Best Practices for Passing the Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA)Exam
Jun 04, 2020Kubernetes is becoming more than just a resume item. Its now in demand.
Well if you all want an exam that will actually test your deep knowledge of Kubernetes from a hands on level then you may have found your match. To be a successful candidate you would need to have really solid preparation, use practice exercises and review the objectives.
One thing about the exam is that they offer a FREE Retake if needed. Hopefully, after reviewing the resources and some preparation that wont be needed. That is why I am here..
The Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA) program was created by The Linux Foundation and the Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF) as a part of their ongoing effort to help develop the Kubernetes ecosystem. As one of the highest velocity open source projects, Kubernetes use is exploding. (Check out my post on Cloud Native Expertise Demand..)
Kubernetes is one of the most in demand technologies at the moment and showing off your skills is only going to boost the chances of you gaining that new role or contract. The exams you want to consider are either the CKA or CKAD exams depending on your role in life.
The purpose of the Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA) program is to provide assurance that have the skills, knowledge, and competency to perform the responsibilities of Kubernetes administrators.
Best Practices for the CKA
- Prepare to prepare
- Review the FAQ
- Review the document site kubernetes.io
- Practice the commands
- Create an alias during the exam
- Perform tasks affiliated with the objectives.
- Take practice exams
- Schedule the exam and pass!
For the direct link for the exam objectives..
The high level exam objective areas (Notice the weighting)
- Application Lifecycle Management 8%
- Installation, Configuration & Validation 12%
- Core Concepts 19%
- Networking 11%
- Scheduling 5%
- Security 12%
- Cluster Maintenance 11%
- Logging / Monitoring 5%
- Storage 7%
- Troubleshooting 10%
The CKA exam experience online (Version Kubernetes v1.18)
- You take the exam at home/work on your own computer. (note that they will ask you to leave webcam on with audio/video)
- Clear your desk of everything (they will ask you to turn the computer around to verify no notes, people, etc)
- You can have 2 browser tabs open. One for the exam and one for The official Kubernetes docs site
- The command questions are visibly weighted by a percentage (The exam question states the weighting)
- You will know that you pass or fail immediately after completing.
- Cost is $300 at the time of writing. You can check this link for the latest discounts and codes SUPERBUNDLE65. EXAM ONLY BUNDLE60.. Exam link http://shrsl.com/1qzax
- Remember, the exam is an online exam that is proctored. (Did I mention you have a FREE RETAKE)
- Exam passing score was 74% at the time. (This may change I understand)
- Review the candidate document candidate handbook.
Effectively, it is an online, proctored, performance-based test that requires solving multiple issues from a command line.
CKA Exam Tips
The testing environment will validate your knowledge specifically around the following.
- Kubernetes - Architecture and Concepts
- Kubectl - Running these commands correctly
- Docker - Basic concepts.
It is really important to note this is not a multiple choice exam. It is a hands on command line exam. Its hard to fake passing this exam if you dont actually practice the commands.
The exam environment will allow tooling as follows.
- YAML
- BASH
- VIM/VI
There were no visual editors to my knowledge.
The good news is that your allowed to open up one browser page for the official documentation.
The webpage for official kubernetes.io
https://kubernetes.io/docs/home/
You would wise to review the documentation site and ensure you know how to search quickly for terms such as service, deploy, cluster, etc. This will save very valuable time on the exam.
Some Kubectl commands to learn.
Kubectl commands were over 60% of the exam. ------- build, edit or debug items in your test cluster.
E.G Kubectl create --help - Create a resource from a file or stdin
- View context - kubectl config current-context
- kubectl run hello-web --image=gcr.io/${PROJECT_ID}/hello-app:v1 --port 8080
- kubectl get pods
- kubectl get nodes
- kubectl expose deployment hello-web --type=LoadBalancer --port 8080
- kubectl get services
- kubectl scale deployment hello-web --replicas=3 Add (Expand)
- kubectl apply -f myapp.yaml
- kubectl logs -f myapp-pod
- Delete Changes to a Yaml file - kubectl delete -f myapp.yaml
- Apply Changes to a Yaml file - kubectl apply -f myapp.yaml
Build and modify systemd unit files. You will need to be comfortable in using systemctl to start, stop and restart services.
- Create/modify systemd unit files
- systemctl daemon-reload
- systemctl enable < service name >
- systemctl start < service name>
| How do you restart a kubelet? - systemctl restart kubelet |
If you are planning for CKA or CKAD certifications within the next year, NOW is the best time to register for the exams.
Linux Foundation just announced the biggest deal of the year. They are offering the CKA and CKAD exams at just 65% discount of their original price.
YAML- We need to update, reference and modify. Know how to run a pretest.
There is also an awesome free practice environment
For the direct link for the exam objectives..
Kelsey Hightower’s tutorial
Do all the tasks on https://kubernetes.io/docs/tasks/Read Kubernetes in Action by Marko Luksa
Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA) — Tips and Tricks — Part 1
Use Google Clouds Free Tutorial
Google Cloud Platform Free Trial and Tier
Also, Google Cloud Platform offers a $350 Credit... Use it or lose it and go to town with Kubernetes Engine which a managed deployment platform for Kubernetes.
Get $350 of GCP credit by signing up for a trial using my referral link: https://gcpsignup.page.link/7UAa Terms apply.
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