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How I passed Kubernetes KCNA, CKAD, CKA, and CKS exams. My experience. Exam tips and tricks.
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kubernetes-certifications.md

What are the Kubernetes certifications?

There are four Kubernetes certifications:

Benefits/Advantages of Kubernetes certification:

  • In the course of preparing for these certifications, you will learn many Kubernetes domains in-depth and expand your knowledge.
  • Personal professional growth.
  • Getting yourself certified is a great way to prove your ability and learn efficiently.
  • It gives you the good potential for a higher salary.
  • It makes your CV more attractive and stands out from the competitors especially if you are a beginner/intern or junior.
  • CKAD, CKA, and CKS are practical hands-on/performance-based exams that make the certifications more valuable.
  • It can help you land a new role or switch your role to DevOps/SRE directions.
  • Some companies/customers require Kubernetes certifications or highly encourage to have them.
  • The industry widely recognizes the certificates as a reliable measure of competence.

Note: Passing KCNA, CKAD CKA or CKS certifications doesn’t mean that you are a Kubernetes expert. But it means that you have good basic knowledge of Kubernetes so you can solve many tasks much faster. Production experience is more valuable because only in the real production environment you may encounter many issues that you would not get on the exams.

Refs:

Certifications overviews

Kubernetes and Cloud Native Associate (KCNA)

The KCNA is a pre-professional certification designed for candidates interested in advancing to the professional level through a demonstrated understanding of kubernetes foundational knowledge and skills. This certification is ideal for students learning about or candidates interested in working with cloud native technologies. Learn more.

Register for exam

KCNA Important Instructions

KCNA Curriculum

A score of 75% or above must be earned to pass KCNA Exam.

Links for preparation:

Practice exam prerequisites

  • Linux/Sell: The exam is hands-on, so some basic Linux knowledge is required. You should be able to navigate and perform basic operations.

  • YAML/JSON knowledge: All Kubernetes objects can be created via YAML or JSON files. But YAML is widely used since its simple. So it is good to have YAML knowledge. Docs.

  • Vim editor: Vim is the default editor for kubectl, but you don’t need to be an expert. If you can use nano instead.

  • Container runtime: The best-known container runtime is Docker. Kubernetes itself has deprecated Docker as a container runtime and is currently using containerd or CRI-O. Still, knowing Docker should be more than sufficient.

Certified Kubernetes Application Developer (CKAD)

The Certified Kubernetes Application Developer exam certifies that users can design, build, configure, and expose cloud native applications for Kubernetes. A Certified Kubernetes Application Developer can define application resources and use core primitives to build, monitor, and troubleshoot scalable applications and tools in Kubernetes. Learn more.

Register for exam

CKAD Important Instructions

CKAD Curriculum

Resources allowed to access during the exam

A score of 66% or above must be earned to pass CKAD Exam.

Links for preparation:

Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA)

The purpose of the Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA) program is to provide assurance that CKAs have the skills, knowledge, and competency to perform the responsibilities of Kubernetes administrators.

It is an online, proctored, performance-based test that requires solving multiple issues from a command line. Learn more.

Register for exam

CKA Important Instructions

CKA Curriculum

Resources allowed to access during the exam

A score of 66% or above must be earned to pass CKA Exam.

Links for preparation:

Certified Kubernetes Security Specialist (CKS)

The Certified Kubernetes Security Specialist (CKS) program provides assurance that a CKS has the skills, knowledge, and competence on a broad range of best practices for securing container-based applications and Kubernetes platforms during build, deployment and runtime. CKA certification is required to sit for this exam.

CKS is a performance-based certification exam that tests candidates’ knowledge of Kubernetes and cloud security in a simulated, real world environment. Learn more.

Register for exam

CKS Important Instructions

CKS Curriculum

Resources allowed to access during the exam

A score of 67% or above must be earned to pass CKS Exam.

Links for preparation:

Recommendations

  • Use coupons for getting Kubernetes certification at a lower cost. There are many of them for example Black Friday, Cyber Monday, etc.
  • Since the topics of the certification are tightly coupled and intersected, it would be great to get multiple certifications at once as it won’t take much effort to get the second certification.
  • Purchase Kubernetes and Cloud Native Essentials (LFS250) + Kubernetes and Cloud Native Associate (KCNA) Exam Bundle - The KCNA exam itself costs $250 but the Course and Exam are $299. I bought this Bundle on Cyber Monday which cost me $104.65 - 65% off. LFS250 course will help with preparation.
  • I bought CKAD exam on Cyber Monday which cost me $197.50 - 50% off.
  • If you would like to pass CKA and CKS at once I would recommend you purchase Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA) + Certified Kubernetes Security Specialist (CKS) Exam Bundle as well. I bought this Bundle on Cyber Monday which cost me $276.50 - 65% off.
  • Make sure your webcam provides good video quality so that a proctor can clearly capture your first and last name on your ID (Passport).
  • What are the system requirements to take the exam?
  • I passed the KCNA exam using MacBook with an external monitor/mouse connected. The MacBook display was in closed form. CKAD, CKA, and CKS were passed using only MacBook with a built-in webcam, microphone, and keyboard.
  • A guide to online proctoring with PSI for test takers
  • Check how to to copy & paste within the Linux Terminal
  • In my opinion, it is important to take killer.sh exam simulator before taking the real exam to rate your preparation condition.
  • CKA & CKAD Environment and CKS Environment
    TL;DR: for your convenience, all environments, in other words, the base system and the cluster nodes, have the following additional command-line tools pre-installed and pre-configured:
    • kubectl with k alias and Bash autocompletion
    • yq and jq for YAML/JSON processing
    • tmux for terminal multiplexing
    • curl and wget for testing web services
    • man and man pages for further documentation
  • Practice with Kubernetes Documentation Search.
  • Learn how to use kubectl
  • Get some basic Linux knowledge: for CKA and CKS you should know what systemd and journald are and how to use them to debug system services.
  • Use an imperative way (kubectl) to create Kubernetes resources as much as you can to save time.
    Even though you will have access to the official Kubernetes documentation during the exam via the browser within the VM. It is much faster to create a deployment/pods/jobs/services etc. imperatively rather than declaratively (create a manifest YAML file, copy/paste from the docs, etc.).
    Note that: not all Kubernetes resources support imperative creation e.g. PersistentVolume, PersistentVolumeClaim, StorageClass, NetworkPolicy, etc. so they have to be created declaratively.
  • Use --dry-run=client -o yaml to make sure that you are going to create the needed resource or you want to output a YAML result to a file for further editing.
  • Use kubectl --help or short k -h to get a template for the resource creation to not search it in the documentation. For instance: kubectl create secret generic --help k create ingress -h
  • Manage your time efficiently. If you already spent much time on a particular task and do not know exactly how to solve it completely then proceed to the next question. In case of free time, you will be able to return back to this question.
  • If you fail the exam do not worry take your time to prepare better and try the exam again. Each exam has one free retake.
  • CKAD, CKA, and CKS - New PSI Exam Environment
  • YouTube Kubernetes Certification Exam Environment Preview
  • Frequently Asked Questions: CKA and CKAD & CKS
  • Practice, Practice, and Practice!
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