Join me live if you are preparing for CKAD Exams

https://youtube.com/live/Yi41hvpNI6E?feature=share

So, CKA isn't really difficult.

But if you don't practice well, during the exam you will feel like you're seeing stars. 😂

I didn't pass on my first trial.

But I hope you can use some of these tips from my experience to prepare better and hopefully clear the exam on your first try.

The passing score for CKA is 66%.

And you don't get to see the points allocated to each task.

So from my experience, I wouldn't prepare with the mindset of:

"I only need 66%."

You have around 17 questions to solve.

My target would be to get comfortable enough that I can confidently solve around 14 of them.

That gives you some room for the difficult questions where you may get stuck or simply decide to come back later.

And this brings me to one of the biggest problems I see with people preparing for CKA:

Time.

Most people I know who struggled with the exam were spending 10 minutes plus or minus on a single question.

Especially when they got to troubleshooting questions.

They see a broken cluster or a workload that isn't working and don't even know where to begin diagnosing the problem.

That's where the time starts disappearing.

10 minutes here.

Another 12 minutes there.

Before you know it, you still have several questions left and the clock is not your friend anymore. 😂

So if you're preparing for CKA, don't only practice creating Kubernetes resources.

Practice troubleshooting them too.

To pass with confidence, these are some of the topics I would master:

🔥 Broken Cluster — Control Plane Issues

You need to be comfortable troubleshooting a cluster where things aren't working at all.

Especially control plane components like:

• kube-apiserver
• kube-scheduler

This is not always a kubectl apply situation.

You need to know where to start looking.

Check the static Pod manifests.

Check the containers.

Check the logs.

Look at the configuration.

Understand what must be running for the control plane to work.

If you've never debugged control plane components before the exam, this type of question can eat your time badly.

💾 Storage — StorageClass + PVC

Storage is another area I would practice properly.

Be comfortable working with:

• StorageClass
• PersistentVolume
• PersistentVolumeClaim
• access modes
• storage capacity
• volume mounts
• storage paths

Don't just memorize PVC YAML.

Understand how the pieces connect.

If a PVC is sitting in Pending, you should have an idea of where to start looking.

⚠️ Node Resource Distribution

This one taught me something important:

Read the task properly before touching anything.

I had a question around distributing workloads across nodes.

At first, I thought I needed to change the resource limits.

I was wrong.

The task was about how the workload was being distributed, not resizing the container.

That is an easy way to lose points even when you know Kubernetes.

Sometimes the problem isn't your Kubernetes knowledge.

You simply solved the wrong problem. 😂

Read the requirement.

Understand what they are asking.

Then make the change.

🧩 Deployment With Sidecar

Know how to work with multiple containers inside the same Pod.

You should be comfortable:

• editing an existing Deployment
• adding a sidecar container
• sharing a volume between containers
• understanding how both containers interact

Don't wait until exam day to start fighting indentation inside a Deployment YAML. 😂

Practice editing existing workloads.

🌐 Ingress + Gateway + HTTPS

Don't only practice the simplest Ingress example.

Be comfortable following the traffic flow.

Check:

Host → Ingress/Gateway → Service → Pod

And when TLS is involved, check that too.

Things like:

• correct hostname
• correct Service
• correct Service port
• correct path
• TLS configuration
• Secret

One wrong name or port and the whole thing doesn't work.

When this happens, don't start randomly changing YAML.

Follow the traffic.

📈 HPA — Horizontal Pod Autoscaler

Understand how to create and troubleshoot an HPA.

Know:

• what workload you're scaling
• what metric is being used
• the target
• minimum replicas
• maximum replicas

This isn't something I would overcomplicate.

But you should be able to look at the requirement and know what needs to be configured.

🔥 Troubleshooting in General

This is probably one of the biggest things I would focus on.

When something is broken, you need a process.

Pod isn't starting?

kubectl describe pod

Check events.

Application isn't behaving correctly?

Check logs.

Service isn't reaching Pods?

Check selectors and endpoints.

Control plane component isn't working?

Check the static Pod manifest and container logs.

PVC isn't binding?

Check the PVC, PV and StorageClass.

You don't want your first reaction during the exam to be:

"Ei, where do I even start?" 😂

You need to build that troubleshooting instinct before the exam.

⚠️ One More Thing About Exam Day

Don't depend too much on easy copy and paste.

During my exam, copy-paste wasn't as smooth as I expected.

I ended up typing a lot manually.

And when you're typing YAML manually:

• indentation matters
• spelling matters
• one wrong character matters

So practice using imperative commands where they can save you time.

And get comfortable editing YAML quickly when you actually need to.

Resources I Used

I used KodeKloud to master some of the key Kubernetes topics.

I also spent time using the official Kubernetes documentation.

Not just reading it.

I practiced finding what I needed quickly.

Because knowing the answer is good.

Knowing exactly where to find the correct example in the docs when you're under pressure is even better.

And for practice, I used exam-style tasks that were closer to the kind of practical work I needed to be comfortable solving.

You can find the CKA practice resource Here

If you're preparing for CKA, my biggest advice is simple:

Don't measure your preparation by how many practice questions you've completed.

