RHCE Ansible Prep (EX294) is a guided, hands-on path from Ansible project fundamentals to applied RHEL automation. Its 30 labs progress through five stages covering project setup, inventory and connectivity, reliable playbook logic, variables and reusable content, and complete administration workflows.
Across 150 verified steps, you will create project files, run Ansible against prepared targets, interpret output, troubleshoot errors, and repeat playbooks to confirm idempotence. Labs are designed for 35–50 minutes each, with 1,275 minutes of listed practice time in total, so concepts build deliberately before independent exam-style work.
What You Will Learn
- Organize Ansible projects with Git,
ansible.cfg,ansible-navigator, and offline module documentation - Build static inventories, configure SSH keys and privilege escalation, and target hosts with patterns and limits
- Write idempotent playbooks using modules, handlers, loops, facts, conditionals, registered results, and
block/rescue - Diagnose YAML, Jinja2, module, status-control, and variable-precedence problems
- Structure automation with imports, includes, group and host variables, custom facts, templates, and Ansible Vault
- Create reusable roles and install and use staged roles and collections without network access
- Automate RHEL packages, services, firewalls, users, scheduled tasks, storage, mounts, and security settings across prepared targets
Who This Course Is For
This course is for Linux administrators, aspiring automation engineers, and RHCE candidates who want step-by-step Ansible practice before taking on assessment-style tasks. The Beginner label describes the guided treatment of Ansible, not a replacement for foundational Linux administration.
Prerequisites: Practical Linux administration at roughly RHCSA level, including files, permissions, users, packages, services, networking, storage, SSH, and sudo. Basic YAML familiarity is helpful, but prior Ansible project experience is not required.
Learning environment: Each lab opens in a separate browser-accessible RHEL 10 environment with Ansible, project inputs, and locally prepared or simulated targets. Required repositories, SSH material, scripts, service assets, role and collection archives, and documentation are available offline; no Red Hat subscription or external Galaxy access is needed.
Frequently Asked Questions
How is this course different from the RHCE in Ansible practice exams?
The prep course explains commands, project structure, expected output, and troubleshooting in guided steps. The practice exams provide requests and acceptance criteria with far less assistance, so they are better used after learning the workflows here.
Does Beginner mean I can start without Linux administration knowledge?
No. Ansible concepts are introduced carefully, but the labs automate RHEL users, services, firewalls, storage, mounts, and security settings. You should already understand those Linux administration areas at approximately RHCSA level.
Will I need external managed servers or online Ansible Galaxy access?
No. Targets are prepared within each isolated lab, using local execution or staged SSH access. Roles, collections, repositories, and documentation needed by the exercises are supplied locally.
Does the course teach execution environments?
It teaches how ansible-navigator configuration relates to the project and execution runtime, then uses a controlled local runtime for reproducibility. It does not require you to build or download a custom execution-environment image.
