CKA Exam Study Guide 2023 | Ultimate Resource For CKA Aspirants

The Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA) certificate offered by the Linux Foundation is widely regarded as the industry standard. You agree that this certification is the pinnacle of DevOps achievement.

The target audience consists of engineers with an interest in setting up and managing Kubernetes clusters.

You may advance in your profession with the help of our CKA Exam Study Guide, which will teach you everything you need to know about cluster components and their management of them.

So let’s get started.

What Is A Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA) Exam?

According to the Cloud Native Computing Foundation, the Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA) programme ensures qualified individuals are hired to manage Kubernetes clusters.

Kubernetes’ popularity is skyrocketing, making it one of the fastest-growing open-source projects.

In this context, employers are increasingly seeking out DevOps Engineers who are also proficient in managing Kubernetes clusters.

So, becoming CKA-certified can improve your prospects for development within the many businesses and institutions that have adopted Kubernetes.

I have also written an in-depth article on Kubernetes tutorial for beginners to help you learn it fast.

The CKA Exam Study Guide

So let’s learn the ins and outs of the CKA Exam Study Guide, including its curriculum, practice labs, Resources, Courses, Dos and Don’ts, and Frequently Asked Questions.

1. CKA Exam Basics Requirements

Any interested party may take the CKA examination regardless of whether or not they hold any other certifications. To pass the exam, all you need is some familiarity with Kubernetes’s inner workings and a lot of practice.

2. CKA Exam Standards

Cost of the exam	$395 USD
Percentage of passing the exam	66%
Duration of the exam	2 hours
CKA Validity	3 Years
CKA exam Kubernetes version	Kubernetes v1.26

3. CKA Exam Syllabus

This table summarises the curriculum’s domains and competencies and provides their relative importance.

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

4. CKA Practice Labs

The most effective method of preparation is to learn the relevant ideas in depth and gain experience via repeated practice.

You can use the below configurations to quickly and easily create a Kubernetes cluster for hands-on training. Problem-solving on a real-life cluster will be a major part of the test.

Without a multiple-choice format, practice on the job is essential for CKA certification.

5. Study Resources For The CKA Syllabus

In this section, we will examine the official and helpful CKA resources that may be utilised to prepare for each topic on the CKA exam. These resources are organised according to the CKA curriculum.

6. Configuration & Installation For Cluster Architecture

In this section, we will examine the official and helpful CKA resources that may be utilised to prepare for each topic on the CKA exam. These resources are organised according to the CKA curriculum.

• RBAC Management – Role Based Access Control: With roles, administrators can determine which users or groups of users have access to which resources. It’s a useful instrument for administrators to delegate granular authority to others.

• Deploy A Simple Cluster With Kubeadm:
  In preparation for the exam: Make use of kubeadm to form a cluster, and study up on the official documentation before taking the test. Here we will discuss how to configure a cluster with the kubeadm tool. The ideal candidate will have solid experience with Kubernetes’ foundational technologies including etcd, Kube API servers, SSL certificate administration, and so on.

Note: Before initiating the Kubeadm cluster, make sure swap is off on all nodes.

In order to do well on the test, you need pay attention to the following:
Using the official docs, experiment with the kubeadm cluster create commands and their associated options.

• Rising Kubernetes Cluster Management: Learning about the high availability Cluster is still beneficial, even though you won’t be tested on it on the CKA exam. A Kubernetes administrator must take care to keep the cluster online at all times. This includes controlling the worker nodes and doing necessary cluster maintenance.
  
  Today, most clusters are deployed to a cloud service like Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, or Google Cloud Platform, and it is the responsibility of that service to ensure the cluster is always available. The reasoning behind the HA kubernetes cluster, however, should not be overlooked.

