Certified Kubernetes Application Developer (CKAD)

The CKAD certification validates skills in designing, building, and deploying cloud-native applications on Kubernetes. Unlike the CKA which focuses on cluster administration, the CKAD is developer-focused — testing your ability to define application resources, configure workloads, and deploy containerized applications in a live Kubernetes environment.

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What is the Certified Kubernetes Application Developer (CKAD)?

Who Should Take This Course?

Software developers building containerized applications
DevOps engineers deploying cloud-native workloads
Backend engineers working in Kubernetes environments
Platform engineers supporting development teams
Full-stack developers adopting cloud-native practices
Site Reliability Engineers (SREs) managing application deployments

What You Will Learn in the CKAD Course

A comprehensive curriculum covering all exam objectives with hands-on labs and real-world practice.

Application Design and Build

Design and build multi-container applications.

Multi-container Pod design patterns (sidecar, init, ambassador)
Persistent volumes and storage claims for applications
Custom resource definitions and API extensions
Designing for Kubernetes application lifecycle

Application Deployment

Deploy and update Kubernetes workloads.

Deployments, rolling updates, and rollbacks
Helm chart usage and deployment strategies
Blue/green and canary deployment patterns
Jobs, CronJobs, and batch workloads

Application Observability and Maintenance

Monitor and maintain deployed applications.

Probes: liveness, readiness, and startup
Resource limits, requests, and QoS classes
Application logging and container debugging
Horizontal Pod Autoscaler configuration

Application Environment, Configuration, and Security

Configure and secure application workloads.

ConfigMaps and Secrets management
Security Contexts and Pod Security Standards
ServiceAccounts and RBAC for applications
Resource quotas and limit ranges

Services and Networking

Expose and connect applications within Kubernetes.

Service types: ClusterIP, NodePort, LoadBalancer
Ingress resources and ingress controllers
Network policies for application isolation
DNS service discovery in Kubernetes

Course Prerequisites

Pre-requisites training is free when you purchase the course from ProSupport

Basic understanding of containerization and Docker
Familiarity with YAML and Kubernetes concepts
Command-line (kubectl) proficiency
CKA certification recommended but not required

Exam Information

Everything you need to know about the CKAD certification exam.

Exam Component	Details
Exam Name	Certified Kubernetes Application Developer
Exam Code	CKAD
Exam Type	Performance-based (hands-on lab)
Total Questions	15-20 tasks
Passing Score	66%
Exam Duration	120 minutes
Language	English
Exam Provider	Linux Foundation / PSI
Exam Focus	Designing, building, and deploying cloud-native applications on Kubernetes
Exam Registration	Linux Foundation Training Portal (training.linuxfoundation.org)
Retake Policy	One free retake included
Certification Validity	3 years