Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA) Course Description

This comprehensive course is designed to equip participants with the knowledge and skills necessary to successfully manage and administer Kubernetes clusters in a production environment. The CKA certification validates an individual's expertise in performing the responsibilities of a Kubernetes administrator, demonstrating proficiency in areas such as core concepts, networking, security, maintenance, and troubleshooting. This course provides in-depth coverage of these critical areas, preparing you not only for the CKA exam but also for real-world Kubernetes administration challenges.

Course Objectives

• Gain a thorough understanding of Kubernetes architecture and components.
• Master the deployment and management of Kubernetes clusters.
• Learn how to configure and manage Kubernetes networking, including services, ingress, and network policies.
• Implement security best practices for Kubernetes clusters.
• Perform routine maintenance tasks, such as upgrades and backups.
• Troubleshoot common Kubernetes issues.
• Automate Kubernetes deployments and management tasks.
• Understand and apply best practices for resource management and scheduling.
• Prepare for and successfully pass the Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA) exam.
• Develop confidence in managing production-grade Kubernetes environments.

Course Outline

Kubernetes Fundamentals

• Introduction to Kubernetes and container orchestration
• Kubernetes architecture: Master node, worker nodes, etcd, kube-apiserver, kube-scheduler, kube-controller-manager, kubelet, kube-proxy
• Understanding Kubernetes objects: Pods, Services, Deployments, Namespaces, ConfigMaps, Secrets
• kubectl: The Kubernetes command-line tool
• Deploying and managing applications on Kubernetes

Cluster Architecture, Installation & Configuration

• Designing a Kubernetes cluster architecture
• Choosing the right Kubernetes distribution
• Installing Kubernetes using kubeadm
• Configuring Kubernetes components
• Joining worker nodes to the cluster
• Verifying cluster health
• Understanding and configuring etcd
• Implementing high availability for the control plane

Workloads

• Managing Pods: creation, lifecycle, health checks, resource limits
• Deployments: rolling updates, rollbacks, scaling
• ReplicaSets: ensuring desired state
• DaemonSets: running a Pod on every node
• Jobs and CronJobs: running batch tasks
• Understanding Pod disruption budgets
• Utilizing labels and selectors for workload management

Networking

• Kubernetes networking model: Pod networking, service networking
• Services: ClusterIP, NodePort, LoadBalancer
• Ingress: exposing applications to the outside world
• Network policies: controlling traffic flow between Pods
• DNS resolution in Kubernetes
• Service discovery
• Understanding and configuring CNI (Container Network Interface) plugins

Storage

• Volumes: persistent and ephemeral storage
• PersistentVolumes and PersistentVolumeClaims: dynamic volume provisioning
• Storage classes: defining different types of storage
• Access modes: ReadWriteOnce, ReadOnlyMany, ReadWriteMany
• Using cloud provider storage solutions
• Managing storage capacity and performance

Security

• Authentication and authorization in Kubernetes
• Role-Based Access Control (RBAC): defining permissions for users and service accounts
• Service accounts: providing identities for Pods
• Secrets: managing sensitive information
• Network policies: isolating network traffic
• Pod security policies: enforcing security standards
• Auditing: tracking Kubernetes API calls
• Image security: scanning for vulnerabilities

Maintenance

• Performing Kubernetes upgrades
• Backing up and restoring etcd
• Monitoring cluster health
• Logging and auditing
• Troubleshooting common Kubernetes issues
• Resource utilization analysis
• Node maintenance: draining and cordoning

Logging & Monitoring

• Collecting and analyzing Kubernetes logs
• Using monitoring tools: Prometheus, Grafana
• Setting up alerts and dashboards
• Monitoring resource utilization
• Identifying performance bottlenecks
• Understanding and configuring the Kubernetes metrics server

Troubleshooting

• Diagnosing Pod failures
• Troubleshooting networking issues
• Identifying resource constraints
• Analyzing logs and events
• Using debugging tools
• Common troubleshooting scenarios and solutions

API Primitives

• Understanding Custom Resource Definitions (CRDs)
• Extending the Kubernetes API
• Operators: automating application management
• Dynamic admission control
• Understanding webhooks

Benefits of Taking This Course

• Comprehensive Coverage: The course provides in-depth coverage of all the topics required for the CKA exam.
• Hands-on Experience: You will gain practical experience through hands-on labs and exercises.
• Expert Guidance: Learn from experienced professionals with deep expertise in Kubernetes administration.
• Career Advancement: Earning the CKA certification can significantly boost your career prospects in the cloud-native computing field.
• Enhanced Skills: Develop the skills and knowledge needed to effectively manage and administer Kubernetes clusters.
• Improved Job Performance: Apply your knowledge to improve the performance and reliability of your Kubernetes deployments.
• Industry Recognition: The CKA certification is a widely recognized and respected credential in the Kubernetes community.
• Increased Confidence: Gain the confidence to tackle real-world Kubernetes administration challenges.
• Up-to-date Knowledge: Stay up-to-date with the latest Kubernetes best practices and technologies.
• Community Engagement: Become part of a vibrant community of Kubernetes professionals.