My Experience With The CKA Exam

I recently completed the Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA) exam with a 97% score. It took a lot of my time and power to study and prepare for this exam, but thankfully I managed to pass and get my certificate.

In this article, I will be talking briefly about my experience studying and practicing for this exam, what resources I used (e.g. courses, websites, etc…), and what tips I can give out to help others who are going for this exam and certificate.

My Personal Experience

While I work mainly as a Software Developer, building web applications and what not, I found DevOps work to be very interesting. From deploying the applications to managing them on various servers, I felt that I needed to know at least enough to be able to manage my own application throughout its whole lifespan.

I previously worked on Linux pretty well and used various tools to deploy my application, stream it on the internet, and even listen to any errors it might cause. I used tools such as Nginx as a webserver, Monit for monitoring the application service, and even Ansible to automate the configuration of a new server.

My next step was to learn Docker. It took me some time to understand the difference between a Virtual Machine and a Container, but eventually I understood that Containers are able to share resources together, while Virtual Machines need a full Operating System to be installed on a Physical Server (there are many more differences but this was the main thing I initially understood).

Once I understood the general idea of Docker, I started studying studying a course on Udemy called Docker Certified Associate. This course was directed mainly towards people who wish to take the certificate of the same name (DCA) but I felt that I only need to understand Docker and know to utilize it.

In the DCA course, they went through the basics of Kubernetes and other orchestration tools. I decided I liked Kubernetes and felt the need to start studying it.

I ended up buying the KodeKloud course titled: Kubernetes for the Absolute Beginners - Hands-on and had a great experience learning from the instructor and practicing the tasks on the platform (they give you free access to some of their labs if you buy the Udemy course).

Once I understood the basics, I went ahead and bought my second KodeKloud course titled Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA) with Practice Tests. It was very beneficial and educational. The labs they had were great and I was able to practice various parts of the Kubernetes system. I recommend this course (and anything by KodeKloud really) to anyone who wants to dive into DevOps or a related tool like Kubernetes.

Eventually, once I completed the CKA course, I booked my exam and started practicing as much as I can. I completed the KodeKloud labs countless times, revised some sections from the Udemy course, and even practiced using any online resource I could find (* I list some of them later on in this article). I was very nervous even with all the practice I did.

A week before the exam, I started my first of the two free Killer.sh sessions. I struggled a lot. It was difficult and had many questions (25 questions to be exact) with some questions having multiple lengthy tasks. I became even more nervous. I spent the whole week before the exam revising the Killer.sh questions and answers, while also checking for online resources to practice on.

A started my second free Killer.sh session a day before the exam. I was much more satisfied during that session. I completed more questions and in less time. But it still felt worrying due to some questions requiring a long time to complete.

The day of the exam I sat in an empty room, started the exam, and right away started answering the questions as fast I could. It was much easier than the Killer.sh questions, and even took less time to solve. I completed the exam in around 1 hour and 15 minutes, but used the rest of the 45 minutes to verify that I solved the problems given properly. 24 hours later I got the result and ended up passing with a 97% (the passing grade is 66%).

Resources I Used

As mentioned above, I used various resources, from Udemy courses to online labs, and even some GitHub repositories.

The first thing I did was study Docker, and for that, I used the below course:Docker Certified Associate on Udemy.

The next thing was study the basics of Kubernetes: Kubernetes for the Absolute Beginners - Hands-on on Udemy + the labs (given for free with the course) on KodeKloud

Afterwards, I dove deeper in Kubernetes: [Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA) with Practice Tests] on Udemy + the labs (given for free with the course) on KodeKloud.

Other than the courses, I used a bunch of other resources that helped me practice, these include:

And last by not least, the Kubernetes Documentation itself: https://kubernetes.io/docs/home/

Tips To Help You Prepare For The CKA

Tip 1: Practice Makes Perfect

While simply studying for the KodeKloud course and Kubenertes are essential, they are not the only important factor when it comes to passing the CKA exam or even using Kubernetes.

The second most essential thing to do when preparing for the CKA exam, is to keep practicing. The exam is all practical, there are no multiple choice questions, no fill-in-the-blank questions, it was only practical, requiring you to create resources by running specific commands or by writing files, all to answer the questions that were given.

One of the best resources to help you practice using Kubernetes is the KodeKloud platform. When you buy the CKA Udemy course, they give you free access to labs that allow you to practice on almost every necessary feature you need to know. From labs on creating Pods, to ones that ask you to troubleshoot parts of the Kubernetes cluster. Once you are done with the labs, you can jump into the 3 Mock Exams that were also provided free-of-charge as part of the Udemy course. I cannot explain how thankful I am to the KodeKloud team (and mainly Mr. Mumshad Mannambeth who was the instructor in the courses).

Tip 2: Know How To Navigate Through The Documentation

The only resource you will have access to during the exam is the Kubernetes Documentation. So, it is very important to know how to navigate through it, and how to find what you need.

You can use it to reference a few things, such as how to use an specific option in a command. You can also use it to check how to use a specific resource, such as how to use a Persistent Volume on a Pod. You can even use it to copy full and completed files, and just change the necessary values. When creating a Persistent Volume or Persistent Volume Claim, I was copying the file from the Kubernetes Documentation, changing the necessary values, and just running it to create the PV.

Tip 3: You Need To Be Fast

This will come with practice, but in general, you need to be able to do things fast. You need to know how to create the resources you want and be able to find the relevant pages in the documentation as fast as you can.

Being fast is very helpful when it comes to the CKA exam. With speed, some questions might be completed in the matter of less than 2 minutes. When being fast on such easy tasks, you would have more time to complete the more difficult and demanding questions.

Tip 4: Utilize The Commands

The kubectl tool gives you great access to the Kubernetes environment. One of the most useful features in kubectl when it comes to the CKA exam, are the commands that allow you to create resources without writing a whole file.

You can create things like Pods, Deployments, and even Roles and Role Bindings, all through a the kubectl command-line. You can create Pods by simply running kubectl run <POD NAME> --image=<POD IMAGE> where you add the necessary values like the Pod Name and Image. You can use other options such as the combo --dry-run=client -o yaml to create the Pod YAML file without having to write it down manually.

Conclusion

Learning Kubernetes was a great experience, it taught me a lot of things on different aspects of a system such as Networking and Security. I recommend anyone wanting to dive into DevOps to learn Kubernetes and maybe even get certified in it!

Thank you for reading. I hope you gained some knowledge on Kubernetes and the CKA exam. See you in the next one!

September 12, 2023 | 7 min read