CKA study guide · 2026

The 5 CKA domains, explained

5 domains and 27 official competencies. Troubleshooting carries the most weight at 30%. Each guide explains what the domain covers, how its questions are framed and where candidates lose marks.

Start with Domain 5 See all domains
Questions
15–20 performance-based tasks (typical; count varies by exam form)
Time
2 hours
Passing score
66%
Outline
CNCF CKA Curriculum, competencies in effect since February 2025; exam environment Kubernetes v1.35 as of October 2026

Exam blueprint

Bar widths follow the official weights. Weight ranges are drawn at their midpoint.

  1. 1 25%
  2. 2 15%
  3. 3 20%
  4. 4 10%
  5. 5 30%
  1. 1 Cluster Architecture, Installation and Configuration
  2. 2 Workloads and Scheduling
  3. 3 Services and Networking
  4. 4 Storage
  5. 5 Troubleshooting

All 5 domains

27 official competencies 82–119 hrs suggested study

  1. Domain 01 25%

    Cluster Architecture, Installation and Configuration

    The second-heaviest CKA domain and the one that proves you can build and run a cluster, not just use one. It covers RBAC, kubeadm installs and upgrades, etcd, highly available control planes, Helm, Kustomize and extension points.

    Inside this domain

    • Manage role based access control (RBAC)
    • Prepare underlying infrastructure for installing a Kubernetes cluster
    • Create and manage Kubernetes clusters using kubeadm
    • Manage the lifecycle of Kubernetes clusters
    • and 4 more competencies

    Watch for Working on the wrong cluster or host

    Competencies
    8
    Questions est.
    4–5
    Study time est.
    20–30 hrs
  2. Domain 02 15%

    Workloads and Scheduling

    The domain where you make applications run where and how you want them. It covers Deployments and rollouts, configuration with ConfigMaps and Secrets, autoscaling, self-healing primitives, and the admission and scheduling controls that place Pods.

    Inside this domain

    • Understand application deployments and how to perform rolling update and rollbacks
    • Use ConfigMaps and Secrets to configure applications
    • Configure workload autoscaling
    • Understand the primitives used to create robust, self-healing, application deployments
    • and 1 more competencies

    Watch for Toleration without attraction

    Competencies
    5
    Questions est.
    2–3
    Study time est.
    13–17 hrs
  3. Domain 03 20%

    Services and Networking

    A fifth of the exam and the domain where small selector mistakes silently block traffic. It covers how Pods reach each other, NetworkPolicies, Service types and endpoints, the Gateway API, Ingress and CoreDNS.

    Inside this domain

    • Understand connectivity between Pods
    • Define and enforce Network Policies
    • Use ClusterIP, NodePort, LoadBalancer service types and endpoints
    • Use the Gateway API to manage Ingress traffic
    • and 2 more competencies

    Watch for Selector OR by accident

    Competencies
    6
    Questions est.
    3–4
    Study time est.
    15–25 hrs
  4. Domain 04 10%

    Storage

    The lightest CKA domain, but its tasks hinge on exact field matching between claims, volumes and classes. It covers StorageClasses and dynamic provisioning, volume types, access modes, reclaim policies, and managing PersistentVolumes and PersistentVolumeClaims.

    Inside this domain

    • Implement storage classes and dynamic volume provisioning
    • Configure volume types, access modes and reclaim policies
    • Manage persistent volumes and persistent volume claims

    Watch for Default class hijack

    Competencies
    3
    Questions est.
    ~2
    Study time est.
    9–12 hrs
  5. Domain 05 30%

    Troubleshooting

    The heaviest CKA domain, worth almost a third of the score. It covers diagnosing broken nodes and control plane components, monitoring resource usage, reading container output, and fixing Services and networking on a live cluster.

    Inside this domain

    • Troubleshoot clusters and nodes
    • Troubleshoot cluster components
    • Monitor cluster and application resource usage
    • Manage and evaluate container output streams
    • and 1 more competencies

    Watch for kubectl against a dead API

    Competencies
    5
    Questions est.
    5–6
    Study time est.
    25–35 hrs

Study the heaviest domains first

Marks follow weight. This order puts the most marks behind you first, across about 82–119 hrs of study.

  1. 5 Troubleshooting 30% · 25–35 hrs
  2. 1 Cluster Architecture, Installation and Configuration 25% · 20–30 hrs
  3. 3 Services and Networking 20% · 15–25 hrs
  4. 2 Workloads and Scheduling 15% · 13–17 hrs
  5. 4 Storage 10% · 9–12 hrs

Try one

Practice questionDomain 5: Troubleshooting

kubectl works normally. Every new Pod created in any namespace stays Pending. kubectl describe shows Node: <none> and no events, and nodes report Ready with spare capacity. What should you investigate FIRST?

One trap from every domain

The answer that looks right, and the clue that gives it away.

  • Domain 1

    Working on the wrong cluster or host

    Clue The task header line that gives the kubectl config use-context command or the ssh target.

  • Domain 2

    Toleration without attraction

    Clue Wording such as 'only on' or 'must run on', which requires node affinity or nodeSelector as well.

  • Domain 3

    Selector OR by accident

    Clue A requirement naming both a namespace and a Pod label for the same client.

  • Domain 4

    Default class hijack

    Clue kubectl get storageclass showing a class marked (default).

  • Domain 5

    kubectl against a dead API

    Clue 'The connection to the server ... was refused' on port 6443.

Practise what you read

CKA domains: common questions

How many domains are in the CKA exam?

CKA has 5 domains with 27 official competencies between them: Cluster Architecture, Installation and Configuration, Workloads and Scheduling, Services and Networking, Storage and Troubleshooting.

Which CKA domain carries the most weight?

Troubleshooting is the heaviest at 30%, followed by Cluster Architecture, Installation and Configuration (25%). The lightest is Storage (10%). Weights come from Linux Foundation's official outline.

What is the CKA exam format?

Questions: 15–20 performance-based tasks (typical; count varies by exam form). Time allowed: 2 hours. Passing score: 66%.

How long should I study for CKA?

Our planning estimate is 82–119 hrs across all domains, split by weight. It is an editorial estimate, not an official figure, so adjust it to your experience and to how you score on practice questions.

Where should I start?

Start with Troubleshooting, because it carries the most marks, then work down by weight. Use the checklist on each domain page to confirm you can do what the domain asks before moving on.

Which outline is this guide based on?

This guide follows CNCF CKA Curriculum, competencies in effect since February 2025; exam environment Kubernetes v1.35 as of October 2026, published by Linux Foundation. It was last reviewed in October 2026.

Domain names, weights and competencies come from Linux Foundation's official outline (CNCF CKA Curriculum, competencies in effect since February 2025; exam environment Kubernetes v1.35 as of October 2026). Question counts and study hours are editorial planning estimates, not official figures. Last reviewed October 2026.