Measure it by this:

When something breaks, do you know where to start?

And can you fix it without spending 15 minutes on one task?

That made a big difference for me.

I made my first 5 sales selling digital products just by following this simple setup

So, selling a digital product can actually be pretty simple.

For me, it came down to 4 steps.

I didn't build some crazy funnel or spend hundreds on ads.

This was basically my setup:

• Notion — designed the actual product/template
• Claude — helped me get the content right while keeping my own personal touch
• DripforgeAI — landing page, Stripe payment, product delivery and email campaigns
• Reddit Ads — spent $5 targeting the niche I wanted to reach

And that got me my first 5 sales.

That's it 😂

What I like about this setup is that I didn't have to connect 5 different tools just to sell one digital product.

Especially with DripforgeAI, I could create the landing page, connect Stripe, deliver the product and set up my emails all in one place.

And no percentage fee on my sales. hehe.

If you already have some knowledge, a template, guide, checklist or something useful sitting somewhere, package it and put it out there.

You really don't need a complicated setup to start.

If you want to try the setup I used, you can use DripforgeAI to get your digital product online:

https://www.dripforgeai.com/digital-product-offer

So, CKS is not rocket science.

And I believe anyone preparing for the CKS can pass it with laser-focused practice, provided you already know your way around Kubernetes.

In my quest to become a KubeAstronaut, CKS was the third certification I took.

I went:

CKAD → CKA → CKS

I intentionally did it in that order because, in my opinion, these exams complement each other.

CKAD got me comfortable working with Kubernetes applications.

CKA took me deeper into the cluster itself.

Then I moved to CKS.

And honestly, doing it this way helped boost my morale because when I started preparing for CKS, I wasn't learning Kubernetes from scratch.

I was now focusing on:

How do I secure what I already know how to deploy and manage?

But one thing I also changed was how I prepared.

I didn't want to make the same mistake of thinking that doing more and more practice questions automatically meant I was ready.

CKS is practical.

You need to know what you're looking for, know what needs to be changed, make the change and verify that it actually worked.

And you need to do all of that under time pressure.

So if you're also preparing for CKS, these are some of the areas I would really focus on.

🛡️ Kube-bench / Cluster Hardening

Know how to identify insecure configurations around:

• kubelet
• etcd
• kube-apiserver
• other control plane components

Don't just know how to run kube-bench.

Understand the findings.

If it tells you something is incorrectly configured, you should know where to go and what needs to be changed.

🚪 Admission

Understand admission controls.

Be comfortable checking the kube-apiserver configuration and enabling or validating the admission controls required by the task.

Again, don't just memorize a flag.

Know where the kube-apiserver configuration lives and how your changes affect the cluster.

📦 ImagePolicy

Understand how Kubernetes can control which container images are allowed into the cluster.

Know how image admission works and how to configure the required admission settings.

This is one of those topics that can look complicated until you actually practice it a few times.

⬆️ Node Upgrade

Know how to safely upgrade a worker node.

You should be comfortable with things like:

• draining the node
• upgrading the required components
• bringing the node back
• verifying that everything is healthy

Don't wait until the exam to remember the upgrade process.

🔑 ServiceAccount Token Mounting

Understand ServiceAccount tokens.

Know how to prevent unnecessary automatic token mounting.

And when an application actually needs Kubernetes API access, understand how projected tokens can be used.

🌐 Ingress

Ingress again. 😂

Know how to secure an Ingress with TLS.

You should be comfortable checking:

• hostname
• TLS configuration
• Secret
• Service
• Service port
• routing

Don't only look at the Ingress YAML.

Check what it is actually routing traffic to.

🔐 Istio

If Istio shows up, don't panic.

Understand things like:

• sidecar injection
• namespaces
• PeerAuthentication
• strict mTLS

This can become a very quick task when you already know what you're looking for.

But it can also eat your time when you're searching through documentation trying to remember the YAML.

📝 Audit

Know Kubernetes audit logging.

Be comfortable working with:

• audit policies
• audit rules
• log paths
• kube-apiserver audit flags

And after making your changes, verify that the API server is healthy.

🌐 NetworkPolicy

This is one I would definitely practice properly.

Understand:

Default deny first. Then allow only what is required.

Be comfortable working with:

• podSelector
• namespaceSelector
• ingress
• egress
• ports

And don't forget that labels are doing a lot of the work here.

If your selectors are wrong, your beautiful NetworkPolicy YAML means nothing. 😂

🩺 Finding and Fixing Broken Deployments

Don't only practice creating things from scratch.

Practice fixing broken workloads too.

A Deployment might fail because of:

• security settings
• admission restrictions
• incorrect configuration
• invalid YAML
• permissions

Check the events.

Check the logs.

Read the error before you start changing things.

Sometimes Kubernetes is already telling you exactly what is wrong.

🔒 Adding Security to Pods

You should be very comfortable hardening an existing Pod or Deployment.

Things like:

• runAsNonRoot
• runAsUser
• readOnlyRootFilesystem
• allowPrivilegeEscalation
• dropping capabilities

And just like I mentioned with CKAD:

Don't blindly replace an existing securityContext.

