Developers with the ability to operate, troubleshoot, and monitor applications in Kubernetes are in high demand today. To meet this need, the Cloud Native Computing Foundation created a certification exam to establish a developer's credibility and value in the job market for work in a Kubernetes environment.

The Certified Kubernetes Application Developer (CKAD) exam format is different from the typical multiple-choice format of other certifications. Instead, the CKAD is performance-based and requires deep knowledge under immense time pressure.

Updated to reflect revisions to the official curriculum made in September 2022, this revised study guide takes you through all the topics you need to fully prepare for the exam. Author Benjamin Muschko also shares his personal experience and tips.

• Learn when and how to apply Kubernetes's concepts to manage an application
• Understand the objectives, abilities, tips, and tricks needed to pass the CKAD exam
• Explore the ins and outs of the kubectl command-line tool
• Solve real-world Kubernetes problems in a hands-on command-line environment
• Navigate and solve questions during the CKAD exam

• New topics include: Deployment strategies, the Helm package manager, resources that extend Kubernetes (CRD), building container images, and more

Review

"Benjamin Muschko is a cloud native guru and has expanded and sharpened this CKAD study guide. There is much to learn in Kubernetes, yet Ben keeps his focus on the concepts that are expected in the exam. Add this guide to ease your journey toward certification or to simply be a well-informed cloud native developer."

-- Jonathan Johnson,

Independent Software Architect

"A direct, example-driven guide essential for CKAD exam preparation."

-- Bilgin Ibryam,

Coauthor of Kubernetes Patterns, Principal Product Manager at Diagrid

"As someone who oversaw the creation of the CKAD in CNCF, I'm happy to see an updated study guide that covers the latest version of the ever evolving certification."

-- Chris Aniszczyk,

CTO and Cofounder, CNCF

Table of Contents

Part I. Introduction

Chapter 1. Exam Details and Resources

Chapter 2. Kubernetes in a Nutshell

Chapter 3. Interacting with Kubernetes

Part II. Application Design and Build

Chapter 4. Containers

Chapter 5. Pods and Namespaces

Chapter 6. Jobs and CronJobs

Chapter 7. Volumes

Chapter 8. Multi-Container Pods

Chapter 9. Labels and Annotations

Part Ill. Application Deployment

Chapter 10. Deployments

Chapter 11. Deployment Strategies

Chapter 12. Helm

Part IV. Application Observability and Maintenance

Chapter 13. API Deprecations

Chapter 14. Container Probes

Chapter 15. Troubleshooting Pods and Containers

Part V. Application Environment, Configuration, and Security

Chapter 16. CustomResourceDefinitions (CRDs)

Chapter 17. Authentication, Authorization, and Admission Control

Chapter 18. Resource Requirements, Limits, and Quotas

Chapter 19. ConfigMaps and Secrets

Chapter 20. Security Contexts

Part VI. Services and Networking

Chapter 21. Services

Chapter 22. Ingresses

Chapter 23. Network Policies

Appendix A. Answers to Review Questions

Appendix B. Exam Review Guide

About the Author

Benjamin Muschko is a software engineer, consultant, and trainer with more than 20 years of experience in the industry. He specializes in cloud-native application development and transformation, container solutions, DevSecOps, and Continuous Integration/Continuous Delivery implementations. Ben is an author, a frequent speaker at conferences, and an avid open source advocate.

Software projects sometimes feel like climbing a mountain. In his free-time, Ben loves hiking Colorado's 14ers and enjoys conquering long-distance trails.