Certification > Cloud & Containers > Certified Kubernetes Application Developer (CKAD)
CERTIFICATION

Certified Kubernetes Application Developer (CKAD)

Open new career doors – prove your Kubernetes & cloud native developer skills with the CKAD certification that is recognized globally, vendor-neutral, and relevant across all industries.

CKAD includes:

✔ 12-months to schedule & take the exam
✔ Access to two exam simulation attempts
✔ Two exam attempts

Now Available! You can bundle CKAD with an annual THRIVE subscription to get access to more than 100 educational products, including Kubernetes for Developers (LFD259) and SkillCreds for only $595!

How will the CKAD benefit me?

  • Career Advancement
  • Industry-wide Credential Recognition
  • Proves Your Skills
  • Networking Opportunities

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What about AWS, Red Hat & other certs?

Make sure your IT credentials include a strong, vendor-neutral foundation for the best career flexibility and growth. Add CKAD to your career profile today and check out our career roadmap.
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Domains & Competencies
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Application Design and Build20%
Define, build and modify container images
Choose and use the right workload resource (Deployment, DaemonSet, CronJob, etc.)
Understand multi-container Pod design patterns (e.g. sidecar, init and others)
Utilize persistent and ephemeral volumes
Application Deployment20%
Use Kubernetes primitives to implement common deployment strategies (e.g. blue/green or canary)
Understand Deployments and how to perform rolling updates
Use the Helm package manager to deploy existing packages
Kustomize
Application Observability and Maintenance15%
Understand API deprecations
Implement probes and health checks
Use built-in CLI tools to monitor Kubernetes applications
Utilize container logs
Debugging in Kubernetes
Application Environment, Configuration and Security25%
Discover and use resources that extend Kubernetes (CRD, Operators)
Understand authentication, authorization and admission control
Understand requests, limits, quotas
Understand ConfigMaps
Define resource requirements
Create & consume Secrets
Understand ServiceAccounts
Understand Application Security (SecurityContexts, Capabilities, etc.)
Services and Networking20%
Demonstrate basic understanding of NetworkPolicies
Provide and troubleshoot access to applications via services
Use Ingress rules to expose applications

The CKAD Certification focuses on the skills required to be a successful Kubernetes Application Developer in industry today. The exam assumes working knowledge of container runtimes and microservice architecture.

The successful candidate will be comfortable:
– working with (OCI-compliant) container images
– applying Cloud Native application concepts and architectures
– working with and validating Kubernetes resource definitions

Exam Details & Resources
This exam is an online, proctored, performance-based test that consists of a set of performance-based tasks (problems) to be solved in a command line. Candidates have 2 hours to complete the tasks.


The exam is based on Kubernetes v1.31.
The CKAD exam environment will be aligned with the most recent K8s minor version within approximately 4 to 8 weeks of the K8s release date.

About the CKAD
The Certified Kubernetes Application Developer (CKAD) exam certifies that candidates can design, build and deploy cloud-native applications for Kubernetes. The CKAD was created by the Linux Foundation and the Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF) as a part of their ongoing effort to help develop the Kubernetes ecosystem. The exam is online, proctored, performance-based test that requires solving multiple tasks from a command line running Kubernetes.


Once enrolled you will receive access to an exam simulator, provided by Killer.sh, allowing you to experience the exam environment. You will have two simulation attempts (36 hours of access for each attempt from the start of activation). The simulation includes 20-25 questions that are exactly the same for every attempt and every user, unlike the actual exam. The simulation will provide graded results.

Prerequisites
There are no pre-requisites for this exam.
Reviews
Sep 2024
It prepares you for a good number of real-world assignments. As one to re-certify, I can see that it changes content over time, and that you have to keep up with the current state of what a Kubernetes developer needs to know, in order to be able to take this exam again.
Aug 2024
This certification and exam is the real deal. Some of the questions were quite complex, however, the answers and solutions were rather easy - that is if you knew what you were doing. The time limit seems on point as well, being well-prepared I was able to finish all the tasks, with some time to spare to do a quick run through of all the questions to verify the answers. So to sum it all up, this is finally an exam and a certificate that actually shows one's ability in the subject.
Aug 2024
Apart from actually taking the exam, I also learnt a few new concepts. It's quite challenging as well!
Jul 2024
The questions were well thought out and easy to understand, even though I'm not a native English speaker. The remote desktop experience was also smoother than expected, not counting the setup of the browser itself.
Jun 2024
Questions were clearly worded. It was really great to understand each environment. Links from questions to documentation were really helpful, and saved a lot of time.
Jun 2024
This exam is very practical, the questions are related to real world use cases.
Jun 2024
It's hands-on! Solving problems and navigating around clusters. For me, this certificate holds real value.
Jun 2024
This exam is performance-based, in my opinion, it is the best way to gauge one's hands-on experience on the topic.
May 2024
This exam really teaches you how to tackle real-world challenges. What stood out to me was the absence of those tedious questions where you're just copying and pasting YAML from the documentation website – you know, like creating a PV, PVC, StorageClass, NetworkPolicy. I didn't even have to open the browser during exam! Two hours is plenty of time to work through all the questions. And let's not forget the huge perk of getting two free sessions on killer.sh. That platform is fantastic, and the fact that its questions are even tougher than the actual exam is a bonus – it really boosts your confidence.
May 2024
What I most like about the Linux Foundation exams are the hands-on questions. Few certifications offer the enjoyable experience of being evaluated using current work-related assignments.
Apr 2024
Loved the way the exam works (working on a real cluster and all that). Those practice exams were also top-tier. Best study material available.
Mar 2024
CKAD is a kind of certification that is very useful for developers and DevOps engineers who are beginning a cloud career. I highly recommend this to all. The syllabus for this certification is updated and covers most of the updates with Kubernetes.
Feb 2024
CKAD allows anyone who wishes to enter into k8s development and test their expertise to become confident with their skills. I believe having a performance-based exam is the best way to assess your skills, and the CKAD exam offers such a way to assess your k8s skills.
Jan 2024
I admired the fact that the exam is a hands-on practical set of real-world problems Going through the exam provides the feeling of applying all of the knowledge to create something or troubleshoot existing issues The process itself is very smooth as it is possible to copy key elements from the question to avoid typos for example, and all is needed is to focus on the task at hand.
Dec 2023
Successfully passing the CKAD exam validates your proficiency in Kubernetes application development. It's a recognized industry certification that can enhance your credibility and career prospects in the rapidly evolving field of container orchestration (Dec 2023)
Oct 2023
I want to extend my sincere appreciation to the Linux Foundation for the CKAD (Certified Kubernetes Application Developer) practical exam. It stands out as the best exam I've taken so far. The questions were meticulously crafted, ensuring a comprehensive test of one's knowledge, and the PSI environment provided an impeccable and smooth testing experience without any hitches. Kudos for setting such high standards!
Jul 2023
The most notable aspect of the exam was its performance-based format, which surpasses traditional multiple-choice questions as a superior method for assessing knowledge. This format enables individuals to showcase their skills and practical understanding in real-world scenarios, allowing for a comprehensive and accurate evaluation of their capabilities.
May 2023
The CKAD exam tests you on a broad level of topics K8s administrators need every day. I feel very ready to work on production workloads after passing the exam.