I have been preparing for the SUSE SCA_SLES15 exam, and honestly, it is a bit of a rollercoaster. Some days I feel like I have got it all down, but as soon as I start revising, it suddenly feels like I have forgotten everything. Initially, things were going well basic installation, user management, services, etc. But once I started going deeper into the topics, I began to hit some roadblocks. Especially with areas like network configuration, firewall management, and storage concepts (LVM vs standard partitions, for example).
Here’s what I have been using to study:
- SUSE’s official training (SLE201v15)
- SUSE documentation
- VirtualBox with SLES15 VMs for hands-on practice
- Some YouTube videos for tricky concepts
A few things I’m struggling with:
- The difference between Zypper and RPM in real-world usage, I keep mixing it up
- Systemd services – not always sure when to use enable vs start
- Networking – wicked vs traditional config is still a bit confusing
- During practice tests, I miss small but important details that trip me up
Has anyone here taken the exam recently? How did your prep go, and what worked best for you? Any tips on revising effectively without feeling overwhelmed? Appreciate any advice or experience you are willing to share
@rosemery Hi and welcome to the Forum 
Disclosure, I haven’t done these exams… I did pass the Linux Foundation Admin exam way back… 
Probably @smflood can offer some advice?
I use rpm for the likes of changelog entries with grep to find CVE information etc, likewise to check gpg keys. Using zypper has lots of features but not those two…
Don’t forget YaST to do the hard work, you can test with that and see the results in the flat files for the likes of Wicked and NetworkManager.
Depends on the systemd service, for testing debugging just using start and checking the journalctl output. If I know the service is working and needed on a reboot, systemctl enable --now will enable and start the service.
Again, many things can be done via YaST, then you can use the command line tools to see what changed, for example add a firewall rule to allow some port, then use iptables to see what changed, then turn that change into the command line version.
I also haven’t done the SCA/SCE in SLES15 exams as I gained those certifications a while back by passing the SLES12 to 15 Update exam to upgrade my SCA/SCE in SLES12 certs.
The first thing to note is that the SCA in SLES15 was recently revised with a new 2025 version now preferred - the previous version will be retired at the end of this month so make sure you know which you are studying for.
The second thing to note is that the exam is Q&A based rather than practical so whilst they can still cover a lot it will be limited. Saying that though practical experience will be helpful and is expected.
If you have access to the official training material then you are in good shape as that should contain everything that could come up in the exam.
To add to @malcolmlewis’s reply:
- RPM is a package format and the rpm command can be used to work with package files whereas zypper is more joined up dealing with dependencies, etc.
- enabling a systemd service will mean it starts on boot whereas starting a service starts it now (so you need to do both if you want a service to start now and when the machine reboots)
Basically make sure you’ve read the exam objectives at either https://www.suse.com/training/exam/sca-sles-15-retiring/ or https://www.suse.com/training/exam/sca-sles-15/ . Research and practice what you’re unsure of and when you think you’re ready take the exam. Good luck!
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I recently passed the SUSE Certified Administrator (SCA) exam, and it has been an exciting journey. It was not just about getting a certificate for me. It was about truly improving my skills in SUSE Linux. Though I have been using Linux for quite a while, I felt like there were certain areas where I was not fully confident, especially with SUSE-specific tasks. That is when I decided to take on the SUSE SCA_SLES15 certification exam.
For my preparation, I relied heavily on the official SUSE resources, which helped me build a solid foundation. However, I also knew that I needed to test myself beyond just basic knowledge. This led me to practice with Pass4Future SUSE SCA_SLES15 exam questions. These SCA_SLES15 practice tests were extremely helpful because they were not just about memorizing answers. They helped me identify areas where I was weak and needed more focus. These Pass4Future SCA_SLES15 practice tests made me realize that I was not as confident with ACLs as I thought. So, I went back to official SUSE resources to review ACL concepts and strengthen my understanding. Once I tackled those weak points, I felt ready to apply the knowledge in real-world scenarios.
This experience has been more than just preparing for an exam. It’s been about gaining the confidence to work in real SUSE environments, manage tasks effectively, and have a deeper understanding of the systems I am working with.