• Infrastructure For Kubernetes Deployment: Kubectl, Kubeadm, specific system parameters, and a container runtime are all required for kubernetes to function (CRI-O, Containerd, or Docker)

• Upgrade Kubernetes using Kubeadm: There will be a task in the exam where you must use Kubeadm to upgrade a Kubernetes cluster. Kubernetes is a tool that is always becoming better. Newer versions are released periodically to address user feedback and add new capabilities. The administrator is responsible for handling any necessary version upgrades.

• etcd Backup/Restore: You need to become familiar with and practise backing up and restoring your etcd data with the etcdctl software. The Etcd daemon serves as the cluster’s key-value storage. The setup of the cluster as well as any information regarding pods, services, and other such things are all saved in a key-value format here.

7. Tasks and Timetables

• Deployments & Rolling Updates: Kubernetes Deployment guarantees that a predetermined minimum number of application replicas will always be operational. In the event that a replica is lost for whatever reason, the Kubernetes API will ensure that a replacement is made within a few minutes.

• Necessary Commands: These are the Kubernetes command line interface (CLI) commands for making new objects. This means that you won’t have to manually type out the entire YAML file. When studying for an exam, it can be helpful to know what to do in a “imperative” situation. That’s why I’m giving them my highest recommendation.

Below mentioned are the Kubectl commands.

kubectl create deployment <name> --image=<name> //create deployment

kubectl create deployment <name> --image=<name> -- sleep 300 //with command arguments

kubectl scale deployment <name> --replicas=4 //scale up or down

When a Deployment is unstable, such as in the case of a crash loopback issue, it may be rolled back.

kubectl set image deployment <name of deployment> <name of container>=<new image name> // update image

kubectl rollout status deployment <name of deployment> //see status

kubectl rollout history deployment <name of deployment> //see history 

• Application Configuration Maps & Secrets: When storing non-critical information in key-value pairs, Kubernetes Configmaps can be helpful. They can be utilised to transfer environmental variables into pods.

Secrets, Configmaps Commands are as follows:

kubectl create cm <name of configmap> --from-file=hello.txt 
kubectl create cm <name of configmap> --from-literal=key1=value1 

• Scaling Apps Info: Kubernetes has many options for scaling applications, such as increasing the number of application replicas through the usage of deployment objects. As an alternative, horizontal pod autoscalers (HPAs) can be used to dynamically adjust the number of copies in response to changes in the metric values that indicate the health of an application.

• Robust & Self-healing Application Deployments: This is essentially theoretical; to have Kubernetes automatically recreate pods whenever they become unavailable, any self-healing application has to make use of deployments or stateful sets. When you use deployments, you can also log your modifications for future reference. It’s also simple to revert back to an earlier version of yourself.

kubectl set image deployment <name of deployment> <name of container>=<new image name> // update image

kubectl rollout status deployment <name of deployment> //see status

kubectl rollout history deployment <name of deployment> //see history 

• Understanding Resource Limitations and Pod Scheduling: As an administrator, you are responsible for managing both the cluster and the workloads within it by allocating resources to the various pods in accordance with their individual requirements. Each pod in kubernetes can be given a CPU and memory use budget.

• Manifest Handling & Standard Templating Awareness: In this section, it is assumed that you are familiar with various tools, such as kustomization and helm, as well as with Kubernetes Manifests and Kustomization

8. Networking and Services

• Understand Cluster Node Host Networking: For the pods to be able to talk to one another, Kube-proxy must be installed on every worker node. Kube proxies also play a role in inter-node communication through networking. When a worker node connects to the master node, it does so using Kubelet. All of these ideas are necessary to grasp networking in kubernetes.

• The Importance Of Knowing How Pods Are Connected: Pods are able to communicate with one another through the use of services. This is due to the component known as Kube proxy which makes it possible.

• Understand NodePort, ClusterIP, Endpoints & Types Of LoadBalancer service: It is critical to have a solid understanding of each type of service as well as the use cases associated with them. Understanding the process by which pods can be introduced under a service should receive a great deal of focus and attention.

• Get Familiar With Ingress Resources & Controls: The access granted to internal cluster services by external organisations is managed through the use of ingress resources. Load balancers are what make it possible, and ingress controllers are what make that possible.

