CNCF / Linux Foundation Certifications
5 certs · Practice exams
Kubernetes and cloud-native certifications.
12
Certifications
2,950+
Questions
12
Practice Exams
Recommended Path
KCNA → CKA/CKAD → CKS
Beginner / Fundamentals
1 certCNCF Kubernetes and Cloud Native Associate
Your gateway to cloud native — validate Kubernetes fundamentals
Associate / Intermediate
10 certsCNCF CKA (Certified Kubernetes Administrator)
The gold standard for Kubernetes administration
CNCF KCSA (Kubernetes and Cloud Native Security Associate)
Secure Kubernetes clusters and cloud native workloads
CNCF PCA (Prometheus Certified Associate)
Master the Prometheus Certified Associate exam — observability concepts, Prometheus architecture and the pull model, scrape configuration and service discovery, the data model and exposition format, PromQL (selectors, rate/increase, aggregation, binary operators, histograms and histogram_quantile), instrumentation with client libraries, exporters, metric naming, recording and alerting rules, Alertmanager routing and grouping, and dashboarding with Grafana.
CNCF CAPA (Certified Argo Project Associate)
Master the Certified Argo Project Associate exam — Argo Workflows (the Workflow spec, WorkflowTemplates, DAGs, artifacts, and data-processing jobs), Argo CD (the Application CRD, sync policies, waves and hooks, Helm and Kustomize sources, and GitOps reconciliation), Argo Rollouts (blue-green and canary progressive delivery, traffic management, and AnalysisTemplate/AnalysisRun), and Argo Events (EventSources, the EventBus, Sensors, and Triggers).
CNCF CKAD (Certified Kubernetes Application Developer)
Build, deploy, and troubleshoot applications on Kubernetes
CNCF CGOA (Certified GitOps Associate)
Master the Certified GitOps Associate (CGOA) exam — the four OpenGitOps principles (declarative, versioned and immutable, pulled automatically, continuously reconciled), the core terminology (desired state, state drift, reconciliation, the state store, feedback loops, and rollback), deployment / progressive-delivery / architecture patterns, the related practices that surround GitOps (Configuration as Code, Infrastructure as Code, DevOps and DevSecOps, and CI/CD), and the tool-agnostic GitOps tooling landscape (manifest packaging, state-store systems, and reconciliation engines such as Argo CD and Flux).
CNCF CBA (Certified Backstage Associate)
Master the Certified Backstage Associate (CBA) exam - the Backstage local development workflow (create-app, yarn dev, TypeScript, the packages/app + packages/backend monorepo, Docker image build), the framework and client-server architecture, configuration with app-config.yaml, the Software Catalog (catalog-info.yaml entities, kinds, annotations, locations, discovery, and troubleshooting), and customizing Backstage (frontend versus backend plugins, wiring plugins, editing React code in the App, and Material UI components).
CNCF CCA (Certified Cilium Associate)
Master the Certified Cilium Associate (CCA) exam - Cilium's eBPF-powered architecture (the agent/operator/CLI model, IPAM, and tunnel vs native-routing datapaths), identity-based Network Policy (CiliumNetworkPolicy versus Kubernetes NetworkPolicy, L3/L4/L7 and DNS/FQDN rules), the sidecarless Service Mesh (Ingress, Gateway API, and transparent WireGuard/IPsec encryption), Hubble Network Observability, installation and configuration with the Cilium CLI, Cluster Mesh for multi-cluster connectivity, eBPF versus iptables, and BGP and external networking.
CNCF KCA (Kyverno Certified Associate)
Master the Kyverno Certified Associate (KCA) exam - Kyverno's policy-as-code model for Kubernetes (the ClusterPolicy and Policy resources and the validate, mutate, generate, and verifyImages rule types), the admission-controller and background/reports/cleanup controllers, Helm installation with per-controller high availability and RBAC, the Kyverno CLI (apply, test, and jp), applying policies and resource selection, writing validation, mutation, generation, and image-verification rules with anchors, JSON patches, autogen, cleanup policies, and CEL, and policy management with Policy Reports, PolicyExceptions, and Prometheus metrics.
CNCF OTCA (OpenTelemetry Certified Associate)
Master the OpenTelemetry Certified Associate (OTCA) exam - OpenTelemetry's vendor-neutral observability model: the three signals (traces, metrics, and logs) plus baggage, semantic conventions, manual and automatic instrumentation, the API-versus-SDK split, TracerProvider/MeterProvider/LoggerProvider with processors, exporters, and samplers, W3C Trace Context and baggage propagation, OTLP export, and the OpenTelemetry Collector's receivers, processors, exporters, connectors, and extensions wired into per-signal pipelines, agent-versus-gateway deployment, scaling, and debugging observability pipelines.
Expert / Professional
1 certCertified Kubernetes Security Specialist
Kubernetes security — hardening, supply chain, runtime defence
Why Prepare With Guided
Everything you need to pass CNCF exams — in one place.
2,950+
Exam-style questions with detailed explanations
3 Modes
Study · Exam Simulation · Flashcards (SM-2)
Adaptive
Focus on weak areas · Skip mastered content
20 Free
Questions per cert · No account needed
Frequently Asked Questions
How many CNCF / Linux Foundation certifications are there?
We cover 12 CNCF / Linux Foundation certifications across 3 levels: 1 Beginner / Fundamentals, 10 Associate / Intermediate, 1 Expert / Professional. Each includes 2,950+ practice questions with detailed explanations.
What is the best CNCF / Linux Foundation certification to start with?
The recommended path is: KCNA → CKA/CKAD → CKS. Start with a fundamentals or entry-level cert to build your foundation, then progress to associate and expert levels.
How much do CNCF / Linux Foundation certification exams cost?
CNCF / Linux Foundation exam costs range from $395 USD to $250 USD depending on the certification level. Our study guides are free forever, and practice exams are $9 per cert (1 year access). That's a fraction of the real exam fee.
How long are CNCF / Linux Foundation certification exams?
CNCF / Linux Foundation certification exams range from 90–120 min depending on the level. Use our Exam Mode to practice under timed conditions with the same time pressure.
Where can I take CNCF / Linux Foundation certification exams?
CNCF / Linux Foundation exams are administered through Linux Foundation / PSI. Most exams are available at testing centres worldwide and online proctored from home.
Are CNCF / Linux Foundation practice exams worth it?
Yes — our practice exams include three study modes (Study, Exam Simulation, and Flashcards with spaced repetition), detailed explanations for every answer, adaptive question selection, and progress tracking. Study guides are free forever, and 20 practice questions per cert are free with no account needed. Full access is $9 per cert (1 year).
How do I prepare for CNCF / Linux Foundation certifications?
Start with our free study guides to build your foundation. Then use Study Mode for instant feedback, Exam Mode for timed practice under real conditions, and Flashcards with spaced repetition for long-term retention. Track your readiness across all domains with our built-in dashboard.
How does purchasing work?
Click "Unlock $9" on any cert page → pay securely via Stripe → receive a licence key instantly (also in your Stripe receipt email). Enter the key on any device to unlock all questions for that cert. No account needed. Each cert is purchased separately at $9 for 1 year of access.
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Yes. Your licence key (e.g. GD-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX) works on up to 3 devices — phone, tablet, laptop, desktop. Enter it once per device on the practice page.
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