With the introduction of container technology, every company is using container-based tools, platforms, and technologies. One of the most commonly used platforms that are used for container orchestration is Kubernetes. Kubernetes has focused on automating the extensive services into many microservices for improving the system’s performance, efficiency, and agility. Once you integrate the Kubernetes with the DevOps pipeline you will see your resources optimized and increase in uptime.
But why is there a need for Kubernetes? Managing a few containers running on a platform is not difficult but the challenge arises when there are thousands of containers running on the same platform then how to manage them. Thus Kubernetes comes as a solution for orchestrating the containers that will push the images to the docker repository and manage the deployment. Thus the increasing demand for Kubernetes eventually increased the demand for the Kubernetes Administrator.
If you want to pursue your career as a Kubernetes Administrator, you need to focus on its roles and responsibilities and the related technical skills and certification. Here in this article, we have mentioned a roadmap on how you can start learning Kubernetes and get your desired job.
Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA)
The CKA certification will test your skills and required experience for deploying and configuring a Kubernetes cluster along with the understanding of your knowledge of core notions. It will be a three hours exam and you must secure at least 74% or higher to receive the certification.
The CKA exam includes the following fields to test your overall Kubernetes knowledge:
- 8% – Application lifecycle management
- 12% – Installation, configuration & validation
- 12% – Security
- 11% – Cluster maintenance
- 5% – Logging/monitoring
- 7% – Storage
- 10% – Troubleshooting
- 19% – Core concepts
- 11% – Networking
- 5% – Scheduling
Why Learn Kubernetes to Become a Kubernetes Administrator
We must make our basics strong before jumping to the advanced or the administrator role. Below are some reasons to learn Kubernetes first.
- The Certified Kubernetes Application Developer exam makes the users capable of inventing, building, configuring, and displaying the cloud-native purposes for Kubernetes.
- The exam helps you determine application sources and implement the core primitives for planning, monitoring and troubleshooting the scalable applications and devices within the Kubernetes.
- The Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA) program will help in boosting and supporting those CCAs that have adequate experience, skills, and competency for completing the necessary constraints as a Kubernetes administrator.
- A certified Kubernetes manager must be capable of confirming the necessary installing, configuring, and maintaining production-grade Kubernetes clusters.
Advantages of Becoming a Certified Kubernetes Administrator
Being an upcoming technology with a great career scope makes Kubernetes certification necessary for aspiring candidates. Not only freshers, even experienced IT personnel can apply for the certification exam and prepare themselves for the new challenges. However, learning something new might come with challenges but it is worth your time and efforts to make your career successful. We have mentioned here some of the benefits of becoming a Certified Kubernetes Administrator.
- Stand out from the crowd: A Kubernetes certification helps in adding perks to your resume, making you stand apart from other candidates. As many companies are moving towards the k8s, this will make your skills a significant asset.
- Boost in pay: As there are fewer people who opted for the prime certification like the CKA or the CKAD, it will make you a potential candidate for a generous salary. As passing these exams is not easy thus companies who are seeking k8s engineers are willing to pay as they have not only endured but have genuinely aced the platform.
- Individual growth: As we are talking about a great, trending, and powerful technology that requires your dedication, time, and efforts for developing the necessary skills, so appearing for the right exam is compensating in itself. It helps in achieving individual growth and makes you more confident to learn more.
- Diversify and grow your expertise: The architecture of k8 is based on 12-factor application principles, so if you are k8-certified, then you will be having a reliable organization in these 12-factor app policies. This will help in promoting a variation of SaaS applications.
What Will You Learn?
As a certified Kubernetes Administrator, you will get to learn the following:
- Managing the application lifecycle
- Installing, configuring, and validating Kubernetes
- Core operations concepts of Kubernetes
- Concept of networking of Kubernetes
- Scheduling in Kubernetes
- Security aspects of Kubernetes
- Maintaining the Kubernetes cluster
- Logging and monitoring concept of Kubernetes
- Storage in Kubernetes
- Troubleshooting Kubernetes issues
How to Prepare for the Exam?
Learning and appearing for the Kubernetes exam is exciting as you will learn the whole new concept of containerization and how to make and deploy various applications. Learning Kubernetes is not an easy task and requires dedication to achieve this certification. Below are some recommendations that will act as a key factor in easy learning.
1. Useful Websites
There are various online sources that you can consider to prepare for the certification exam. You need to look for websites that are offering the best training programs along with practical exercises for better understanding. You should also check if the website is providing you access to various tools to leverage the benefits of the tools, and allows you to implement them during the practicals.
You can go through the website https://kubernetes.io/docs/reference/kubectl/cheatsheet, for understanding the exam’s question patterns.
2. Kubernetes forums and community
If you want some suggestions on how to prepare and what type of questions you will get in the certification exam then you can take the help of the Kubernetes community and forums for better understanding. You can even consult them for solving your doubts while learning the Kubernetes concepts.
3. Kubernetes documentation
Kubernetes documentation itself is a great source for gaining knowledge about the Kubernetes concept. You can search for anything you want and you will probably get the answer or the required guidance.
4. Technological skills
You should have an understanding of the below-mentioned technologies for better understanding and learning.
- 12-factor app methodology
- Distributed systems, CI/CD, and orchestration technologies.
- Containers and their various tools.
- Go programming language as Kubernetes is written in Go.
- Automation technologies like Ansible, Terraform, etc.
Conclusion
Kubernetes is the latest technology with very less skilled people. Thus increasing the demand for the people who possess the right skills and experience for working on Kubernetes. You can dive into the vast pool of online resources for Kubernetes to get the right training program that will prepare you for the Certified Kubernetes Administrator role. However, this is a challenging role but offers you an amazing package for this role.
So get started with the proper learning and achieve your dream job by appearing for the right certification and knowledge.