For anyone eyeing RHCSA, RHCE, or any of the EX-series — the format is radically different from every cloud cert and most people show up unprepared. Sharing what bit me so you can avoid it. The format is "do the thing", not "pick the right answer". You get a live RHEL system over a remote KVM session and a list of tasks. Build this image. Run this rootless container with these mounts. Set up systemd units to auto-restart it. The grader runs scripts against the box at the end. There is no answer key — your filesystem state IS the answer. Things the prep books undersell: 1.⁠ ⁠ You will lose 10+ minutes to muscle memory. Type ⁠ docker ⁠ instead of ⁠ podman ⁠, hit enter, get "command not found", repeat. Train it out before exam day. Alias it during practice if you have to. 2.⁠ ⁠ Rootless containers are not a footnote — they're 30% of the exam. UID mapping, ⁠ ~/.config/containers/ ⁠, ⁠ --userns=keep-id ⁠, and the joys of ⁠ subuid ⁠/⁠ subgid ⁠.…