Certified Kubernetes Application Developer

CKAD Practice Exam: Certified Kubernetes Application Developer Practice Questions

Upload your Kubernetes notes, course PDFs, or the official curriculum, and the AI writes unlimited CKAD practice questions with an answer key in seconds. Built for the current v1.35 curriculum: multi-container Pod patterns, Helm and Kustomize, probes and health checks, and the 25% configuration and security domain that decides most results.

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The CKAD exam is 2 hours long, performance-based (live command-line tasks on real clusters, not multiple choice), costs US$445, and requires a score of 66% or above to pass. There are no prerequisites, the certification is valid for 2 years, and the fee includes one free retake, a 12 month eligibility window, and two sessions of the official exam simulator. The exam currently tests on Kubernetes v1.35. Five domains: Application Environment, Configuration and Security 25%, Application Design and Build 20%, Application Deployment 20%, Services and Networking 20%, Application Observability and Maintenance 15%.

Last updated July 2026

What the CKAD exam tests on the current curriculum

We read the official CNCF curriculum document for v1.35, as we do for every cert page on this site. Five domains, and the weighting is flatter than the CKA's: no single domain dominates, but Application Environment, Configuration and Security leads at 25%, which means ConfigMaps, Secrets, ServiceAccounts, SecurityContexts, and resource limits are the closest thing this exam has to a center of gravity.

Domain What is actually in it Weight
Application Environment, Configuration and SecurityResources that extend Kubernetes (CRDs, Operators), authentication, authorization and admission control, requests, limits and quotas, defining resource requirements, ConfigMaps, creating and consuming Secrets, ServiceAccounts, and application security with SecurityContexts and Capabilities.25%
Application Design and BuildDefine, build and modify container images, choose the right workload resource (Deployment, DaemonSet, CronJob and friends), multi-container Pod design patterns such as sidecar and init containers, and persistent plus ephemeral volumes.20%
Application DeploymentCommon deployment strategies like blue/green and canary built from Kubernetes primitives, Deployments and rolling updates, deploying existing packages with the Helm package manager, and Kustomize.20%
Services and NetworkingBasic understanding of NetworkPolicies, providing and troubleshooting access to applications via services, and exposing applications with Ingress rules.20%
Application Observability and MaintenanceAPI deprecations, implementing probes and health checks, monitoring applications with built-in CLI tools, container logs, and debugging in Kubernetes.15%

Every task starts with knowing exactly which object and field you need. Drill that recall: generate practice questions from your own Kubernetes notes until probe types, Secret mounts, and workload resources come back without thinking.

Format
Hands-on
Time limit
2 hours
Passing score
66%
Exam fee
US$445

Why drill questions for a hands-on exam?

Because the CKAD is a speed exam. The tasks are smaller than the CKA's cluster surgery, but there are a lot of them, and every one decomposes into knowledge you either have instantly or have to look up under the clock: which probe restarts a container versus removing it from a Service, how a Secret mounts as an environment variable versus a volume, what a canary rollout looks like in plain Deployment primitives, which field sets a read-only root filesystem. Question drills compress that lookup time to zero, so your 2 hours go into typing YAML, not remembering it. Quizzing is the fastest way to find the gaps before the simulator finds them for you.

On the current curriculum

Multi-container Pod patterns (sidecar and init), Helm and Kustomize for deployment, CRDs and Operators, SecurityContexts and Capabilities, probes and health checks, and API deprecations. The exam tests Kubernetes v1.35 and tracks each new minor version, so current docs beat old course recordings.

The staleness test for your course

Search your prep material for "Kustomize" and "Operators". If neither appears, the course predates the current curriculum and is quietly skipping topics you will be graded on. Keep the course for fundamentals, but generate your practice questions from the current curriculum document instead.

Your US$445 already includes the official simulator (two sessions, 36 hours of access each). The winning order is cheap drills first, expensive rehearsals second: quiz yourself from your notes until concepts are automatic, then spend the simulator sessions purely on speed and muscle memory.

CKAD versus CKA and CKS

The Linux Foundation runs three hands-on Kubernetes exams, and they share the format: 2 hours, live clusters, command line. What changes is the job they certify.