Understand what is already there and add what the task requires.

🐳 Dockerfile

Yes, Docker again.

You may be given a Dockerfile with security problems.

Know what you're looking at.

Things like:

• running as root
• unnecessary packages
• poor base image choices
• permissions
• unnecessary files inside the image

You should be able to look at a Dockerfile and quickly spot what needs attention.

🐳 Docker System

Also understand the host side of Docker security.

Things like:

• Docker daemon configuration
• Docker socket permissions
• users in the Docker group
• exposed daemon listeners

The container can be secure while the Docker host is wide open.

You need to understand both sides.

🚨 Falco / Runtime Threat Detection

Falco is another area I would spend time practicing.

You may need to investigate suspicious activity happening inside a running workload.

The important thing is being able to go from:

Something suspicious happened

to:

Which workload did it?

and then:

What action do I need to take?

Don't just learn Falco commands.

Practice reading the output and understanding what actually happened.

The biggest thing for me with CKS was not trying to learn everything Kubernetes again.

CKAD and CKA had already given me that foundation.

For CKS, I focused my practice on securing Kubernetes and solving these types of tasks under time pressure.

That made my preparation much more focused.

If you're also preparing for CKS, I have put together the prep resource I used around these areas.

You can check it out here:

https://www.dripforgeai.com/CKS-offer

[ Removed by Reddit on account of violating the content policy. ]

I've been deploying more and more applications from my home Kubernetes environment.

One thing I keep running into is modifying YAML files for every new project.

Changing namespaces.

Updating image names.

Creating databases.

Creating Redis.

Updating Ingress.

Creating secrets.

It works...

But after doing it enough times, it starts feeling like work that should be automated.

I'm beginning to think I need an internal tool with a simple UI connected to a backend and database.

Instead of editing YAML every time, I should be able to create a new project, fill in a few details, and let the platform provision everything for me.

I guess this is how internal developer platforms are born.

You solve the same problem enough times that building the tool becomes the easier option.

If you want to build the same kind of production-grade DevOps platform, I've put together the project and made it free to access.

You can get it here:
https://www.dripforgeai.com/free-devops-pro

When I started selling digital products, I thought my biggest challenge was getting more traffic.

More visitors.
More clicks.
More content.

But after my first few sales, I noticed something interesting.

Most of my revenue wasn't coming from my front-end product.

It was coming from the people who bought my upsell.

That completely changed how I think about selling digital products.

Instead of asking,

"How do I get more traffic?"

I started asking,

"How do I increase the value of every customer who already trusts me?"

Now every product I build starts with two questions:

👉 What's the easiest product someone can confidently buy today?

👉 What's the logical next offer that helps them solve the next problem?

That shift changed everything.

Traffic is still important.

But when every customer is worth more, you don't need nearly as many of them to grow.

I'm still learning every day, but one thing is becoming clear: getting your first customer is important. Building a business where every customer creates more value is even more important.

I'm still refining the process, but I documented the simple funnel and email sequence that's been working for me. If you're trying to get your first consistent digital product sales, send me a DM and I'll share it with you—no charge.

When I started selling digital products, I thought my biggest challenge was getting more traffic.

More visitors.
More clicks.
More content.

But after my first few sales, I noticed something interesting.

Most of my revenue wasn't coming from my front-end product.

It was coming from the people who bought my upsell.

That completely changed how I think about selling digital products.

Instead of asking,

"How do I get more traffic?"

I started asking,

"How do I increase the value of every customer who already trusts me?"

Now every product I build starts with two questions:

👉 What's the easiest product someone can confidently buy today?

👉 What's the logical next offer that helps them solve the next problem?

That shift changed everything.

Traffic is still important.

But when every customer is worth more, you don't need nearly as many of them to grow.

I'm still learning every day, but one thing is becoming clear: getting your first customer is important. Building a business where every customer creates more value is even more important.

I'm still refining the process, but I documented the simple funnel and email sequence that's been working for me. If you're trying to get your first consistent digital product sales, send me a DM and I'll share it with you—no charge.

When I started selling digital products, I thought my biggest challenge was getting more traffic.

More visitors.
More clicks.
More content.

But after my first few sales, I noticed something interesting.

Most of my revenue wasn't coming from my front-end product.

It was coming from the people who bought my upsell.

That completely changed how I think about selling digital products.

Instead of asking,

"How do I get more traffic?"

I started asking,

"How do I increase the value of every customer who already trusts me?"

Now every product I build starts with two questions:

👉 What's the easiest product someone can confidently buy today?

👉 What's the logical next offer that helps them solve the next problem?

That shift changed everything.

Traffic is still important.

But when every customer is worth more, you don't need nearly as many of them to grow.

I'm still learning every day, but one thing is becoming clear: getting your first customer is important. Building a business where every customer creates more value is even more important.

I'm still refining the process, but I documented the simple funnel and email sequence that's been working for me. If you're trying to get your first consistent digital product sales, send me a DM and I'll share it with you—no charge.