ACP-500 exam requirements

[Vitalis Vitalis]

Hello, I'm considering to take ACP-500 exam. I have performed multiple installations and upgrades of Jira and confluence, but I only have about 3 months of experience working with Linux itself. Is this enough to tackle this certificate? Or do I need to work more on my Linux system skills

[Nic Brough -Adaptavist-]

This exam is not really aimed at the Linux side of it, it's about the system level stuff on a server running Atlassian tools.  The standard line for choice of OS is "As long as the OS runs a supported version of Java", but is then qualified a little bit more into "Atlassian support it on the more recent versions of Windows and Linux that can run the right version of Java". 

The stuff in the exam that is OS related is pretty minimal.  For example, it's not going to ask you how best to find a log file or what you might read it with (vi(m), edit, notepad, emacs, wordpad, yada yada yada) , but it will test you on where the log file is in relation to the install of the Atlassian application, and what it is telling you.  It's the principles that matter, not the detail of the operating system.

You experience with the application is far more important than the OS. 

But.  Use the courses on preparing for the exam.  I found they really helped me find existing strengths and weaknesses and hence where I needed to focus (not that I've done that exam yet - it is the next candidate for me)

[Rob Horan]

You wrote courses - are there more than one?

[Nic Brough -Adaptavist-]

Adaptavist (and other partners) have stuff that they use internally to supplement the Atlassian ones, although some of us also contributed pieces to the Atlassian courses too.

[Rob Horan]

Well... that's not really open to the world then :)

[Daniel J Kessler]

I didn't find any posts about the acp-500 exam. I took the exam midyear and it was a terrible experience. I took the prep course, read the Rachel Wright book, read through the manual, and filled an entire notebook with notes to study. However, the questions on the exam are totally random and much more related to server administration than atlassian administration. Several of the multiple-choice questions could be the answer. I would go as far to say that the exam is a rip-off for all the time and money I put into it, without any clear understanding of what questions would be in the exam. Later, I was complaining about the exam at an AUG event and someone told me, "Ya, something like 50 people took the 500 exam at Summit and only 2 people passed." What does that tell you?

[Vitalis Vitalis]

Well, I also bought a prep course just to get the idea of what to expect at the exam, but that material was hot garbage, totally worthless. So I abandoned idea about getting my ACP-500, and now I'm focusing to get ACP-200, I hope the experience will be better this time around.

[Jorge Jerez]

Hi @Daniel J Kessler 

I'm actually thinking about try the ACP-500, I have ACP-600 and one year of experience with jira, I did upgrades, installations, log analyze... I know more or less where are the folders and important files/logs. I know what can cause performance errors and how to fix that type of error, do you think I should try or better I try another ACP like the list in this post:

https://community.atlassian.com/t5/Training-Certification-questions/List-of-the-different-Atlassian-Exams/qaq-p/1067221

[Daniel J Kessler]

If you are into throwing money in the trash and wasting a lot of time, go for it!

[Jorge Jerez]

Thanks for your answer, but I did ACP-100 one week ago and I get it with just 2 weeks when I spend around 20h of preparing the exam, so it's not that difficult and is not a waste of time. 

[Daniel J Kessler]

I am talking about the 500 course. ACP-100 is elementary. I passed that without any preparation. Anyway, now they have new names.