Red Hat Certified Specialist in Enterprise Application Server Administration exam

IT professionals who want to earn a credential that shows they have the skills and knowledge needed to install, configure, monitor, manage, and deploy applications to Red Hat JBoss EAP:

• Application server systems administrators
• Application administrators
• Application developers
• Deployment managers
• System architects
• Quality assurance engineers

Red Hat recommends that candidates earn Red Hat Certified System Administrator (RHCSA) or Red Hat Certified Engineer (RHCE) before attempting this exam, but neither is required. An understanding of core concepts in Java Enterprise Edition is useful, but candidates do not need to be developers nor does this exam involve application development tasks.

To help you prepare, the exam objectives highlight the task areas you can expect to see covered in the exam. These objectives apply to both JBoss EAP 7.

Red Hat reserves the right to add, modify, and remove exam objectives. Such changes will be made public in advance.

Using JBoss EAP, RHCJA exam candidates should be able to accomplish the tasks below without assistance. The tasks have been grouped into categories to assist your preparation.

Install and manage JBoss EAP

• Install JBoss EAP to a specific location on a system
• Configure minimal security requirements for accessing and managing JBoss EAP
• Access and manage JBoss EAP using the provided tools
• Configure and start a multi-node, multi-server JBoss EAP domain spanning at least two hosts with multiple servers per host

Configure JBoss EAP domains, hosts and servers

• Create and remove JBoss EAP domains, hosts and servers
• Start, monitor and stop individual JBoss EAP domains, hosts and servers
• Configure Java™ memory usage at the host, server group and server level

Configure JBoss EAP to support clustered and HA operation

• Configure persistent network bindings for JBoss EAP services (both addresses and ports)
• Configure high-availability clustering using TCP unicast networking
• Secure the communications channels between clustered nodes

Monitoring and managing JBoss EAP

• Create and restore configuration snapshots
• Configure JBoss EAP logging

Configuring Java Messaging Service

• Remove, create and configure JMS topics and queues
• Secure access to JMS destinations

Manage applications

• Select appropriate JBoss EAP server profiles based on application requirements
• Configure DataSources (both XA and non-XA compliant)
• Deploy and undeploy applications
• Deploy and undeploy additional libraries and drivers
• Deploy a web application to the root context

Configure JBoss Web Connectors

• Tune and configure JBoss EAP web properties as requested
• Configure an SSL encrypted connection

Configure JBoss EAP security

• Create, modify, and use security domains
• Connect JBoss EAP to specified external security sources such as LDAP and DBMS
• Secure access to JBoss EAP services

• Be a Red Hat Certified System Administrator (RHCSA) or have comparable work experience and skills
• Have taken the Red Hat JBoss Application Administration I (JB248) course or have work experience administering JBoss EAP and applications running on that platform

Experience is the best preparation for the exam. However, even experienced people sometimes have gaps in their knowledge, so Red Hat encourages all candidates for RHCJA to consider taking the JB248 JBoss for Administrators I course. This course introduces the topic and can be an effective supplement to experience and a valuable aid in preparation for the exam. Attendance in this class is not required, and one can choose to take just an exam.

While attending Red Hat's classes can be an important part of your preparation, it does not guarantee success on the exam. Previous experience, practice, and native aptitude are also important determinants of success.

The RHCJA exam is a performance-based evaluation of a candidate's skills and knowledge regarding the administration of enterprise applications based on and using JBoss EAP.

Candidates perform a number of routine system administration tasks and are evaluated on whether they have met specific objective criteria. Performance-based testing means that candidates must perform tasks similar to what they must perform on the job.

The RHCJA exam is a hands-on, practical exam that lasts 4 hours. Internet access is not provided during the exam. You will not be permitted to bring any hard copy or electronic documentation into the exam. This prohibition includes notes, books, or any other materials. Internet access will be strictly controlled. Documentation that ships with JBoss EAP is available during the exam.

Red Hat reserves the right to make changes to the exam format, including timing and the policies above. Such changes will be made public in advance through revisions to this document.

You will be working on a Red Hat Enterprise Linux® 6 system during the exam, so prior experience using Linux or UNIX will be helpful. The purpose of this exam is not to test operating system administration skills, and extensive Linux/UNIX experience is not required. You will have a full desktop environment in which to work, and we will provide a list of basic commands for your reference in addition to the man pages and other documentation that come with Red Hat Enterprise Linux.

Fedora provides a freely available alternative for you to practice your Linux skills. A Live CD version is available that allows you to work on Fedora without needing to install it on your computer. While it is not an exact match for the environment in Red Hat Enterprise Linux, it is definitely close enough for the level of familiarity required.

Official scores for exams come exclusively from Red Hat Certification Central. Red Hat does not authorize examiners or training partners to report results to candidates directly. Scores on the exam are usually reported within 3 U.S. business days.

Exam results are reported as section scores. Red Hat does not report performance on individual items, nor will it provide additional information upon request.

Previous courses

Red Hat JBoss Application Administration I [AD248]