My CKAD Journey: Getting Certified in Kubernetes
What is CKAD?
The CKAD is a certificate from the Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF). It checks if you can design, build, and manage applications for Kubernetes, which is a tool for running apps in a cloud environment. What's cool about this exam is it's all about doing, not just answering questions. You have to show you can actually work with Kubernetes.
The Exam
- Time: The exam lasts 2 hours.
- You'll work on tasks like:
- Building container images
- Deploying apps
- Keeping an eye on apps and fixing them if needed
- Setting up the environment
- Managing services and networks
I really liked that the exam is practical. Instead of choosing from answers, you work on tasks like you would at work. It's challenging because you're under time pressure.
How I Prepared
Here are some things that helped me get ready:
- GitHub: There are lots of free study materials and practice tasks from other developers on GitHub.
- Courses: I took some courses on Udemy that went through everything I needed to know. They had practice exercises too.
- Practice: I set up Kubernetes on my computer using minikube and practiced. You need to be comfortable with
kubectland learn tricks on how to speed up your workflow to be able to do the exam in 2 hours.- https://killer.sh is a good resource for a practice exam, but it is much more difficult than the real one. Good way to see how well you're doing under time pressure.
I might have prepared more than I needed to, but it was worth it. I learned a lot about Kubernetes, which will definitely help me in the future.
What’s Next?
I'd like to get CKA: Certified Kubernetes Administrator and CKS: Certified Kubernetes Security Specialist next. We'll see how it goes.
If you have any further questions, feel free to reach out to me.
Thank you for reading.