Milestones

Certified Kubernetes Administrator

Key Skills To Learn

1. Cluster Setup & Configuration: Installing Kubernetes, configuring networking, managing cluster resources.
2. Workload Deployment & Management: Deploying applications using deployments, pods, services, and other Kubernetes objects.
3. Observability & Logging: Monitoring cluster health, collecting logs, and troubleshooting issues.
4. Storage Management: Provisioning and managing persistent volumes for stateful applications.
5. Networking: Configuring ingress, services, and network policies for application communication.
6. Security: Implementing best practices for securing your Kubernetes cluster.

Exam Format

1. Performance-based: You'll solve real-world scenarios in a live Kubernetes cluster, not just answer multiple-choice questions.
2. Online proctored: You can take the exam from your own computer while being remotely monitored.
3. Time-limited: 3 hours to complete a set of tasks.

Where To Start

Build a Solid Kubernetes Foundation (Estimated Time: 2-4 weeks)

• Understand the Basics:
  1. What is Kubernetes and why is it used?
  2. Core concepts: Pods, Deployments, Services, Namespaces, etc.
  3. Basic architecture: Master nodes, worker nodes, etcd.
• Resources:
  1. Kubernetes.io Official Documentation: Their website has excellent, well-structured guides (https://kubernetes.io/docs/). Start with the "Concepts" section.
  2. Free Courses: Look for introductory Kubernetes courses on platforms like YouTube, freeCodeCamp, or edX.
  3. Hands-on (Essential!):
     • Minikube: Set up a single-node Kubernetes cluster on your local machine (easy to start).
     • Killercoda: Interactive, browser-based Kubernetes scenarios for practice (https://www.killercoda.com/).

Dive into CKA-Specific Topics (Estimated Time: 4-6 weeks)

• Focus on Exam Objectives: The CNCF provides a detailed curriculum outline (https://github.com/cncf/curriculum).
  1. Key Areas:
     1. Cluster setup and configuration.
     2. Application deployment and management (YAML, kubectl commands).
     3. Networking (Services, Ingress, NetworkPolicy).
     4. Storage (PersistentVolumes, PersistentVolumeClaims).
     5. Troubleshooting (Logs, monitoring).
     6. Security (RBAC, Secrets).
  2. Resources:
     1. CKA Study Guides: There are free and paid guides available online (search for "CKA study guide").
     2. Practice Labs: Use Minikube or consider a cloud-based lab environment (some course providers offer this).
     3. Command Line Fluency: Get very comfortable with kubectl commands.

Practice, Simulate, and Refine (Estimated Time: 2-3 weeks)

• Mock Exams:
  1. Killer.sh: Offers realistic CKA mock exams to assess your readiness.
  2. Other Providers: Look for mock exams from reputable training platforms.
• Time Yourself: Practice working within the 3-hour exam time limit.
• Review and Analyze: Understand why you got answers right or wrong.
• Refine Weak Areas: Go back to the documentation or courses for topics where you need more practice.

My Target Learning Curve

The fast way to check my skills is to align with latest curicullum of CKA https://github.com/cncf/curriculum/blob/master/CKA_Curriculum_v1.31.pdf

There are 6 Key Point in each Curriculum that need to be learn of

Key Point	Percentage	Priority
Cluster Architecture, Installation & Configuration	25%	High
Workloads & Scheduling	15%	Medium
Services & Networking	20%	High
Storage	10%	Low
Observability	15%	Medium
Maintenance	10%	Low

I will aligning with each material based on the priority and record all my learning in this docs

Final Checkpoint