KCNA — Final Checklist
KCNA Final Checklist
You’ve completed the entire KCNA tutorial. Use this page to verify your readiness, track confidence per domain, and prepare for exam day.
Domain Confidence Assessment
Rate your confidence (1-5) for each domain:
| Domain | Weight | Topics to Know | Your Rating (1-5) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kubernetes Fundamentals | 46% | Architecture, pods, deployments, services, namespaces, scheduling, probes, RBAC basics | ☐ |
| Container Orchestration | 22% | Containers vs VMs, runtimes, networking (CNI), service mesh, storage, security | ☐ |
| Cloud Native Architecture | 16% | Cloud native definition, microservices, 12-factor, serverless, autoscaling, CNCF | ☐ |
| Cloud Native Observability | 8% | Three pillars, Prometheus, logging, tracing, OpenTelemetry, SLIs/SLOs/SLAs | ☐ |
| Cloud Native App Delivery | 8% | CI/CD, GitOps, Helm, ArgoCD/Flux, deployment strategies | ☐ |
Scoring guide:
- 5 — Can explain confidently and answer tricky questions
- 4 — Solid understanding, minor gaps
- 3 — Know the basics, need review
- 2 — Familiar with terms, weak understanding
- 1 — Need significant study
Knowledge Checklist
Domain 1: Kubernetes Fundamentals (46%)
- I can explain the purpose of each control plane component (API server, etcd, scheduler, controller-manager)
- I understand worker node components (kubelet, kube-proxy, container runtime)
- I know how pods, containers, and init containers work
- I can describe Deployments, ReplicaSets, and their relationship
- I understand Service types: ClusterIP, NodePort, LoadBalancer, ExternalName
- I know what Namespaces, Labels, and Selectors do
- I can explain ConfigMaps and Secrets and when to use each
- I understand scheduling: nodeSelector, affinity, taints and tolerations
- I know the difference between liveness, readiness, and startup probes
- I can describe the Kubernetes API request flow
- I understand DaemonSets, StatefulSets, Jobs, and CronJobs
Domain 2: Container Orchestration (22%)
- I can explain the difference between containers and virtual machines
- I know what namespaces and cgroups do in Linux
- I understand OCI specifications (runtime + image)
- I can name major container runtimes (containerd, CRI-O) and their relationship to CRI
- I understand CNI and how pod networking works
- I can describe what a service mesh does (Istio, Linkerd)
- I know the difference between ephemeral, persistent, and external storage
- I understand PV, PVC, StorageClass, and CSI
- I can explain container security basics: image scanning, rootless, security contexts
Domain 3: Cloud Native Architecture (16%)
- I can define “cloud native” using the CNCF definition
- I understand microservices vs monolithic architecture trade-offs
- I know the 12-factor app principles (at least the key ones)
- I can explain serverless, FaaS, and Knative
- I understand autoscaling: HPA, VPA, Cluster Autoscaler, KEDA
- I know the CNCF project maturity levels: Sandbox → Incubating → Graduated
- I can name key CNCF Graduated projects (Kubernetes, Prometheus, Envoy, containerd, etc.)
Domain 4: Cloud Native Observability (8%)
- I can explain the three pillars: logs, metrics, traces
- I understand Prometheus pull-based model and PromQL basics
- I know common logging patterns: DaemonSet, sidecar, EFK/PLG stacks
- I can describe distributed tracing concepts: spans, traces, context propagation
- I understand OpenTelemetry and its role in unifying telemetry
- I can define SLI, SLO, SLA and their relationships
- I know what error budgets are
Domain 5: Cloud Native App Delivery (8%)
- I can explain CI vs CD vs Continuous Deployment
- I understand the four GitOps principles (declarative, versioned, automated, reconciled)
- I know what Helm charts, values, and releases are
- I can describe ArgoCD and Flux and how they implement GitOps
- I understand deployment strategies: rolling, recreate, blue-green, canary
- I can explain the difference between push-based and pull-based CD
Exam Day Preparation
Registration & Logistics
- Registered at training.linuxfoundation.org
- Valid government-issued photo ID ready
- Exam fee paid ($250 USD — includes one free retake)
- Checked system requirements for the online proctored exam
- Cleared desk/workspace (proctored environment rules)
Exam Format Reminder
| Detail | Value |
|---|---|
| Duration | 90 minutes |
| Questions | ~60 multiple-choice |
| Passing Score | 75% (≥45 correct) |
| Format | Online, proctored |
| Retake | 1 free retake included |
| Validity | 3 years |
Test-Taking Strategy
- First pass — Answer questions you’re confident about (aim: 15-20 min)
- Second pass — Work through uncertain questions using elimination
- Final pass — Review flagged questions with remaining time
- Time budget — ~1.5 min per question, leave 10 min for review
- Elimination — Remove obviously wrong answers to improve odds
- Don’t overthink — First instinct is often correct for well-studied material
Practice Exam Scores
Track your progress across practice attempts:
| Attempt | Part 1 (15) | Part 2 (15) | Total (30) | Percentage | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | __ | __ | __/30 | __% | _____ |
| 2nd | __ | __ | __/30 | __% | _____ |
| 3rd | __ | __ | __/30 | __% | _____ |
Target: 80%+ consistently before taking the exam.
Quick-Reference: Key Numbers for KCNA
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Default Service type | ClusterIP |
| NodePort range | 30000-32767 |
| etcd default port | 2379 |
| API server default port | 6443 |
| kubelet port | 10250 |
| K8s dockershim removal | v1.24 |
| CNCF maturity levels | Sandbox → Incubating → Graduated |
| Prometheus data model | Time series with labels |
| Helm chart structure | Chart.yaml, values.yaml, templates/ |
| GitOps principles | Declarative, Versioned, Automated, Reconciled |
Recommended Resources
| Resource | Link | Type |
|---|---|---|
| CNCF KCNA Curriculum | github.com/cncf/curriculum | Official |
| Kubernetes Documentation | kubernetes.io/docs | Official |
| CNCF Landscape | landscape.cncf.io | Reference |
| KCNA Exam Registration | training.linuxfoundation.org | Official |
You’re Ready!
You’ve completed:
- 8 chapters of comprehensive KCNA content
- 80+ practice questions across all domains
- 30-question mock exam covering all 5 domains
Go pass that exam! 🚀