• Choose A Suitable Interface Plugin For Container Network:

Container Networking Interface (CNI) aims to develop a standardised networking framework for containers via plug-ins. Flannel, calico, and other solutions are just a few of the options available. In the next paragraphs, we’ll look at a few of them.

9. Storage

• Persistent Volume: It is a portion of the cluster’s storage that has been provisioned either statically or dynamically through the use of StorageClasses. Over StorageClasses, they are made.

• Storage Classes: You can use StorageClass to categorise the many storage options that are at your disposal.

• Persistent Volume Claim: A user’s request for space to save their data. Over PersistentVolumes, they are made.

• Know The Access & Volume Mode, and Reclaim volumes Policies: Both the Filesystem and Block volume options are available in Kubernetes. ReadOnlyMany, ReadWriteMany, and ReadWriteOnce are the three access modes that Kubernetes offers. Three retention rules are available in Kubernetes: keep, delete, and recycle.

• Understand To Configure Persistent Storage Applications: The mounting of a PVC enables application pods to make use of persistent storage.

10. Troubleshooting

• Assess Cluster/Node Logging & Log Management: The actions and status of an application can be better comprehended with the aid of logs. Logs are very helpful for tracking cluster activity and tracking down bugs. The scheduler in Kubernetes can be useful for examining logs generated by components of the control plane, such as etcd. The following are some flags you can use with kubectl commands to speed up your debugging cases.

The Log Checking Kubectl Command:

kubectl logs deployment/<name of deployment> 
kubectl logs deployment/<name of deployment> --tail=10
kubectl logs deployment/<name of deployment> --tail=10 -f

• Understand Apps Monitoring: Applications can be monitored by keeping logs and analysing metrics. Metrics administration is simplified with the help of popular tools such as Prometheus and Grafana. Metrics exporters of the main application container are frequently implemented as sidecar containers.

• Understand And Diagnose An Unresponsive Application: It is also the responsibility of administrators to assist users in debugging applications that have been deployed into Kubernetes but are performing incorrectly.

• Networking Troubleshoot: It is also the responsibility of administrators to assist users in debugging applications that have been deployed into Kubernetes but are performing incorrectly.

CKA Exam Study Guide – DO’s

1. You should aim to finish your CKA practise exams 15 minutes early so that you have time to review the answers.
2. Give yourself a few practise exams to figure out what you’re struggling with and then devote more study time to that.
3. On the day of the exam, make sure you have a backup plan in case your Wi-Fi connection goes down. No one wants their hard effort to go to waste, after all.
4. If you think a question will take more than six to seven minutes to answer, you can mark it and come back to it after you’ve finished the remainder of the test.

CKA Exam Study Guide – DON’Ts

1. The vast majority of people never even bother with a pseudonym. So, there is no requirement to give every aspect of your identity a different name.
2. Avoid scheduling the exam for the last possible day. Ideally, it would be given in a relaxed setting with no expectations attached.
3. Nothing other than your desk and computer should be on the table during the exam. The CKA exam must adhere to the Linux Foundation’s stringent regulations.

CKA Exam Study Guide – Preparation Courses

Spending money on a course will make it much simpler for you to comprehend all of the material needed for the test. 

If you are just starting out, it is highly recommended that you put some effort and expense into enrolling in a beginner’s course.

Conclusion On CKA Exam Study Guide

You will be able to grasp cluster components and their management in a much better way with the help of our CKA Exam Study Guide, which will help you go further in your profession.

CKA is an excellent qualification to get if your goal is to work in the field of development operations engineering. It is expected that in the coming years, its significance would only increase. Hence, do your best and make sure you’re properly prepared!

You have been provided with all of the information, recommendations, and ways that can assist you in getting ready. We are going to continuously adding additional features, such as tools and information, to it. I hope everything goes smoothly with your preparations.

Frequently Asked Questions