EX188 Registry And Security Practice Question
A developer needs to pull an image from a private registry that requires credentials without running an interactive shell session. Where are the authentication credentials stored after a successful 'podman login' command?
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
~/.config/containers/auth.json
Login credentials are saved in the auth.json file, typically located in $XDG_RUNTIME_DIR/containers/auth.json or ~/.config/containers/auth.json.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
~/.config/containers/auth.json
Why this is correct
Podman stores registry authentication tokens in auth.json under the user's config directory.
- ✗
/etc/passwd
Why it's wrong here
/etc/passwd stores user account information.
- ✗
~/.ssh/authorized_keys
Why it's wrong here
authorized_keys is used for SSH public key authentication.
- ✗
/etc/containers/login.conf
Why it's wrong here
login.conf is not a standard Podman credentials file.
About these practice questions
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JA
Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed August 2026 · checked against the official Red Hat exam blueprint
This EX188 practice question is part of Courseiva's free Red Hat certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the EX188 exam.