What Is EX280?
The Red Hat Certified Specialist in OpenShift Administration (EX280) is the industry-standard certification for OpenShift professionals. It's a hands-on, performance-based exam where you perform real tasks on a live OpenShift cluster — no multiple-choice questions.
Exam Details
- Duration: 3 hours
- Format: 100% hands-on (performance-based tasks)
- Prerequisites: EX200 (RHCSA) recommended but not mandatory
- Cost: Approximately ₹35,000-40,000 in India
- Passing Score: 210/300 (70%)
Exam Topics (Syllabus)
- Manage OpenShift Container Platform (resource management, scaling)
- Deploy applications (from images, templates, source code)
- Manage storage (persistent volumes, ODF basics)
- Configure networking (Routes, services, network policies)
- Manage users and policies (RBAC, SCCs, OAuth providers)
- Monitor and troubleshoot (logs, events, metrics)
Preparation Strategy
- Practice on real clusters: The #1 success factor. Use OCPLocal's lab environment or Red Hat's developer sandbox.
- Time management: Practice completing tasks within time limits. The exam is tight on time.
- Know oc commands cold: oc new-app, oc expose, oc adm policy, oc set, oc debug
- Don't memorize — understand: The exam tests practical ability, not rote knowledge
Career Impact
EX280 certification adds ₹1-3 LPA to your package and is increasingly required for roles at companies like Red Hat, IBM, and IT services firms. However, certification alone isn't enough — employers value hands-on project experience equally. The ideal combination is EX280 + real cluster experience + interview preparation.
EX280 vs Real-World Skills
While EX280 covers foundational administration, the real world demands more: MTV migration, RHACS security, AIOps, and GitOps pipelines. OCPLocal's training goes beyond EX280 to cover all 16 levels including these advanced enterprise topics, preparing you for both certification and real interviews.