How to become CKAD Certified
CKAD is a sought after Certification. it tests your practical skills in Kubernetes, from deployments to Helm, CKAD encorporates the prominent features that developers use in Kubernetes.
I recently passed my CKAD exam!!
What is the CKAD exam?
The CKAD exam tests developer’s knowledge and skills in designing, building, configuring, and scaling cloud-native applications for Kubernetes. Some essential topics that will be explored when taking the CKAD exam are pods, deployments, volumes, services, ingress, probes, and much more.
What was the motivation for getting the CKAD certification?
I am interested in upleveling my DevOps skills and I was looking for certifications I could do in order to to evaluate how well I knew Kubernetes. Through some research I’ve came to the conclusion to take the CKAD certification. Kubernetes continues to be a platform that is growing in user adoption and I wanted to be well equipped to be able to take on a role in devops or application development where I could leverage Kubernetes to both scale and design reliable applications.
Comments about the journey
The journey to the CKAD certification required some study because there is a lot of background knowledge you would need to know beforehand that are prerequisites to know how to develop on Kubernetes. To use Kubernetes efficiently and prepare for this exam , I would recommend having some familiarity with Linux. For example, you need to learn vim(text-editor) and be good at it, you need to learn docker and other basic knowledge and tools. Once you start diving deep into Kubernetes, you realize how massive the software tool is, with the plethora of documentation describing it’s numerous resources. The truth is, you don’t need to memorize concepts and I believe practice or experience is the best way to become an expert in Kubernetes. Also I recommend being familiar with where to find things when searching the user docs for Kubernetes.
My background
I am a recent undergraduate of Computer Science at York University, located in Toronto, Canada. No previous certifications, or past jobs where I would use Kubernetes. However with practice and dedication I was able to get this certification.
How did you prepare for your CKAD exam?
1.) Learn Linux, Vim and networking In Kubernetes you going to need to know how to use essential Linux commands(commands such as grep, ls),your going to use the vim text editor all the time and your going to need to know networking commands (such as curl,wget) and the basis of how networking works. Below are some resources that could help with that.
Linux:
Introduction to Linux — Full Course for Beginners
LinuxJourney (first 8 lessons exclusively)
Linux Fundamentals (first 6–7 lessons should be sufficient)
Vim:
Learning | Linux Journey
Vim stands for vi (Improved) just like its name it stands for an improved version of the vi text editor command. It’s…linuxjourney.com
Networking:
article about network protocols you will need to know
2.) Go over Kubernetes architecture
Having a solid foundation of the Kubernetes architecture helps abeit for troubleshooting and debugging purposes.
3.) Take a CKAD course
This will get you familiar conceptually about all topics that will occur on the CKAD exam, as well as hands-on questions at the end of each lesson so you can test the knowledge acquired. If you cant access this one, I recommend Mumshad’s course below.
Certified Kubernetes Application Developer (CKAD), 3rd Edition by Van Vugt.
4.) Take Mumshad’s CKAD labs with tests
Mumshad’s course is great because it comes with lessons that test your practical knowledge of Kubernetes on the CLI. Go through Mumshad’s CLI lessons, go through the four tests at the end. If you do poorly on the tests, review the material that you did bad on in those tests and try again. Keep on doing it until you get atleast 80% on all the four tests.
Mumshads Kubernetes Certified Application Developer (CKAD) with Tests
5.) Make a quizlet of CKAD concepts
Make a quizlet of CKAD concepts and test yourself. Here is mine. ChatGPT is a great resource in order to study CKAD concepts. You can search up “what is Kubernetes” and it automatically generates a long detail description about Kubernetes. Use it to help you study. You can even generate practice questions to test your knowledge.
6.) Do the killerSh test(30 dollars) (repeat until you get an 80% on it)
The killerSh test has more questions and harder questions then the exam itself, if you can land a 80 or even 70ish on the test, you should be fine for the test. Speed is important, make sure you focus on your speed. Your speed can be enhanced through betterment of vim skills.
7.) Believe in yourself that you can do it !
Before test day, close your eyes and imagine going through the test and passing the test. This is a method called manifestation. Your going to manifest passing the test, your also going to start to write a blog about passing the test before you even take the test.
8.) Buy Test and Book test 24hr beforehand
9.) Test
On test day make sure your well rested and hydrated. Be in a quiet space to do your test, free from distractions. Make sure your webcam is of good quality so that the person proctoring the exam can read your id with ease, if your laptop camera is not good quality, you can always buy an external webcam. You will be proctored the whole 2 hours of the test, they will request for you to scan your room using your webcam prior to the test. They will request from you to not wander from your screen and to avoid looking around at your room or to cover your mouth with your hand. They will request for you to drink from a water bottle with the label removed.
Summary of Key Points
- Be good at Vim
- Go over Mumshad’s Labs a lot. You know your good when you can score atleast 80% on the 2 mock tests and exams with time to spare. If not, go back and review the labs, especially on the concepts you did poorly on
- Go over KillerSh alot until you get atleast 80%(remember that the KillerSh test is harder then the real test) don’t go to hard on yourself if your struggling on doing all the questions under the allotted time
- Make sure your familiar with all key concepts
- Make sure your familiar with navigating Kubernetes Documentation
- Believe in yourself!!
Copyright 2024-present Warsame Osman.
