CKAD exam requirements

Duration

2 hours

Tasks

15–20 CLI problems

Pass

66%

Price

$445, one retake

Cluster

Kubernetes 1.35

Valid

2 years

To schedule

12 months

Languages

EN, JA, ZH

Proctor

PSI Bridge + Secure Browser

Results

Email within 24 hours

CKAD uses PSI Bridge and the PSI Secure Browser — a downloaded app, not a Chrome tab. You need to install it and kill other processes. Work laptops usually cannot.

Operating systems PSI lists

Windows Education and Windows Enterprise are on the refuse list. That is the edition a work laptop actually runs. A $445 professional exam that rejects the professional OS. Bring a personal machine.

Ubuntu: launch the Secure Browser from the desktop icon. Not from a terminal. You are about to sit a Linux exam. They still want a double-click.

• ✓Run the PSI system check (camera, mic, bandwidth together). syscheck.bridge.psiexams.com · video-diagnostics.twilio.com
• ✓After you book, run the Secure Browser tutorial from the Test Taker portal. That is the only rehearsal that installs the real app.
• ✓Mac: allow Camera, Microphone, Automation, and Input Monitoring for the Secure Browser.
• ✕Do not sit this in a VM even if the compatibility check is green. The check does not bind them. A green check on a VM is a decorative lie.

• ✓Walled private room, door closed. Not a café, lobby, or open office.
• ✓Alone. No guests, no children, no pets — service dog only.
• ✓Empty desk: no paper, no notes, no second devices.
• ✓Nothing under the desk they can pick a fight with. They will ask you to move the bin.
• ✓Light on your face. No bright window behind you. Stay in the camera frame.
• ✓Wall décor is fine. Printouts and cheat-sheets on the wall are not. You will take them down.
• ✓Dress as if someone is watching. Someone is, for two hours, and they record it.

• ✓Physical, unexpired, government-issued, with photo. Not a photocopy, not a phone.
• ✓First and last name must match the Linux Foundation checklist exactly — including script. If the ID is in Chinese, register in Chinese.
• ✓Passport, driver’s license, national ID, green card, My Number Card. Signature required unless it is a biometric ID without one.
• ✕Military IDs and credit cards are not accepted for online PSI.
• ✓After you click Start My Test, the name is frozen.
• ✓Ages 16–18: parental form two weeks ahead, student ID, guardian at check-in with their own ID.

1. 01

   Clear the machine

   Reboot. Plug the laptop in. Close everything. Pause antivirus if you can. Mac: Bluetooth off. Extra cameras and mics unplugged.

2. 02

   Launch on time

   Take Exam is live 30 minutes before the slot. Start within 30 minutes of the scheduled time or you are a no-show: no refund, no reschedule.

3. 03

   Install, then check-in

   First time: download and install the Secure Browser. Accept the agreements. Photo of the ID, then a selfie.

4. 04

   Scan the room

   360° of the walls, floor to ceiling, wrists and ears (and glasses), the desk including under the laptop. Show the phone, then put it behind you out of reach.

5. 05

   Wait, then sit

   A check-in specialist should take you in under 15 minutes. Use live chat, not the US phone numbers, if you are not in the US. The proctor releases the exam after you accept the rules again.

6. 06

   End cleanly

   End Exam, then End Session. Close the Secure Browser before you stand up. Walking off camera after you finished can still void the result.

If you disconnect, the two-hour clock keeps running. $445, and a Wi-Fi blip eats the remaining time. Wired if you can. Re-launch, check in again, no extra minutes.

• ✕No talking — including to yourself, including reading a question aloud.
• ✕Do not look off the screen. Do not cover your mouth. Stay in frame.
• ✕Do not leave the chair without the proctor’s permission.
• ✕No food, no gum. Water in a clear, unlabeled bottle or glass.
• ✕No notes, no second device, no writing on paper. No watch, no smart glasses, no in-ear anything.
• ✕Unplugging the camera ends the session immediately.

Muttering while you debug is how humans work. It is also how they pause you. Looking at the ceiling to think is a violation. Two hours of kubectl under a behavior policy written for multiple-choice.

Only from Firefox inside the exam VM. Not from your own machine. Search on kubernetes.io/docs is allowed; do not open hits that leave that site.

On each SSH host: kubectl (alias k) with bash completion, yq, curl, wget, man. sudo -i works. Nested SSH does not. Do not reboot the base node.

• ✓Each task names an SSH host. Work there, then exit back to base.
• ✓Terminal copy/paste: Ctrl+Shift+C / Ctrl+Shift+V. Firefox in the VM: Ctrl+C / Ctrl+V.
• ✕Ctrl+W closes the PSI Chrome tab. Use Ctrl+Alt+W.
• ✕The INSERT key is disabled “for security”. In vim, type i. This is not security. It is a remote desktop from 2014.
• ✓Weird international keys: use the on-screen Virtual Keyboard icon.
• ✓Zoom with +/− on the PSI toolbar. Drag the question panel. Maximize Firefox if the find bar is off-screen.

• ✓Score email within 24 hours. Pass: PDF and badge, valid two years.
• ✓Fail: one retake is included unless you bought a SINGLE voucher.
• ✓Uninstall the Secure Browser. Next attempt should install clean.
• ✓Renew by passing again before expiry. Two killer.sh simulator sessions come with the usual voucher (36 hours each).

KubeLab is not PSI. No webcam, no Secure Browser, a live cluster in the browser. One mock is free. The skill is kubectl. Their desktop is a one-day tax.

> Start the free mock