Step 2: Learn Kubernetes — of 5 Steps to pass your Kubernetes exam

This is part #2 of the 5 Steps to pass your Kubernetes exam miniseries. In case you missed other parts, here are all the posts:

1. Decide if you want to become Kubernetes certified.
2. Learn Kubernetes.
3. Practice exam problems.
4. Master the exam environment.
5. Day of the exam.

Today, we are going to talk about learning Kubernetes.

Prerequisites

As with any significant technology, before you can learn Kubernetes you need to have solid foundations in technologies that Kubernetes relies on. You need to understand Linux and containers:

• Linux — you need to fluent in a shell environment, feel confident with manipulating files, processes. You have to know how to monitor resource utilization.
• Containers — Kubernetes is all about orchestrating containers so you need to understand what containers are and be able to build images and also start, stop, inspect, troubleshoot containers. The most popular runtime is still Docker despite the fact that Docker and Kubernetes are going their separate ways. You should be very comfortable with thedocker command.

Learning Kubernetes

Once you have the prerequisites covered, it’s time to learn Kubernetes. The most popular way among KubeWiz customers is to take courses on Udemy:

• Kubernetes Certified Application Developer (CKAD) with Tests
• Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA) with Practice Tests
• Kubernetes CKS 2021 Complete Course + Simulator

The courses cover all the material that you have to know for the exam in a clear way. It has a good balance of video lectures and hands-on labs.

Now that you have gone through the theory and the hands-on labs, it’s time to explore on your own. The cheapest way is to set up a local environment like minikube or microk8s. They are particularly useful for CKAD exam, where you don’t need to know how to manage a cluster, you only need to know how to use one.

Another option is to use a remote cluster. You can do it for free with Katacoda and Play with Kubernetes. These services have a significant drawback tough — their environments are ephemeral and are automatically de-provisioned after a few hours. Local installs do not have this issue. Minikube and microk8s will let you keep the state of your cluster and offer a much smoother learning experience for busy people who can learn for short periods at a time.

If you can’t or don’t want to install a local cluster, you can pay for a remote cluster. Such a cluster can be up and maintain state for as long as you are willing to pay for it. For CKAD, a good option would be EKS, GKE, or AKS.

Additional steps for CKA

CKAD and CKA overlap significantly. There is, however, additional knowledge you have to acquire for CKA. CKAD is about using a Kubernetes cluster while CKA is about using and also installing and managing Kubernetes. For CKA, you want to install a Kubernetes cluster on your own. Managed services like EKS, GKE, or AKS won’t cut it. You can set up your own cluster for free using Katacoda or Play with Kubernetes. They will let you run kubeadm, which is what the Linux Foundation uses to set up the exam clusters. Like I mentioned before, both Katacode and Play with Kubernetes support short sessions. You will keep losing the state of your cluster. If you are lucky and your PC is powerful enough, you can start multiple VM’s on your machine and install Kubernetes on those VM’s. The process is covered in great detail in Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA) with Practice Tests and in kubeadm’s documentation.

Additional steps for CKS

To pass CKS you need to pass CKA first. Apart from mastering the CKA content, CKS requires that you go beyond the Kubernetes cluster. You need to know tools like gVisor, Katacontainers, Open Policy Agent, OPA Conftest, Kubesec, Clair, Trivy, Falco, AppArmor, Seccomp. The good news is that you can practice these aspects locally. In many cases, Katacoda or Play with Kubernetes won’t be very useful. Practicing with these security tools in many cases requires kernel-level access. Katacoda and Play with Kubernetes are container-based. They will not allow changing kernel settings. The good news is that you can practice these aspects locally.

Summary

In this section, we covered prerequisites and how to learn Kubernetes. You need a good mix of lectures and time spend hands-on with a cluster and the tools around it.

Coming up is Step #3— Practice exam problems.

About Kubewiz
https://kubewiz.com/ offers realistic practice exams for CKAD, CKA, CKS (coming soon).