# 30 Kubernetes Tasks Every CKA Candidate Should Practice Before Exam Day

One of the most common questions I receive from aspiring [Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA)](https://www.credly.com/badges/e72821a9-97a5-4ee8-a7f6-93f40246e864/public_url) candidates is:

*“What should I actually practice before the exam?”*

After completing the CKA and spending countless hours working through labs, troubleshooting clusters, and exploring Kubernetes documentation, I realized that passing the exam is less about memorizing commands and more about being comfortable performing common Kubernetes tasks quickly and accurately.

The CKA is a performance-based certification. You are expected to work with real Kubernetes clusters, solve problems, and complete administrative tasks under time pressure.

In this article, I’ve compiled 30 Kubernetes tasks that every CKA candidate should practice before exam day.

## **Cluster Administration**

### **1\. Check Cluster Information**

```plaintext
kubectl cluster-info
kubectl get nodes
```

Understand the health and status of the cluster.

### **2\. Drain and Uncordon Nodes**

```plaintext
kubectl drain node01 --ignore-daemonsets
kubectl uncordon node01
```

A common administration task.

### **3\. Mark Nodes Unschedulable**

```plaintext
kubectl cordon node01
```

Know the difference between cordon and drain.

### **4\. Upgrade a Kubernetes Node**

Practice kubeadm upgrade procedures in a lab environment.

### **5\. Backup and Restore etcd**

A high-value CKA topic.

Practice:

*   Snapshot creation
    
*   Snapshot restoration
    
*   Verifying cluster recovery
    

## **Pods & Deployments**

### **6\. Create a Pod**

```plaintext
kubectl run nginx --image=nginx
```

### **7\. Create a Deployment**

```plaintext
kubectl create deployment nginx \
--image=nginx
```

### **8\. Scale Deployments**

```plaintext
kubectl scale deployment nginx \
--replicas=5
```

### **9\. Perform Rolling Updates**

```plaintext
kubectl set image deployment/nginx \
nginx=nginx:latest
```

### **10\. Roll Back a Deployment**

```plaintext
kubectl rollout undo deployment nginx
```

### **11\. Expose Applications**

Practice:

*   ClusterIP
    
*   NodePort
    
*   LoadBalancer
    

### **12\. Debug CrashLoopBackOff Pods**

Use:

```plaintext
kubectl logs
kubectl describe pod
```

## **Scheduling**

### **13\. Node Selectors**

Schedule workloads on specific nodes.

### **14\. Node Affinity**

Practice preferred and required affinity.

### **15\. Taints and Tolerations**

One of the most tested topics.

### **16\. Static Pods**

Create and modify static pods.

### **17\. Multi-Container Pods**

Practice sidecar patterns.

## **Networking**

### **18\. Create Network Policies**

Allow traffic.

Block traffic.

Restrict namespaces.

### **19\. Verify Service Connectivity**

Use:

```plaintext
kubectl exec
curl
```

### **20\. Configure CoreDNS**

Understand DNS troubleshooting basics.

### **21\. Troubleshoot Service Discovery**

Practice:

```plaintext
nslookup
dig
```

inside pods.

### **22\. Ingress Basics**

Create simple ingress resources.

## **Storage**

### **23\. Create Persistent Volumes**

Practice static PV creation.

### **24\. Create PVCs**

Bind applications to storage.

### **25\. Verify Storage Mounts**

Ensure pods can access mounted data.

### **26\. Troubleshoot Pending PVCs**

Understand why storage claims fail.

## **Security**

### **27\. Create Service Accounts**

```plaintext
kubectl create serviceaccount app-sa
```

### **28\. Configure RBAC**

Practice:

*   Roles
    
*   ClusterRoles
    
*   RoleBindings
    
*   ClusterRoleBindings
    

### **29\. Verify Permissions**

Use:

```plaintext
kubectl auth can-i
```

This command is extremely useful during the exam.

## **Troubleshooting**

### **30\. Troubleshoot Everything**

The best CKA candidates become excellent troubleshooters.

Practice fixing:

*   Pending Pods
    
*   CrashLoopBackOff
    
*   ImagePullBackOff
    
*   Failed Scheduling
    
*   DNS Failures
    
*   Network Policy Issues
    
*   Storage Problems
    
*   RBAC Errors
    

If you can troubleshoot confidently, you’re already halfway to passing the exam.

## **My Personal Practice Strategy**

When preparing for the CKA, I didn’t focus on reading theory repeatedly.

Instead, I followed a simple cycle:

### **Learn**

Understand the concept.

### **Practice**

Perform the task yourself.

### **Break**

Intentionally create problems.

### **Fix**

Troubleshoot until it works.

This approach helped me develop the practical skills required for a performance-based certification exam.

## **Final Thoughts**

The CKA exam doesn’t test whether you can memorize Kubernetes documentation. It tests whether you can administer a Kubernetes cluster efficiently under pressure.

If you can comfortably perform these 30 tasks without constantly searching for answers, you’ll be well prepared for exam day.

Focus on hands-on practice, troubleshooting, and understanding how Kubernetes components work together.

That’s what ultimately helped me pass the CKA and continue my journey toward becoming a Kubestronaut.

## **Connect With Me**

If you’re preparing for Kubernetes certifications, pursuing the Kubestronaut journey, or working in the cloud-native ecosystem, I’d love to connect.

Follow me for more articles on Kubernetes, CNCF certifications, DevOps, Platform Engineering, and Cloud-Native technologies.

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