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CKA - Certified Kubernetes Administrator

CKA

The Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA) exam certifies that candidates have the skills, knowledge, and competency to perform the responsibilities of Kubernetes administrators.

Exam Overview

Detail Information
Exam Format Performance-based (hands-on)
Number of Questions 15-20
Duration 2 hours
Passing Score 66%
Certification Validity 3 years
Cost $395 USD
Retake Policy 1 free retake
Kubernetes Version 1.30

Exam Domains & Weights

Domain Weight
Cluster Architecture, Installation & Configuration 25%
Workloads & Scheduling 15%
Services & Networking 20%
Storage 10%
Troubleshooting 30%

Prerequisites

  • Strong Linux command line skills
  • Understanding of Kubernetes architecture
  • Experience with containerization (Docker)
  • Basic networking knowledge

Study Resources

Official Resources

Practice Resources

Quick Navigation

Exam Environment

The CKA exam provides:

  • Access to multiple Kubernetes clusters
  • kubectl with auto-completion enabled
  • Access to Kubernetes documentation (kubernetes.io)
  • A Linux terminal environment
  • Root access via sudo

Allowed Resources During Exam

Exam Tips

  1. Master cluster administration - Know how to bootstrap clusters with kubeadm
  2. Practice troubleshooting - 30% of the exam focuses on this
  3. Know etcd backup/restore - Critical for cluster recovery
  4. Understand RBAC - Role, ClusterRole, RoleBinding, ClusterRoleBinding
  5. Practice certificate management - TLS certificates for cluster components
  6. Use aliases - Set up alias k=kubectl and enable auto-completion
  7. Bookmark important docs - Prepare bookmarks for quick access
  8. Practice on Killercoda - Free hands-on scenarios

Useful kubectl Commands

# Set alias
alias k=kubectl

# Enable auto-completion
source <(kubectl completion bash)
complete -o default -F __start_kubectl k

# Cluster info
kubectl cluster-info
kubectl get nodes -o wide
kubectl get componentstatuses

# Context management
kubectl config get-contexts
kubectl config use-context <context-name>
kubectl config set-context --current --namespace=<namespace>

# Resource management
kubectl api-resources
kubectl explain pod.spec.containers

# Quick operations
kubectl run nginx --image=nginx --dry-run=client -o yaml
kubectl create deployment nginx --image=nginx --dry-run=client -o yaml
kubectl expose deployment nginx --port=80 --type=NodePort

# Troubleshooting
kubectl describe node <node-name>
kubectl logs <pod-name> -c <container-name>
kubectl exec -it <pod-name> -- /bin/sh
kubectl top nodes
kubectl top pods

Cluster Administration Commands

# Kubeadm commands
kubeadm init --pod-network-cidr=10.244.0.0/16
kubeadm join <master-ip>:6443 --token <token> --discovery-token-ca-cert-hash <hash>
kubeadm token create --print-join-command

# Certificate management
kubeadm certs check-expiration
kubeadm certs renew all

# etcd backup
ETCDCTL_API=3 etcdctl snapshot save /backup/etcd-snapshot.db \
  --endpoints=https://127.0.0.1:2379 \
  --cacert=/etc/kubernetes/pki/etcd/ca.crt \
  --cert=/etc/kubernetes/pki/etcd/server.crt \
  --key=/etc/kubernetes/pki/etcd/server.key

# etcd restore
ETCDCTL_API=3 etcdctl snapshot restore /backup/etcd-snapshot.db \
  --data-dir=/var/lib/etcd-restore

# Node maintenance
kubectl drain <node-name> --ignore-daemonsets --delete-emptydir-data
kubectl cordon <node-name>
kubectl uncordon <node-name>

# Upgrade cluster
kubeadm upgrade plan
kubeadm upgrade apply v1.30.0

Registration

Register for CKA Exam