In 2017, CNCF launched the Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA) exam which has become one of the most popular Linux Foundation certifications to date. Over 9,000 individuals have registered for the exam and over 1,700 have achieved the certification.
When the exam was originally released, the certification was valid for 2 years in anticipation of a major curriculum update happening at that time. However, given the current development and release cycle of Kubernetes, we are now planning for this larger curriculum update in 2020.
This means that CKA Certifications awarded on or after September 2, 2017 will expire 36 months from the date that the Program Certification Requirements were met by the candidate (rather than the 24 months stated previously). The current curriculum still ensures that existing CKAs have the skills, knowledge, and competency that are relevant to perform the responsibilities of a Kubernetes administrator. When we do revise the exam, we will announce it here and the changes will be reflected in the open sourced curriculum. This extra time will allow CKAs to prepare and practice any new skills before their certification expires.
This also means that Kubernetes Certified Service Providers (KCSP), will need to revisit their certifications in 2020 to maintain their status. A reminder will be sent out to all partners up for renewal as those dates approach.
KCSPs are vetted service providers who have deep experience helping enterprises successfully adopt Kubernetes and a minimum of three Certified Kubernetes Administrators in-house. With 90 service providers in the program to date, these partners have helped a variety of organizations with top-tier professional services to support Kubernetes deployments.
This does not impact the Certified Kubernetes Application Developer (CKAD) exam which launched in May 2018. A decision about that exam will be made at a later date depending on how much the curriculum is anticipated to change over the next two years.
Interested in taking the Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA) exam? CNCF also offers online training that teaches the skills needed to create and configure a real-world Kubernetes cluster. The Kubernetes Fundamentals course maps directly to the requirements for the Certified Kubernetes Administrator exam or choose from one of 22 Kubernetes Training Partners (KTP), a tier of vetted training providers who have deep experience in cloud native technology training.