Red Hat Certification

Red Hat Certified Architect

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A Red Hat® Certified Architect (RHCA) is a Red Hat Certified Engineer (RHCE®), Red Hat Certified Enterprise Microservices Developer (RHCEMD), or Red Hat Certified Cloud-native Developer (RHCCD) who has attained our highest level of certification by passing—and keeping current—five additional certifications chosen from the system administrator and developer lists.

Red Hat provides the opportunity to earn two different kinds of Red Hat Certified Architect certifications: Red Hat Certified Architect in Infrastructure and Red Hat Certified Architect in Enterprise Applications. Candidates can choose to follow both paths or earn credentials that might not be on the RHCA path they are pursuing.

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Certification details

Candidate Guidance

Consider our recommended certification combinations

RHCA program requirements are flexible and can adapt to a wide variety of interests and needs. Organizations that use Red Hat technologies and the IT professionals who work for them are the best judges of which certifications address their needs.

However, many IT professionals and organizations seek guidance from Red Hat on which certifications might best be applied to unique needs, so we have suggested combinations of certifications that can help chart the journey to becoming an RHCA or to assist recruiters and managers in finding the skills they need to build out their teams.

Our recommended combinations are subject to change as technologies evolve and emerge, and keep in mind that pursuing a specific combination does not confer a different certification. Of course, all certifications listed can be earned independently, regardless of whether a candidate is an RHCE, RHCEMD, RHCCD, or has none of those certifications.*

Be sure to view the For RHCEs and For RHCEMDs & RHCCDs tabs to see combinations of certifications that align with and supplement existing certifications.

*Please note that becoming a Red Hat Certified Specialist in Enterprise Microservices Development requires an RHCCD credential.

Expand your options with a Red Hat Learning Subscription

Joining the RHCA ranks requires significant time and effort, so we recommend the Red Hat Learning Subscription as the most cost-effective and flexible option for those pursuing this credential. Best of all, RHCAs are eligible for a 50% discount* ("Program Benefit") on our individual Basic (LS120), Standard (LS220), Premium (LS520), or Developer (LS300) Red Hat Learning Subscription to help keep credentials current or pursue new ones. The Program Benefit applies to both the new purchase and renewal of the LS120, LS220, or LS300 Red Hat Learning Subscriptions.

*Terms and Conditions apply: This Program Benefit is limited to RHCAs only and may not be resold. Eligible Subscriptions are subject to country availability. This Program Benefit excludes all Red Hat Enterprise Learning Subscriptions. The Program Benefit will be applied to Red Hat’s local Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price ("MSRP") of Eligible Subscriptions. Red Hat Learning Subscription is non-transferrable and no assignments or substitutions are allowed. This Program Benefit may not be combined with any other promotions, offers, discount programs, bundles, or coupons. Red Hat Learning Subscriptions cannot be paid for with Training Units. Red Hat reserves the right to modify or cancel this offer at any time. Unless otherwise provided for in these terms and conditions all terms of the Enterprise Agreement and Appendix 2A per (https://www.redhat.com/en/about/agreements) and the associated Red Hat Training Policies (https://www.redhat.com/en/about/red-hat-training-policies) shall apply to the Red Hat Products sold in connection with this offer. Where there is a conflict between the terms of the offer as described herein and the Red Hat Training Policies, the conflict may be resolved at Red Hat’s discretion in favor of the terms of the offer for the period during which the offer is made available by Red Hat. This offer is void where prohibited by law.

For RHCEMDs & RHCCDs

Guidance for RHCEMDs and RHCCDs

An RHCA credential is a good fit for Red Hat Certified Enterprise Microservices Developers (RHCEMDs) and Red Hat Certified Cloud-native Developers (RHCCDs) who wish to demonstrate greater depth and breadth of knowledge and skills in our middleware and applications products.

