Sorry, I misread the question. Since I don't use the QuickStart VM very often let me ask around. My recollection is that for the default (no Cloudera Manager) you start working in the terminal.    A quick note from the Getting Started tab on the download page:   Accounts Once you launch the VM, you are automatically logged in as the cloudera user. The account details are: username: cloudera password: cloudera The cloudera account has sudo privileges in the VM. The root account password is cloudera. The root MySQL password (and the password for other MySQL user accounts) is also cloudera. Hue and Cloudera Manager use the same credentials. ... View more

I think the below wording from the CCP Data Engineer page should cover that question.    What should you expect? You are given five to eight customer problems each with a unique, large data set, a CDH cluster, and four hours. For each problem, you must implement a technical solution with a high degree of precision that meets all the requirements. You may use any tool or combination of tools on the cluster (see list below) -- you get to pick the tool(s) that are right for the job. You must possess enough industry knowledge to analyze the problem and arrive at an optimal approach given the time allowed. You need to know what you should do and then do it on a live cluster under rigorous conditions, including a time limit and while being watched by a proctor. ... View more