Kubernetes and Cloud Native Associate (KCNA) Fact Sheet¶
Exam Overview¶
Exam Code: KCNA Exam Name: Kubernetes and Cloud Native Associate Duration: 90 minutes Format: Multiple choice (60 questions) Passing Score: 75% Cost: $250 USD (includes one free retake) Valid For: 3 years Delivery: Online proctored via PSI Prerequisites: None
📖 Official KCNA Exam Page - Registration and exam details 📖 KCNA Exam Curriculum - Official exam objectives and domains 📖 CNCF Certification FAQ - Frequently asked questions
Target Audience¶
This certification is designed for: - Beginners entering the cloud native ecosystem - Developers who want to understand Kubernetes concepts - Operations staff transitioning to cloud native tooling - Managers evaluating cloud native adoption - Students preparing for advanced Kubernetes certifications (CKA, CKAD, CKS)
📖 Cloud Native Glossary - CNCF terminology reference 📖 CNCF Landscape - Visual map of cloud native technologies
Exam Domains¶
Domain 1: Kubernetes Fundamentals (46%)¶
This is the largest domain - nearly half the exam tests core Kubernetes knowledge.
1.1 Kubernetes Architecture¶
Key Concepts: - Control plane components: API server, etcd, scheduler, controller manager - Worker node components: kubelet, kube-proxy, container runtime - Communication flow between control plane and worker nodes - High availability control plane configurations
📖 Kubernetes Components - Cluster architecture overview 📖 Kubernetes Architecture - Detailed architecture documentation
1.2 Kubernetes API and Objects¶
Key Concepts: - Pod lifecycle and states (Pending, Running, Succeeded, Failed, Unknown) - Deployments, ReplicaSets, and DaemonSets - Services: ClusterIP, NodePort, LoadBalancer, ExternalName - ConfigMaps and Secrets for configuration management - Namespaces for resource scoping and isolation - Labels, selectors, and annotations - StatefulSets for stateful workloads
📖 Kubernetes Objects - Understanding Kubernetes objects 📖 Workload Resources - Pods, Deployments, StatefulSets, etc. 📖 Services and Networking - Service types and networking
1.3 Storage and Networking¶
Key Concepts: - Persistent Volumes (PV) and Persistent Volume Claims (PVC) - StorageClasses and dynamic provisioning - Container Network Interface (CNI) plugins - Pod-to-pod networking model (flat network) - DNS in Kubernetes (CoreDNS) - Ingress resources and controllers
📖 Storage - Kubernetes storage concepts 📖 Cluster Networking - Networking model
Domain 2: Container Orchestration (22%)¶
2.1 Container Fundamentals¶
Key Concepts: - Container vs virtual machine architecture - Container images, layers, and registries - Container runtimes (containerd, CRI-O) - OCI (Open Container Initiative) standards - Dockerfile basics and multi-stage builds
📖 Containers Overview - Container concepts in Kubernetes 📖 Container Runtimes - Supported runtimes
2.2 Orchestration Concepts¶
Key Concepts: - Why container orchestration is needed (scaling, self-healing, load balancing) - Scheduling and resource management - Rolling updates and rollback strategies - Horizontal Pod Autoscaler (HPA) and cluster autoscaling - Health checks: liveness, readiness, and startup probes
📖 Pod Lifecycle - Probes and lifecycle hooks 📖 Horizontal Pod Autoscaling - HPA configuration
Domain 3: Cloud Native Architecture (16%)¶
3.1 Cloud Native Principles¶
Key Concepts: - 12-factor application methodology - Microservices vs monolithic architecture - Loosely coupled, scalable, resilient systems - Declarative configuration and infrastructure as code - Immutable infrastructure patterns
📖 CNCF Cloud Native Definition - Official definition of cloud native 📖 12-Factor App - Twelve-factor application methodology
3.2 CNCF Ecosystem¶
Key Concepts: - CNCF project maturity levels (Sandbox, Incubating, Graduated) - Key graduated projects: Kubernetes, Prometheus, Envoy, CoreDNS, containerd, Fluentd - Service mesh concepts (Istio, Linkerd) - Serverless and event-driven architectures (Knative, CloudEvents) - Cloud native storage solutions
📖 CNCF Projects - All CNCF projects by maturity level 📖 CNCF Trail Map - Recommended cloud native path
Domain 4: Cloud Native Observability (8%)¶
4.1 Observability Pillars¶
Key Concepts: - Three pillars: metrics, logs, traces - Prometheus for metrics collection and alerting - Fluentd/Fluent Bit for log aggregation - OpenTelemetry for distributed tracing - Grafana for dashboarding and visualization - Alerting and incident management
📖 Prometheus Overview - Prometheus monitoring system 📖 OpenTelemetry - Observability framework 📖 Fluentd - Log aggregation
Domain 5: Cloud Native Application Delivery (8%)¶
5.1 Application Delivery Concepts¶
Key Concepts: - GitOps principles and workflows - ArgoCD and Flux for continuous delivery - Helm charts for package management - Kustomize for manifest customization - CI/CD pipelines and deployment patterns (blue-green, canary) - Infrastructure as Code (Terraform, Pulumi)
📖 Helm - Kubernetes package manager 📖 ArgoCD - Declarative GitOps CD for Kubernetes 📖 Kustomize - Kubernetes manifest customization
Quick Reference: Key Concepts¶
Control Plane Components¶
| Component | Purpose |
|---|---|
| kube-apiserver | Front end for the Kubernetes API |
| etcd | Consistent key-value store for cluster data |
| kube-scheduler | Assigns pods to nodes based on constraints |
| kube-controller-manager | Runs controller loops (Node, Deployment, etc.) |
| cloud-controller-manager | Cloud provider integrations |
Worker Node Components¶
| Component | Purpose |
|---|---|
| kubelet | Ensures containers are running in pods |
| kube-proxy | Manages network rules for Service abstraction |
| Container runtime | Runs containers (containerd, CRI-O) |
Service Types¶
| Type | Description |
|---|---|
| ClusterIP | Internal-only cluster IP (default) |
| NodePort | Exposes on each node's IP at a static port |
| LoadBalancer | Provisions external load balancer |
| ExternalName | Maps to external DNS name via CNAME |
Exam Tips¶
MCQ Strategy¶
- Read carefully - Pay attention to "which of the following" vs "which is NOT"
- Eliminate wrong answers - Remove obviously incorrect options first
- Focus on the 46% domain - Kubernetes Fundamentals is nearly half the exam
- Know the terminology - Many questions test understanding of CNCF terms and concepts
- Understand relationships - Know how components interact, not just what they do
- Flag and return - Mark uncertain questions and come back after completing easier ones
Common Pitfalls¶
- Confusing control plane components with worker node components
- Mixing up Service types and their use cases
- Not understanding the difference between Deployments and StatefulSets
- Confusing CNCF project maturity levels
- Not knowing which projects are CNCF graduated vs incubating
Key Takeaway: The KCNA is a conceptual exam - no hands-on. Focus on understanding the "why" behind cloud native technologies, how Kubernetes components work together, and the CNCF ecosystem. Kubernetes Fundamentals at 46% should receive the most study time.