Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA) — Study Guide
Free, topic-by-topic study notes for the Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA) exam. Read a chapter, then practice it.
Cluster Architecture, Installation, and Configuration
This chapter covers how a Kubernetes cluster is structured, what each control-plane and node component does, and the operational concerns of installing, securing, and backing up a cluster. Understanding the flow of a request through the API server and the role of etcd is foundational for everything else on the exam.
Workloads and Scheduling
This chapter explains the controllers that run and manage Pods, how rolling updates and rollbacks work, and how the scheduler decides where Pods run using requests, taints, tolerations, and affinity. These are the day-to-day tools for deploying and operating applications.
Services and Networking
This chapter covers the Kubernetes networking model, how Services provide stable access to Pods, how cluster DNS resolves names, and how Ingress and NetworkPolicies control routing and access. Networking issues are among the most common real-world problems, so these concepts matter for both configuration and troubleshooting.
Storage
This chapter explains how Kubernetes provides durable storage to Pods through PersistentVolumes and PersistentVolumeClaims, how StorageClasses enable dynamic provisioning, and how reclaim policies protect or clean up data. Knowing the difference between ephemeral and persistent volumes prevents accidental data loss.
Troubleshooting
The largest domain on the CKA, troubleshooting tests your ability to diagnose failing Pods, nodes, control-plane components, and networking. This chapter organizes the standard investigative commands and the signals to look for in common failure states.
Practice by topic
Jump straight into free practice questions for any single Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA) topic.