RHCEMDs and RHCCDs may select any combination within the Enterprise Applications track, and those who earn five or more credentials from the developer list in the Skills tab become Red Hat Certified Architects in Enterprise Applications.

We highly recommend (but do not require) that all candidates for Red Hat Certified Architect in Enterprise Applications earn these certifications:

The recommended combinations of certifications that follow assume these two certifications have been earned.

Application acceleration and integration program

Today’s enterprise applications must keep up with business demands that are changing faster than ever before. Earning three of these certifications will help speed the development cycle and the pace at which new applications and functionality are integrated and deployed:

DevOps, containers, and OpenShift program

DevOps is all about hastening the speed at which an idea or feature request ends up in the hands of an application’s users. Developers are now empowered to decide the environment in which their applications run and create continuous integration/continuous delivery (CI/CD) pipelines that make today’s checked-in changes tomorrow’s production code.

Earning these certifications plus three more from the developer list in the Skills tab can help organizations ramp up their production cycles.

 

For RHCEs

Guidance for RHCEs

Red Hat Certified Engineers (RHCEs) seeking to demonstrate greater depth and breadth of knowledge and skills in Red Hat Enterprise Linux and across other Red Hat products can benefit from the RHCA credential.

RHCEs are free to choose any combination of certifications within the RHCA in Infrastructure list, and earning five or more certifications from the system administrator list in the Skills tab allows candidates to become a Red Hat Certified Architect in Infrastructure.

A higher level of RHCA credential can be attained by earning more than five credentials beyond the base credentials. For example, earning six credentials beyond RHCD, RHCEMD, or RHCCD earns an RHCA Level II designation as long as the six credentials remain current. If one of the credentials becomes non-current, the RHCA reverts to Level I, and if another credential becomes non-current, the RHCA status would no longer apply.

Optional depth areas:

Open hybrid cloud program

We believe that the open hybrid cloud is the present and future of enterprise computing. The need for agility, flexibility, and cost containment make having options essential.

Earning five of these certifications is preparation for taking organizations to the cloud in the ways that best match their business requirements:

DevOps, containers, and OpenShift program

Containers are changing the way applications are developed, tested, and deployed, and Red Hat® OpenShift Container Platform is how Red Hat does containers.

For organizations that want to speed their application development cycle, containers are a natural fit. However, creating a continuous integration/continuous delivery (CI/CD) pipeline requires more than containers—it also requires automation. DevOps offers an approach to automation that not only helps link legacy apps with newer cloud-native apps and infrastructure, but does so through fast-paced, iterative IT service delivery.

Our DevOps, containers, and OpenShift recommendations cover the learning needed to succeed in today’s app-hungry world. Earning these four credentials plus one more from the system administrators list can help transform the way organizations deliver applications to their customers.

Telco Cloud program

Software-defined Networking (SDN) and Network Functions Virtualization (NFV) are transforming the telecommunications industry, replacing older, inflexible hardware-based solutions with flexible, virtualization-based ones. Red Hat OpenStack Platform and other Red Hat technologies are essential building blocks for the today's and tomorrow's telco industry. The following certifications are recommended to be earned to validate the skills and knowledge needed by today's telco IT professionals.

Linux mastery program

The reliability, scalability, performance, and manageability of Red Hat® Enterprise Linux® comprise the heart of many of Red Hat’s technologies. We do not use the term "mastery" lightly—to dig deep and focus exclusively on Linux, choose five of these certifications:

 

Exams

Test your skills and knowledge

The best training path for becoming an RHCA depends on the credentials you or your team want to earn. Red Hat offers multiple ways to train in courses aligned with all of its certification exams.

In addition to the exam offerings below, review our full list of courses to find other training options that might best suit your certification objectives.

To attain and maintain RHCA status, an RHCE must pass at least 5 of the following exams and keep the associated certifications current:

To attain and maintain RHCA status, an RHCEMD or RHCCD must pass at least 5 of the following exams and keep the associated certifications current:

 

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