Prepare for the CKAD

The exam

Performance-based: you build and fix application resources on live clusters, against the clock.

What this path covers

Covers every exam domain with concepts and hands-on labs on a live practice cluster: multi-container Pods, rollouts, configuration, probes, autoscaling, Services, Ingress and security contexts.

23 hands-on labs and 22 questions

Finish every step to earn a BrokenCluster completion certificate you can add to LinkedIn.

1. 1.Containers and Pods

   0/6
   • Images vs Containerseasy
   • CMD vs ENTRYPOINTmedium
   • Multi-stage Buildsmedium
   • What Is a Pod?easy
   • Native Sidecar Containersmedium
   • Add an Init Container and a Sidecarmedium

2. 2.Deployments and release strategies

   0/15
   • Deployments and ReplicaSetseasy
   • Deploy and Expose an Appeasy
   • Roll Back to a Named Revisioneasy
   • Run a StatefulSet Behind a Headless Servicemedium
   • Canary Releases with Labelseasy
   • Rolling Back a Helm Releaseeasy
   • Install a Helm Chart with Custom Valueseasy
   • Upgrade a Helm Release Without Losing Its Settingsmedium
   • Roll Back a Broken Helm Upgrademedium
   • Install the Newest Chart Versioneasy
   • Write Your First Helm Chartmedium
   • Install an Umbrella Chartmedium
   • Package a Chart into a Repositoryeasy
   • Kustomize Overlaysmedium
   • Build a Production Overlay with Kustomizemedium

3. 3.Jobs and configuration

   0/8
   • Overlapping CronJob Runsmedium
   • Schedule a CronJob and Run It Nowmedium
   • ConfigMaps vs Secretseasy
   • Inject a ConfigMap and a Secret as Env Varseasy
   • ConfigMap Updates and subPathhard
   • Requests and Limitsmedium
   • ResourceQuota Needs Defaultshard
   • Autoscale a Deployment on CPUeasy

4. 4.Observability and maintenance

   0/5
   • Liveness vs Readinessmedium
   • Add Readiness and Liveness Probesmedium
   • Fix a Deployment Stuck Pulling Its Imageeasy
   • CrashLoopBackOffmedium
   • Sorting with kubectleasy

5. 5.Services and security

   0/11
   • Service Typeseasy
   • A Service with No Endpointsmedium
   • Route a Host and Two Pathsmedium
   • The Ingress Returns 404 and 503medium
   • Lock Down Database Trafficmedium
   • The Policy That Lets Nothing Inmedium
   • NetworkPolicy Defaultshard
   • Choose the Least Permissive NetworkPolicymedium
   • runAsNonRoot Failuresmedium
   • Enforce the Restricted Pod Security Standardhard
   • Disabling Token Automounteasy

BrokenCluster is independent and is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by The Linux Foundation and CNCF. Certified Kubernetes Application Developer is a trademark of its owner and is named here only to describe what this path helps you prepare for. Passing our path is not the official exam.