VMware Cloud Native Master Specialist (5V0–71.19) — Exam Experience and Tips

I recently passed my VMware Cloud Native Master Specialist exam.

Although the main purpose of this was to earn the Cloud Native Master Services Competency (MSC) for our company (more on that here), it was an interesting experience which led me to explore several concepts and open source projects/technologies I was not familiar with.

I would say this exam is a tough one. However, most of the questions are actually based on real-world scenarios, which is nice, so if you have worked with Kubernetes-based platforms and their complementary technologies, you should be fine. Also, since the CKA certification is a prerequisite for this exam, you should already be familiar with a lot of the concepts covered by the exam.

Since there is not much information available on this exam out there, I thought it would be helpful to share my experience and tips.

Exam Information

The Cloud Native Master Specialist exam (5V0–71.19) consists of 67 questions in a single/multiple choice format. You have 100 minutes to complete and the passing score is 300 (60%). It is a proctored exam and can either be taken remotely or at a test center. I personally chose the online option. The registration is handled by Pearson VUE, and if you go for the online option, you will have to use their secure browser application in order to complete the onboarding process and access the exam environment on the day of the exam.

Once you complete the exam, you will immediately receive the results and your score.

Prerequisites

The only prerequisite for this exam is the CKA (Certified Kubernetes Administrator) certification. You are required to submit proof that you hold an active CKA certification from the CNCF. This is done via the VMware Certification Manager portal. Once your CKA certification is confirmed by VMware, you can complete the registration process and schedule your exam.

Required Knowledge and Useful Resources

First of all, the exam has absolutely nothing to do with any traditional VMware products, nor with PKS/TKG. I think this is an important clarification. It is completely focused on Kubernetes and complementary technologies, and since the CKA certification is a prerequisite for it, by the time you take the exam, you should already be familiar with a lot of the concepts. If you are not already CKA certified and planning to get started, I strongly recommend completing Mumshad Mannambeth’s CKA course on Udemy, which is, by far, one of the best resources available for the CKA exam.

• The starting point, just like any other VMware exam, should be the official exam blueprint. It is absolutely crucial to go through all of the links provided in the blueprint.
• I also strongly recommend completing the courses provided by KubeAcademy.
• It is important to understand security concepts, such as secrets, pod security policies, network policies, RBAC and the different authentication methods as well as complementary technologies that can be leveraged for authentication, audit policies, admission control, the integration between open policy agent and Kubernetes, etc.
• Understand the integration between Kubernetes and Prometheus, Fluent Bit and log aggregation methods in general.
• Understand Readiness and Liveness probes, as well as the differences between the two.
• Be familiar with Kubernetes networking, service types, as well as the different methods that can be used to expose applications externally, such as LoadBalancer/Ingress. Also, basic AWS knowledge could help.
• Be familiar with complementary technologies provided by VMware/Heptio, such as Velero, Sonobuoy, etc.
• Be familiar with Dockerfile best practices/troubleshooting, building containers and leveraging multistage builds.
• Be familiar with Helm best practices in general.
• Understand the 12-factor app concepts — this is very important for the exam and in general!
• Be familiar with the popular CNIs and their differences.

Conclusion

If you thoroughly go through the exam blueprint and the resources/topics I mentioned above, you should be able to pass the exam.

Although some of the questions on the exam may seem overwhelming at first — don’t panic, flag questions you don’t know how to answer and go back to those questions at the end of the exam. Since you have about 1.5 minutes per question, you have to carefully manage your time during the exam.

Good luck!