CKAD Preparation and Tips

Kubernetes (K8s) is an open-source container platform and has now become a default choice for automating deployment, scaling, and management of containerized applications.

One of the best ways to learn and explore the concepts of Kubernetes is to learn by preparing for the certification exam and evaluate yourself.

My Experience with the exam environment was great and convenient, I like the Scenarios asked which give more insights about troubleshooting and fixing the resources.

In this blog post, I would like to share some of the guidelines and resources that are useful to prepare for the certification.

About the exam

K8’s exams are conducted by CNCF in collaboration with the Linux Foundation which provides a live working environment to solve real-time scenarios.
Unlike most of the certifications, one of the special things about k8’s exams is that. CKAD and CKA(Administrator) both are practice-based exams.

• https://www.cncf.io/certification/ckad/

Duration and number of Questions

You have only 120 minutes to solve 19 Question that varies with the level of complexity and weightage.

Prerequisite

• Linux basics
• Linux output redirection
• vi editor and shortcuts.
• Mastering kubectl Imperative commands

Hints

As soon as you start the session spend the first 2 minutes in setting alias and environment variable that helps in saving time while using the dry run option with kubectl command.

1. Set alias alias k=kubectl.
2. Export environment variable export do='--dry-run -o yaml' .
3. Skip/Mark the low weightage Question/Scenario and come back to it later.
4. Use kubectl imperative commands as much as possible as fixing the YAML in vi editors can be time-consuming.
5. Make use of kubectl command’s flags. Read the description of flags at least once from the below link.

• https://kubernetes.io/docs/reference/generated/kubectl/kubectl-commands#create

6. Understand and Practice the multi-container pod question from here.

• https://kubernetes.io/docs/concepts/cluster-administration/logging/

7. Do not forget to switch context in every next question/scenario. You are asked to work on a multi-cluster environment during the exam, switching context is important. If you deploy the resource in the wrong cluster your solution will not be evaluated and you lose marks. In every question at the top, the command is provided to switch context.

#command to switch context
kubectl config use-context CONTEXT_NAME
#to list all contexts
kubectl config get-contexts
#to get current contexts
kubectl config current-context

8. Take advantage of the user interface by copying the highlighted keyword i.e namespace, image, version, etc. You can copy it by just clicking on it and avoid the typing mistake.

Deprecated Command

The exam environment is currently running Kubernetes v1.18 which means that the deprecated commands will no longer work on the exam environment.

example in below code block

#In the previous version of kubernetes it was possible to generate deployments, job, cronjobs uisng run command by mentioning restart flag value.
#In  Kubernetes v1.18 kubectl run command is no longer can be used to create deployments, jobs, cronjobs based on the restart flag.
# kubectl run can only create pod definition file.
kubectl run --image=nginx --restart=Never $do > pod.yml
#notice that the $do is used from the environment variable.

Resources

1. For Absolute Beginner.

Kubernetes for the Absolute Beginners — Hands-on

2. Specific to exam preparation with lots of practice in each section.

Kubernetes Certified Application Developer (CKAD) Training

3. During the exam, you are allowed to refer to the official documentation. It is helpful to get used to k8’s documents and search the right keyword before appearing for the exam. The official documentation is a great resource as it covers 100% of the exam curriculum with details and examples.

Kubernetes Documentation

4. Practice Question

• https://github.com/dgkanatsios/CKAD-exercises/blob/master/f.services.md

Take your time and practice as much as possible. It is an intense and great experience to solve real-time scenarios in limited time.
I hope the above information is helpful for your Kubernetes journey.

Goodluck!