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Thanks to Allah; I passed "Certified Kubernetes Application Developer (CKAD)" on 30-Oct-2022. In this blog post, I’m sharing my experience with the study path/material required for passing the certification.
Target Audience
This certification is targeting developers (No specific programing language) targeting cloud-native development either used on the cloud or on-premise.
Exam Info
- Current exam release: Kubernetes v1.25 (Exam env updated: 2022-10-19, Specs: 2022-08-23, as per this tips link alignment with newer k8s versions happens approximately 4 to 8 weeks of K8s new version release date). Kubernetes releases currently happen approximately three times per year.
- Exam nature: Performance-based not multiple choice. i.e. You will have scenarios including deployment, rollout, and network service you need to perform, or check the existing environment and do the troubleshooting for issues & resolve them. So, hands-on experience is a must.
- The number of questions: (15 - 20 questions)
- Exam duration: 2 hrs
- Passing score: 66%
- Time/question: 6 - 8 mins/question, some are easy, and few are hard.
- Validity duration / Expiry: 3 years
- Location: Take from home as online proctored.
Pre-requisites / Path to CKAD (Personal opinion)
Officially, there are no pre-requisites for the certification, but I think you need to have a look at the below pre-requisites from my point of view. It is based if you are new in the field, you can skip if you are aware about the content and have hands-on experience. Initially, I selected to go for the online self-paced "Cloud Native Developer Bootcamp" from Linux Foundation (There are always discounts, just you need to subscribe (Free) and you will receive notifications on Sale).
| # | Requirements | My selected courses | My opinion / Alternative |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Good Linux Foundation and hands-on experience focused on Ubuntu distribution | Introduction to Open Source Development, Git, and Linux (LFD201) | Good preparation course, that was supporting multiple distros of Linux, and the instructor is very knowledgeable and very responsive in the forum.
/ There are several Linux courses in the market, your target should be to be familiar with Linux, Vim, basic bash scripting. Thanks, Jerry Cooperstein for such great course. |
| 2 | Docker Knowledge | DevOps and SRE Fundamentals: Implementing Continuous Delivery (LFS261) And Containers for Developers and Quality Assurance (LFD254) |
PROS: 1- The instructor is great 2- I learned a lot in DevOps while I was learning Docker, and Docker compose. 3- The course is full of hands-on experience with lots of labs. 4- Many tools (Jenkins, Spinnaker, ...) were used in labs. CONS: 1- I was receiving delays in replies in the forum. 2- I like visual representation in a more structured way as PowerPoint, but the instructor uses hand-drawn diagrams which I don't think are the best in my opinion. Thanks, Gourav Shah for such great courses. |
| 3 | YAML Knowledge | Yaml Tutorial | Learn YAML in 18 mins | It is a short sufficient video to know YAML, there are several videos on the Internet. YAML is quite easy but the troubleshooting sometimes gets tricky. Thanks, Nana Janashia for sharing your knowledge with the world. |
| 4 | Kubernetes Knowledge and exam-focused course | Kubernetes for the Absolute Beginners - Hands-on And Kubernetes Certified Application Developer (CKAD) with Tests |
I think these two courses are simply the best in the market and you don't need to look for alternatives. For many reasons: 1- The visual presentation is great and easy to understand 2- The courses are full of labs. 3- There are also lab challenges to get you hands-on experience with K8s. 4- There is a lightning-speed test, to get you faster in answering questions. 5- It includes tests for the exam. 6- The instructor is great. You can see a free sample on Youtube for explaining K8s services. Thanks, Mumshad Mannambeth for such great courses. |
| 5 | Deep dive in network Policies | Kubernetes Network Policy Recipes | It is free. Although the reference is considered old; I think it is the best out there, it includes link to very good video (I recommend seeing it first before solving questions). Thanks, Ahmet Alp Balkan for such a great video, and GitHub repository. |
| 6 | Helm knowledge | Helm: A cheat sheet | Sufficient knowledge in one article to pass the exam. Thanks, Tom Donohue for such an article. |
To be continued ...
