After passing the CKA and CKAD exams, my current and past colleagues asked me about the path I followed for achieving these certifications. In this post I will share with you the steps that I took in order to prepare for the exams.
I started this journey by asking other people on what they did in order to learn more about Kuberenetes.
For people new to this domain, Kubernetes is a container orchestration system for automating the software deployment, scaling and management. You may find more about its history by reading this wiki page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kubernetes
My first step was to enroll in the Kubernetes Fundamentals (LFS258) course developed by The Linux Foundation. It is an online, self paced course which contains Video content, Text and Hands-on Labs & Assignments.
At the same time, I read some good reviews about the book “Kubernetes Up & Running” written by Brendan Burns, Joe Beda and Kelsey Hightower and I bought it. I read it every night before bedtime. The book describes the Kubernetes cluster and how to use its APIs in order to improve the development, delivery and maintenance of distributed applications.
I continued with the course developed by KodeKloud. The course CKA Certification Course is very good. It is taught by Mumshad Mannambeth, the founder of KodeKloud. It contains Video Content and live practice tests right in your browser. You do not need to install a Kubernetes cluster for practicing the labs. It starts with Core Concepts and continues with all the other topics needed to pass the CKA exam. What I liked about it, is that it also offers Mock Exams which test your knowledge before sitting the exam. It is also great that there is a Slack community where you can discuss and ask questions. There are a lot of people ready to help you.
On KodeKloud, there is a similar course for CKAD exam. Its name is Certified Kubernetes Application Developer (CKAD). It follows the same structure as CKA Certification Course. So, depending on your needs and role (administrator or developer), you may follow one or the other.
The last step in my preparation was the Killer.sh. They provide an exam simulator. Before sitting the actual exam, I would encourage you to do the test provided by them. It is very similar to he exam, but much harder. If you go to all the scenarios and their solutions, you can say that you are prepared for taking the exam. The idea of the simulator is to solve as many scenarios as possible in the shortest amount of time, just like you need to do in the actual exam.
When you enroll for the certification on The Linux Foundation, you will automatically receive access to the Killer.sh simulator. There is no need to buy access to Killer.sh separately.
In summary, these are all the steps that I followed for passing the CKA and CKAD exams. I hope you will find this post useful. I wish you happy learning and good luck with your exam!
What resources have you used and how was the exam?