Stage 7 · Master
Exams & Certifications
Domain-by-domain blueprints, hands-on labs, and full-length mock exams for the certifications that get an SRE hired and promoted.
Prerequisite
Complete the path first.
What this course leaves you with
- Follow a CKA and CKAD study plan
- Map Azure certs from AZ-900 through delivery roles
- Prepare for senior SRE and platform interviews
Progress
0 of 33 lessons complete. Progress is stored locally in your browser so you can pick the path back up later.
course completion
KCNA — Kubernetes & Cloud Native Associate
The entry point. Cloud native vocabulary, container orchestration basics, and the CNCF landscape.
- 01Kubernetes Fundamentals (46%)Architecture, API, containers, scheduling, and networking basics.10 min
- 02Container Orchestration (22%)Runtimes, security, networking, service mesh, storage.8 min
- 03Cloud Native Architecture (16%)Autoscaling, serverless, community, roles, and 12-factor.7 min
- 04Observability (8%)Telemetry, Prometheus, cost management, and SLOs.6 min
- 05App Delivery Fundamentals (8%)GitOps, CI/CD, and Helm packaging basics.6 min
- 06KCNA Full Mock Exam60 multiple-choice questions, 90 minutes, scored.15 min
KCSA — Kubernetes & Cloud Native Security Associate
Security thinking for clusters — the 4Cs, threat models, and hardening baselines.
- 01Overview of Cloud Native Security (14%)The 4Cs, isolation, and defense in depth.7 min
- 02Kubernetes Cluster Component Security (22%)API server, kubelet, etcd, controller, and networking.9 min
- 03Kubernetes Threat Model (16%)STRIDE, trust boundaries, and persistence threats.8 min
- 04Platform Security (16%)Supply chain, image scanning, admission control, PKI.8 min
- 05Compliance & Hardening (10%)CIS benchmarks, Pod Security Standards, and frameworks.7 min
- 06KCSA Full Mock Exam60 questions covering all five security domains.15 min
CKA — Certified Kubernetes Administrator
The performance-based benchmark for cluster operators. All labs, all kubectl, all muscle memory.
- 01Cluster Architecture & Installation (25%)kubeadm, RBAC, upgrades, etcd backup and restore.10 min
- 02Workloads & Scheduling (15%)Deployments, rolling updates, taints, affinity, limits.9 min
- 03Services & Networking (20%)CNI, Services, Ingress, NetworkPolicy, CoreDNS.10 min
- 04Storage (10%)PV/PVC, StorageClasses, and reclaim policies.6 min
- 05Troubleshooting (30%)Node/pod failures, control-plane debugging, logs and events.11 min
- 06CKA Timed Lab Exam17 hands-on tasks in a live cluster, 2 hours.18 min
CKAD — Certified Kubernetes Application Developer
Ship workloads like a developer — build, configure, observe, and expose applications under time pressure.
- 01Application Design & Build (20%)Multi-container pods, init containers, jobs, volumes.9 min
- 02Application Deployment (20%)Deployment strategies, rollbacks, Helm, and Kustomize.8 min
- 03Application Environment & Config (25%)ConfigMaps, Secrets, SecurityContext, ServiceAccounts.10 min
- 04Observability & Maintenance (15%)Probes, logging, debugging, and API deprecations.8 min
- 05Services & Networking (20%)Services, Ingress, and NetworkPolicy for apps.8 min
- 06CKAD Timed Lab Exam16 hands-on tasks, 2 hours, developer-focused.18 min
AZ-900 — Azure Fundamentals
Cloud fluency for the SRE who runs on Azure — services, governance, and the money side.
- 01Cloud Concepts (25%)IaaS/PaaS/SaaS, shared responsibility, and cloud models.7 min
- 02Azure Architecture & Services (35%)Regions, compute, networking, storage, and databases.10 min
- 03Management & Governance (30%)Cost management, SLAs, Azure Policy, RBAC, and Monitor.9 min
- 04Identity & Security (Entra ID)Entra ID, conditional access, and defense in depth.7 min
- 05AZ-900 Full Mock Exam50 questions across all three official domains.15 min
Exam Strategy & Study Plans
How to pass first-try — time budgets, killer.sh drills, and a 6-week schedule per exam.
- 01Building a Study PlanSequencing exams, weekly hours, and spaced repetition.6 min
- 02kubectl Speed & AliasesImperative commands, --dry-run, aliases, and vim setup.7 min
- 03Exam-Day Time ManagementFlagging, weighting by marks, and the PSI environment.6 min
- 04Renewal & Continuing EducationCNCF recertification windows and keeping credentials live.5 min