How to Prepare for the EX280 Exam

EX280 is a performance-based exam. There are no multiple-choice questions: you are given a live OpenShift cluster and a list of tasks, and you are graded on the final state of the cluster. That changes how you should prepare.

1. Build a lab you can break

You need a cluster where you have cluster-admin and can reconfigure OAuth, project templates and SCCs. OpenShift Local (CRC) on a laptop with 32 GB of RAM is the cheapest option; the Red Hat Developer Sandbox is not enough because you do not get cluster-admin.

2. Map every objective to a command

For each exam objective, write down the one or two oc commands that accomplish it and the command you use to verify it. If you cannot verify a task, you cannot be sure you will get the points.

oc auth can-i create deployments --as=dev1 -n payments
oc get route web -o jsonpath='{.spec.host}{"\n"}'
oc adm policy who-can delete projects

3. Practise against the clock

Speed comes from knowing where things live: which namespace holds the OAuth config, which resource controls self-provisioning, where the product documentation describes an object. Time yourself on full task lists, not single commands.

4. On exam day

• Read every task before starting and do the quick wins first.
• Verify each task immediately after completing it.
• Never leave the cluster in a half-configured state — authentication changes in particular can lock you out.

The EX280 Study Guide walks through every objective this way, with worked examples, practice tasks and a full practice exam with solutions.