Kubernetes Certification Exams Preparation

The Linux Foundation Kubernetes Exams are highly valued and respected certifications in the IT world. At the same time these exams are very challenging and I often get asked about what techniques and study strategies I used in my journey from absolute beginner with no coding background to being fully certified . In this talk I will describe what my experience was like from failing my first attempt at the Certified Kubernetes Administrator Exam to passing on first try the Certified Kubernetes Security Specialist Exam. What can you expect from these exams? How can you determine where you are in your learning journey so that you can make the right decision about how, when and which exams to try first? What pitfalls should you look out for? I will answer these question and help you design your own strategy for success!

Transcript

1. GEOFF BURKE Senior Cloud Solutions Architect Tsunati Veeam Vanguard, Veeam Legend, Calico Big Cat, Auth0 Ambassador, Traefik Ambassador, Tanzu Vanguard & Kodekloud Ambassador KCNA, CKAD, CKA, CKS THE KUBERNETES EXAMS
2. • Linux experience since 1998 • FreeBSD (jail) • Some limited exploration of LXC • Bread and Butter were Windows systems My Starting Point
3. •Veeam Introduced Object Storage Capacity Tiers for Repositories •My company decided to try Minio S3 •For Multitenancy Minio advised us to leverage containers with Orchestration •I figured I would read up about Kubernetes on the weekend and be good to go on Monday What Happened?
4. •I installed Docker Swarm •It was easier but less flexible •I was intrigued by Kubernetes and decided no matter what to learn this new technology. WHAT DID I DO?
5. •KCNA (Entrance Certification) •CKAD Application developer •CKA The best known and crème de la crème in the container world •CKS Security Specialist. The name says it all The Exams
6. •I was a beta tester for this exam. •Multiple Choice, Proctored •Plenty of good free resources on the internet •Kodekloud’s Devops Learning Path will cover what you need •Considerations: Cost? Do you really need this Certification? •Side node CNCF are introducing a new KCSA exam in Q3 KCNA
7. •Proctored, Performance-based •People claimed this was easier than the CKA, but that was not my experience •Knowing the material is not enough •Time management and Question weight factors are crucial CKAD
8. •I did this when it was 3 hours (I failed the first time) •Like with the CKAD know the Kubernetes documentation •Since the introduction of the CKS, there is less security in this exam •The CKA is a prerequisite for the CKS CKA
9. •Valid only for 2 years, considered by some the hardest •Unlike the CKA for the CKS you need to know some 3rd party tools •Falco, Trivy, App Armor CKS
10. •Self Assessment = Practice Tests, Killer Shell ( you get 2 free Killer Shell time limited attempts with your CNCF exam purchase but if you would like more you can purchase here https://killer.sh/ ) •Setup your own practice environment (minikube, kind, rancher desktop) •https://cloud-native- canada.github.io/k8s_setup_tools/shell_setup/ Tips
11. •Read through the Kubernetes Documentation and do the Tasks https://kubernetes.io/docs/tasks/ Tips
12. •Commands must be in muscle memory •Practice taking example yamls from the documentation and then changing them for your tasks during the exam •Memorize locations of these yaml files •Don’t forget Kubectl --help Tips
13. • kode.wiki/3IpQoK5 CNCFKK23 -> 30 Days free access, this coupon works only for KodeKloud Monthly Standard plan, and next month will be auto-renewed. Coupon expires on March 31st and can be applied only once for a user. There is a also a CKS Challenge which is running as well: Fill out your details here: https://kode.wiki/CKS-Challenges Explain your solution through your blog, GitHub Repo or record a demo video and upload it on YouTube! Fill out your details here: https://kode.wiki/CKS-Challenge-Typeform Win CKS Exam Voucher Gift from Kodekloud
14. QUESTION AND ANSWERS