Certification > Clouds and Containers > Kubernetes and Cloud Native Associate (KCNA)
CERTIFICATION

Kubernetes and Cloud Native Associate (KCNA)

The Kubernetes and Cloud Native Associate (KCNA) exam demonstrates a user’s foundational knowledge and skills in Kubernetes and the wider cloud native ecosystem.

Not sure where to start? You may consider reviewing our suggested KCNA learning path.

UPCOMING POLICY CHANGE: Please note that our Certification Period Policy is changing effective April 01, 2024, 00:00UTC. Certifications achieved on or after this date will expire 24 months from the date the program certification requirements, including passing the exam, are met. We encourage anyone interested and prepared to schedule and take your exam before the policy change. Please see additional details here.

Who Is It For

The KCNA is a pre-professional certification designed for candidates interested in advancing to the professional level through a demonstrated understanding of kubernetes foundational knowledge and skills. This certification is ideal for students learning about or candidates interested in working with cloud native technologies.
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About This Certification

A certified KCNA will confirm conceptual knowledge of the entire cloud native ecosystem, particularly focusing on Kubernetes. The KCNA exam is intended to prepare candidates to work with cloud native technologies and pursue further CNCF credentials, including CKA, CKAD, and CKS.
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What It Demonstrates

The certification will demonstrate a candidate’s basic knowledge of Kubernetes and cloud-native technologies, including how to deploy an application using basic kubectl commands, the architecture of Kubernetes (containers, pods, nodes, clusters), understanding the cloud-native landscape and projects (storage, networking, GitOps, service mesh), and understanding the principles of cloud-native security.
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Domains & Competencies
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Kubernetes Fundamentals46%
Kubernetes Resources
Kubernetes Architecture
Kubernetes API
Containers
Scheduling
Container Orchestration22%
Container Orchestration Fundamentals
Runtime
Security
Networking
Service Mesh
Storage
Cloud Native Architecture16%
Autoscaling
Serverless
Community and Governance
Roles and Personas
Open Standards
Cloud Native Observability8%
Telemetry & Observability
Prometheus
Cost Management
Cloud Native Application Delivery8%
Application Delivery Fundamentals
GitOps
CI/CD

Prerequisites
There are no pre-requisites for this exam.
Reviews
Jul 2022
The KCNA offers a great introductory syllabus for IT professionals looking to understand more about the importance of cloud and DevOps principals.
Jul 2022
It forced me to take time to learn and practice test questions for this exam. I ended up using two sources to study the material, and paced myself to understand the content vs just trying to pass the exam. It is a good foundational course for beginners, but does require some K8S and Cloud Native terminology know how.
Apr 2022
I felt like the exam was challenging, even thought it is suited towards beginners. I like the fact that it didn't cover just Kubernetes, but also different related technologies.