thinQmaster Virtual testing partner Adaptive practice exams that find your weak spots and drill them. Every answer explained. From $69
Enroll

thinQmaster

Find your exam

Five questions free, before you decide.

Step 1 · choose a vendor

In one of our camps? Your practice exams come with the tuition — they are on your study page already.

Red Hat · Linux & Systems · Professional

Red Hat Certified Engineer (RHCE) exam guide

Exam EX294

The Red Hat Certified Engineer (RHCE) in the Ansible track is earned by holding RHCSA (EX200) and passing EX294, a performance-based exam where you write Ansible playbooks to automate RHEL administration. It proves you can automate Linux at scale, a core skill for DevOps and platform teams.

QuestionsSee official page
Time limitSee official page
Passing scoreSee official page
Exam feeSee official page
Valid for3 years
DeliveryRed Hat remote exam (online) or authorized testing center

Format: Performance-based: write Ansible playbooks applied to freshly installed systems; no internet. Fee note: Price varies by country; check Red Hat.

Who it's for

RHCSA holders and Linux admins who automate system configuration with Ansible.

What the exam covers

Perform all tasks expected of an RHCSA—
Understand core Ansible components and configure Ansible—
Configure managed nodes, SSH keys and privilege escalation—
Run playbooks and deploy files—
Basic Git source control and VS Code use—
Create plays and playbooks—
Use roles and Ansible Content Collections—
Automate standard RHCSA tasks with Ansible modules—
Manage content—

A dash means the vendor does not publish a weight for that domain.

Eligibility & prerequisites

Required: RHCE (Ansible) requires RHCSA (EX200) plus EX294. Red Hat recommends RH294/AU294 training or comparable Ansible experience.

Recommended: RHCSA-level RHEL skills and hands-on Ansible Automation Platform experience.

Keeping it active

Red Hat certifications are considered current for 3 years. Stay current by passing the same exam again or earning another eligible Red Hat certification (for example a higher-level or Specialist exam) before expiry.

Skills & careers

Skills it validates

  • Writing idempotent Ansible playbooks
  • Inventories, variables, facts and templates (Jinja2)
  • Roles and Ansible Content Collections
  • Privilege escalation and vault-protected secrets
  • Automating storage, users, services and firewall tasks
  • Git-based playbook management

Job roles

Linux EngineerAutomation EngineerDevOps EngineerPlatform EngineerSite Reliability Engineer

Where it fits in your path

Planning a degree too? See how this cert earns college credit in the College Credit Navigator.

Build my study plan

  1. Week 1: Review EX294 objectives; build a control node plus 4 managed nodes
  2. Week 2: Inventory, ansible.cfg, ad hoc commands, SSH keys and become
  3. Week 3: Playbooks, variables, facts, conditionals, loops, handlers
  4. Week 4: Templates, roles, collections, ansible-vault
  5. Week 5: Automate every RHCSA task with modules (storage, users, services, SELinux)
  6. Week 6: Timed mock exams on fresh VMs

Make it yours: pick your exam date and weekly hours. We'll split your time by domain weight and give you a printable plan.

Exam-day tips

  • Use ansible-doc heavily - it is available and faster than memorizing
  • Make every playbook idempotent; graders re-run your playbooks on fresh systems
  • Keep a working ansible.cfg and inventory early so later tasks do not fail
  • Test vault and role paths exactly as the task specifies

Key terms for this exam

All 35 terms Study with thinQcards™

Commonly confused on this exam

Frequently asked questions

How do I get RHCE?

Hold RHCSA (EX200) and pass EX294.

Is RHCE still Ansible-based?

Yes, EX294 tests Ansible automation of RHEL tasks.

How long is RHCE valid?

Red Hat certifications are current for 3 years.

Is RHCE worth it?

Yes for Linux and automation roles; it is a respected hands-on credential.

RHCE vs Terraform Associate?

RHCE proves configuration management with Ansible; Terraform proves infrastructure provisioning. They complement each other.

Official page: www.redhat.com. Reviewed November 2026. Vendors change fees and objectives, so confirm with the vendor before you book. Spot something out of date? Tell us.