Kubernetes for CKA Certification

Provision a three-node AWS EC2 Linux lab topology with the network access required for kubeadm practice.

Trace a workload request through the API server, scheduler, controller manager, kubelet, container runtime, and etcd, and contrast the lab with an HA topology that uses a load balancer and etcd quorum.

Prepare Linux nodes with the container runtime and system settings required by kubeadm.

Initialize a Kubernetes control plane with kubeadm and configure administrative access.

Inspect kubeadm control-plane static Pod manifests and map them to their running mirror Pods.

Install a NetworkPolicy-capable CNI plugin and verify that its components become healthy.

Join worker nodes to the cluster, verify that every node becomes Ready, and test cross-node Pod connectivity.

Prepare a safe and efficient kubectl session by configuring completion, aliases, and an editor, then confirming the active context and namespace before making changes.

Generate valid resource manifests from imperative kubectl commands.

Apply, patch, edit, and delete Kubernetes resources while verifying each resulting state change.

Locate Kubernetes API fields quickly with kubectl explain and permitted documentation during a timed task.

Filter and query Kubernetes resources with label selectors, field selectors, custom columns, and JSONPath.

Create a Pod from a manifest and inspect its lifecycle, assigned node, IP address, and container state.

Configure a multi-container Pod in which an init container prepares shared data and a sidecar exchanges data with the main application container.

Inject ConfigMap data into a Pod through environment variables and mounted files.

Inject Secret data into a Pod without placing plaintext values in the Pod specification.

Set container CPU and memory requests and limits, then verify the resulting resource configuration.

Configure startup, readiness, and liveness probes for a containerized application.

Create and scale a Deployment while verifying its ReplicaSet and Pod ownership relationships.

Perform a rolling update of a Deployment and roll it back to a previous revision.

Configure a DaemonSet to run one Pod on each eligible node.

Configure a StatefulSet and headless Service that provide stable Pod identities and ordered rollout behavior.

Run a finite task with a Job and schedule a recurring task with a CronJob, verifying completion and history.

Build and apply a Kubernetes manifest variant using a Kustomize overlay.

Install, upgrade, inspect, and roll back an application release with Helm.

Select Kubernetes objects accurately using labels and label selectors.

Constrain Pod placement with node selectors and required node affinity.

Control Pod placement on tainted nodes by configuring matching tolerations.

Schedule a workload across failure domains with Pod topology spread constraints.

Install or validate Metrics Server, configure a HorizontalPodAutoscaler, and verify scaling from observed metrics.

Cordon, drain, and uncordon a node while preserving the availability of a replicated workload.

Upgrade a kubeadm control-plane node and worker node while preserving workload availability.

Create an etcd snapshot and restore cluster state from the snapshot.

Install and configure an Operator, then verify its CRD, controller, and managed custom resource.

Configure a ServiceAccount for a workload and verify its assigned identity.

Choose between a Role and ClusterRole, bind it at the required scope, and verify the resulting permissions.

Diagnose an authorization decision with kubectl auth can-i and correct the relevant RBAC rule.

Approve a Kubernetes certificate signing request and configure the resulting client credentials.

Expose workloads with ClusterIP, NodePort, and LoadBalancer Services, verifying each available path or required provider integration.

Inspect EndpointSlices to verify that a Service selects the intended ready Pods.

Configure and test Kubernetes DNS discovery for Services and Pods.

Route HTTP traffic to Services with an Ingress resource and ingress controller.

Route HTTP traffic with Gateway API Gateway and HTTPRoute resources.

Enforce ingress and egress isolation with namespace-aware NetworkPolicies.

Select suitable volume modes, access modes, and reclaim policies while binding a PersistentVolume to a PersistentVolumeClaim through static provisioning.

Use an available CSI driver and StorageClass to dynamically provision storage for a PersistentVolumeClaim.

Mount a PersistentVolumeClaim in a Pod and verify data persistence after Pod replacement.

Expand a supported PersistentVolumeClaim and verify the new usable capacity.

Diagnose and correct Pods stuck in Pending because of scheduling or resource constraints.

Diagnose and correct containers in CrashLoopBackOff or failing health probes by using Pod details, events, and current or previous logs.

Restore a NotReady node by diagnosing kubelet, container-runtime, network, or resource failures.

Diagnose unavailable kubeadm control-plane components from static Pod manifests and logs.

Diagnose Service reachability and EndpointSlice selection failures.

Diagnose and resolve cluster DNS failures involving CoreDNS or incorrect DNS configuration.

Diagnose and resolve CNI plugin and Pod-to-Pod network connectivity failures.

Diagnose and resolve traffic blockage caused by misconfigured NetworkPolicies.

Diagnose PersistentVolumeClaim binding and volume-mount failures.

Complete a 45-minute cluster installation, lifecycle, and RBAC drill without relying on prepared scripts.

Complete a 45-minute workloads, scheduling, and storage drill while verifying every requested state.

Complete a 45-minute Services, DNS, NetworkPolicy, Ingress, and Gateway API drill.

Complete a 45-minute troubleshooting drill, then classify and remediate every missed task.