?
19Based on the exhibit, what is the most likely cause of the failure?
20Which TWO commands can be used to view recent systemd journal logs for the current boot?
21A server running Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 experiences high system load (load average 15 on a 4-core system) and slow response times. The administrator runs 'top' and sees that the 'kworker' processes are consuming significant CPU time. Further investigation reveals that the system is performing heavy I/O operations on the root filesystem, which is formatted as XFS. The administrator wants to reduce the impact of filesystem maintenance tasks on system performance. Which of the following actions should the administrator take?
22A junior administrator configured a new network interface (ens224) with a static IP address using a configuration file in /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-ens224. After restarting the network service, the interface comes up but does not get the IP address. The administrator runs 'ip addr show ens224' and sees no IP address assigned. The interface is listed as DOWN. The administrator then runs 'ifup ens224' manually, which succeeds, and the IP address appears. What is the most likely cause?
23A system administrator needs to ensure a service called 'myapp' starts automatically at boot and also start it immediately without affecting the current boot configuration. Which TWO commands should be used?
24Refer to the exhibit. What is the most likely cause of the httpd service failure?
25A system administrator is troubleshooting a custom service called 'database.service' that fails intermittently. The service is a proprietary database that requires large amounts of memory. The administrator runs systemctl status database and sees 'Active: failed (Result: core-dump)' and the journal shows 'Out of memory: Killed process (database) total-vm:...' The server has 8GB RAM and 2 CPU cores. The service unit file does not contain any memory limits. The application is configured to use up to 4GB. The administrator suspects the systemd service is being killed by the OOM killer. Which action should the administrator take to prevent this issue?
26A storage administrator has added a new 10 GiB disk (/dev/vdb) to a Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 server. The requirement is to create a single XFS filesystem on the entire disk and mount it persistently at /data. The administrator runs mkfs.xfs /dev/vdb and then adds the line '/dev/vdb /data xfs defaults 0 0' to /etc/fstab. After running mount -a, the mount succeeds and df -h shows the expected size. However, after a reboot the system drops into emergency mode and reports that /data cannot be mounted. The administrator verifies that the disk is still present and the filesystem is intact. Which of the following is the most likely cause of the failure?
You must be able to configure networking, manage systemd services, mount filesystems persistently, and correct SELinux contexts from the command line. The single most important thing is verifying each change survives a reboot by checking the persistent configuration file, not just the running state.
The Courseiva EX200 question bank contains 26 questions in the Operate running systems domain, covering the 12% of the exam attributed to this domain in the official Red Hat blueprint. Click any question to see the full explanation and answer breakdown.
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