How to Prepare for CKA? 

Beginner in Kubernetes? We got your back. Check the last section first and jump back again here.

Hey Everyone, I am very excited to share my Kubernetes Journey with you all.

About 6 months before, I started learning Kubernetes when I was told that soon the deployment in my project would be on Kubernetes. 

Like any other IT enthusiast, I liked the idea of learning and, along with it, getting certified too.

Without wasting time, I purchased the Kubernetes Administrator course and registered for the exam.

It cost me 500$ in total (300 $ for the exam fees and 200 $ for the Linux Academy course). It was a considerable cost, but I was so excited that I purchased this without overthinking.

As soon as I started learning it, I found it very interesting both from the concept point of view and the course exercises. This continued for almost two months.

But then came the point – was I ready to give the CKA exam?

I wondered how I would write all these complex “Yamls” in the exam? 

I certainly couldn’t memorize them. Unlike any Cloud certificate where you will have multiple options to choose from, the CKA exam is something where you will have to give a practical exam for three hours, and you will be judged from top to bottom, both conceptually and practically. 

I started having second thoughts and the feeling of discouragement. I thought I wasted my money by booking the exam so far in advance.

As there is a famous saying, “where there is a will, there is a way! 

One fine day, my friend told me that there is one good course by Mumshad on KodeKloud.com, which has concepts well explained for the CKA exam. 

At that time, I didn’t act on it as I had already invested so much money in the LinuxAcademy course. 

I did not want to buy another Kubernetes course and spend more money. 

My friend insisted, and just because he was so keen, I borrowed his credentials of Kode Kloud to see how the course is structured and started with it.

Oh boy…. as soon as I opened the course, started the practicals, I was overjoyed. 

That night I remember I spent about 6 hours continuously after office and did many practical exercises. 

The “Yamls,” which were too difficult to write, now seemed so easy. Thanks to the excellent course by Mumshad. 

I started my journey all over again, and within two and half months, I was exam ready! 

In between, I purchased another course from Kode Kloud on sale.

The journey, which started almost 6 months back and was halted in between, was now on track! 

Finally, the day arrived when I wrote the exam in the early hours of 29’th December 2019 and was awarded by CNCF (Cloud Native Computing Foundation) CKA, aka Certified Kubernetes Administrator, with 85%. 

It was like earning a badge of honor.

The reason I wrote this blog is just to let you guys know that the Kubernetes is so wonderful, and it is a must skillset to have in your armory. 

If you are keen to learn and want to get certified, I would recommend Mumshad Course on KodeKloud.

Wishing you all a tremendous Kubernetes Journey! I am always available on LinkedIn if you have any questions.

Good Luck,

Shubhasis

Author: Shubhasis is a DevOps enthusiast and a lifelong learner. You can connect with him on LinkedIn.

New to Kubernetes! This for you.

What is Kubernetes?

The name Kubernetes originates from Greek, meaning helmsman or pilot. Google open-sourced the Kubernetes project in 2014. Kubernetes builds upon a decade and a half of experience that Google has with running production workloads at scale, combined with best-of-breed ideas and practices from the community.

Kubernetes is a portable, extensible, open-source platform for managing containerized workloads and services that facilitates both declarative configuration and automation. 

It lets you run distributed system resiliently, with scaling and failover(failover is a procedure by which a system automatically transfers control to a duplicate system when it detects a fault or failure) for your application.

Making it simple for you, it is like a conductor that manages everything in an orchestra.

There are a lot of moving points in a scalable application. Just like the conductor in an orchestra makes sure the song sounds like a composer wants. Kubernetes makes sure services are running smoothly the way an App developer wants.

Why Kubernetes was created?

In a production environment, one needs to manage the containers that run the applications and ensure no downtime. Containers are an excellent way to bundle and run your applications. 

“A container is a standard unit of software that packages up code and all its dependencies, so it runs quickly and reliably from one computing environment to another. “

For example, if a container goes down, another container needs to start. Wouldn’t it be easier if a system handled this behavior? 

That’s where Kubernetes comes into play! As it is all about automation of operational tasks.

What are the benefits of using Kubernetes:

  • Kubernetes provides you with a framework to run distributed systems smoothly. It takes care of scaling and failover for your application.
  • The main advantage of using Kubernetes in your environment, particularly if you are optimizing app dev for the cloud, is that it provides you the platform to schedule and run containers on clusters of physical or virtual machines.
  • It helps you completely implement and rely on a container-based infrastructure in production environments. 
  • Kubernetes lets you automatically install a storage system of your choice, such as local storage, public cloud providers, etc.
  • You can also describe the desired state for your deployed containers using Kubernetes, 
  • That can change the present state to the desired state at a controlled rate. For example, one can automate Kubernetes to create new containers for your deployment, remove existing containers and adopt all their resources to the new container. 
  • Also, You tell Kubernetes how much CPU and memory (RAM) each container requires.

Some of the top companies that are using Kubernetes :

  • Reddit
  • Tinder
  • New York Times
  • Airbnb
  • Pinterest
  • Pokemon Go

Why should you get Kubernetes Certified?

It endorses the expertise of a developer to build, configure, design, and expose native cloud applications for Kubernetes. 

Since it has become the new platform, there is a tremendous demand for people who can perform solutions with Kubernetes right now.

The demand for Certified Kubernetes professionals is not slowing down in the future.

According to Statista, About one-third of organizations surveyed by the is using the container technology system Kubernetes in some way in 2020. These organizations are either experimenting with it, running it in production, or using it for development & testing.

On the other hand, almost one-third of organizations participating in the survey are not using it at all at this time.

A certification makes your resume look great and stand out from the competition. As companies rely more and more on k8s, your knowledge can be an immediate asset.

A top certification like the CKA or the CKAD gives you great potential for a better salary. Passing these exams is not an easy task, so companies seeking k8s engineers are ready to pay more because the certifications confirm that you’re not only qualified, but you actually know the platform.

CKA and CKAD were created by The Linux Foundation and the Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF) as a part of their ongoing effort to help develop the Kubernetes ecosystem.

The exam is an online, proctored, performance-based test that requires solving multiple tasks from a command line running Kubernetes.

What are the exam objectives of CKA certification?

Below are the topics as per the CKA study guide:

  • Domain 1: Application Lifecycle Management (8%)
  • Domain 2: Installation, Configuration, and Validation (12%)
  • Domain 3: Core Concepts (9%)
  • Domain 4: Networking (11%)
  • Domain 5: Scheduling (5%)
  • Domain 6: Security (12%)
  • Domain 7: Cluster Maintenance (11%)
  • Domain 8: Logging/Monitoring (5%)
  • Domain 9: Storage (7%)
  • Domain 10: Troubleshooting (10%)

How hard is the Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA) exam?

CKA exam is a hands-on practical exam. So practice plays a crucial role in this exam. With enough practice, you can easily pass this exam. Your initial resource in the preparation can be the official website of CNCF or The Linux Foundation.

It is worth noting that there are no prerequisites for the exam. However, before you start your certified Kubernetes administrator or certified Kubernetes application developer training, you should take note of the recommended knowledge and experience requirements. Here are some of the preparation journey’s that can help you be better prepared: 

Conclusion

Containers are becoming more and more popular in the software world & Kubernetes has become the industry standard for deploying containers in production. 

Getting started in this journey can be full of rewards, but you need to go through extensive training as per Shubhasis’s experience. Develop your own study plan and stick to it.

We all are haunted by various questions at some point in time when starting/preparing for a certification in any area of your interest.

Besides practice tests, Community Forums are here to help. You can get precise answers from experienced professionals. But you need to ask first! 

Go ask it out!!!