I had the opportunity to take the [CKA](https://www.cncf.io/announcement/2016/11/08/cloud-native-computing-foundation-launches-certification-training-managed-service-provider-program-kubernetes),
‘Certified Kubernetes Administrator’ exam because my employer is trying to get ‘Certified Kubernetes Service Provider’ status, which requires 3 certified administrators. Now, why would Certified Kubernetes Administrators or service providers be valuable for your company? The CKA is good because it certifies a base level of knowledge and ability in kubernetes administrators. Things you would expect from CKAs are the ability to debug clusters, perform upgrades, bootstrap clusters and application deployment tasks.
What and how does the exam test administrators? The exam tests your ability to perform operations against the kubernetes api. The entire exam period is spent in the command line with kubectl on a standard linux shell. The test validates your ability to ‘get things done’ in the kubernetes environment.
Overall, I have a very positive outlook on the exam. I spent about a week preparing. I read a lot of the kubernetes.io documentation, ran through ‘kubernetes the hard way’ three times and had worked with kubernetes on the application side previously. I passed on the first try, but I did need all of the exam time and had to skip a few of the hard problems.
I don’t think that the CKA is essential for devops or kubernetes admins, but it is a good exam and great for filling some of the gaps you might have in your knowledge.