Took and passed the CKAD exam a few weeks ago. Here are some things that helped me

Study Guide

Certified Kubernetes Application Developer Udemy Course: is a must take for CKAD prep. Purchase on the holiday to get a discount. DO the mock exams. DO lightning labs

CKAD Exercises – This helped build muscle memory for the various kubernetes commands. Especially helpful for kubernetes beginners

Killer.sh – Simulates an exam that is pretty close to the real thing. It is difficult on purpose. If these exercise don’t feel difficult, you should be able to pass the exam easily.

Signing up for the exam

This is the link for the exam. Purchase on the holiday as well to get a steep discount

Pro tip: Schedule your exam as soon as possible to secure a spot. You can schedule well into the future!

During the Exam

Show up at least 20 minutes early for the exam. Make sure your exams space is CLEAR of notes and any obstructions. Your virtual exam proctor will have to use your webcam to verify. This process can take a long time!

The Kubernetes documentation will be your friend and available (via one tab) during the exam. Navigate them quickly using the search bar. Grep through docs using Ctrl+F / Command + F for relevant portions

Example: If you’re looking for an example pod yaml for a persistent volume claim setup, go to the relevant page and search for “kind: Pod” to find the yaml setup

Helpful Aliases

alias kd= kubectl describe # example usage: kd pod x

alias kns='kubectl config set-context --current --namespace ' # example usage: kns default

export do="--dry-run=client -o yaml" # example usage: k get pod x $do

VIM

I used my vim as my editor of choice. I use the following techniques to move faster with file manipulation

Duplicate sections of yml using yank and paste

Delete sections of code using dd # example usage to delete next 4 lines: 4dd

Here is my ~/.vimrc which I created at the beginning of the test

set tabstop=2
set expand-tab
set shiftwidth=2

With these presets, you can copy and paste sections from the web and align them within the yaml properly (with extra manual formatting)