  CKAD CKA CKS
RoleApplication developer: design and run apps on KubernetesCluster administrator: install, operate, troubleshootSecurity specialist: harden clusters and workloads
Passing score66%66%67%
Biggest domainApplication Environment, Configuration and Security, 25%Troubleshooting, 30%Cluster hardening and system security
PrerequisiteNoneNoneA valid CKA
Who takes itBackend and full-stack developersPlatform, DevOps, and SRE engineersSecurity and platform engineers

If you write applications that run on Kubernetes, take the CKAD. If you keep the clusters themselves alive, the CKA practice exam covers the admin track, which is also the mandatory first step toward CKS.

How to build CKAD practice questions that actually transfer to the terminal

The exam grades doing. Your questions should drill the knowing that makes doing fast.

1
Upload current material
The CNCF curriculum PDF, your course notes, or pages from the Kubernetes docs. If your course fails the Kustomize test, add the current curriculum alongside it so the questions cover what the exam covers.
2
Weight it like the exam
Configuration and security is 25%, and design, deployment, and networking are 20% each. Generate the most questions from configuration: ConfigMaps versus Secrets, requests versus limits, and SecurityContext fields.
3
Drill until recall is instant
Retake each set until probe types, volume kinds, rollout commands, and Ingress fields come back in under five seconds. On a timed lab exam, slow recall is the same as no recall.
4
Finish in the simulator
Spend your two included simulator sessions last, on pure task speed: 36 hours of access each is plenty when you are no longer pausing to remember which object a task needs.

CKAD exam questions, answered

Is the CKAD exam multiple choice?
No. The CKAD is performance-based: you work in a command-line environment against live Kubernetes clusters and solve real developer tasks for 2 hours. That is exactly why question drills earn their keep. Every minute you spend remembering which resource or field a task needs is a minute not spent doing the task, and quizzing is the cheapest way to make that recall instant.
What is the passing score for the CKAD exam?
66% or above, the same bar as the CKA. Tasks are weighted, partial credit exists within tasks, and your score report arrives by email within 24 hours of finishing. The fee includes one free retake, so a first attempt that misses is data, not disaster: the domain breakdown tells you exactly where to drill before the second try.
How hard is the CKAD exam?
Hard in a specific way: it is a race. The tasks themselves are everyday developer work (build an image, fix a probe, mount a Secret, expose a Service), but there are many of them and only 2 hours. Nothing is multiple choice, so you cannot pass on recognition. The counterweight is that the exam is honest: no trick questions, just tasks, and preparation converts directly into points.
How much does the CKAD exam cost?
US$445 for the exam alone, which includes one free retake, a 12 month window to use your attempts, and two sessions of the official exam simulator with 36 hours of access each. Bundles run US$625 for the exam plus an annual training subscription and US$645 with the Kubernetes for Developers course attached.
Is CKAD easier than CKA?
Narrower, not easier. The CKAD skips cluster installation and the CKA's 30% troubleshooting domain, so there is less surface area. But the time pressure per task is at least as intense, and the configuration and security domain goes deeper into the developer-facing objects than the CKA does. Engineers who do both usually report similar difficulty, just aimed at different jobs.
Does the CKAD certification expire?
Yes, after 2 years. Renewal means taking the current version of the exam again, and the curriculum tracks Kubernetes releases, so expect it to have moved: this cycle's curriculum includes Kustomize, CRDs and Operators, and API deprecation handling that older prep material never mentions.
Is the CKAD worth it?
If you build applications that run on Kubernetes, yes. US postings for backend, platform, and cloud-native developer roles list it as the developer-side Kubernetes credential, and because it is hands-on, hiring managers read it as proof you can ship to a cluster, not just talk about one. Pair it with the CKA if your role leans toward operating the platform itself.

PDFQuiz is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by the Linux Foundation or the Cloud Native Computing Foundation. Kubernetes is a registered trademark of the Linux Foundation. This generator builds practice questions from material you upload and is a study aid, not a substitute for hands-on cluster practice. Always confirm current exam details on the official certification page before you book.

Related study tools

Going deeper into the platform side? The CKA practice exam covers the cluster administration track that pairs with the CKAD in most US platform teams, the CKS practice exam covers the security specialization at the top of the Kubernetes track, and the Terraform Associate practice exam covers the infrastructure-as-code cert that shows up in the same job postings. Cloud-side, start with the Google Cloud Associate Cloud Engineer practice exam or the AWS Solutions Architect Associate practice test. Any study guide works with the certification exam generator, or start from any PDF with the PDF to practice test generator.

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