Kubernetes Certifications price increase, new certifications, and the Kubestronaut program.
Most of you who follow me on Social media (X, LinkedIn, or Bluesky) see me post discount codes for the Linux Foundation and CNCF (Cloud Native Compute Foundation) certifications, discuss upcoming changes and price increases, or sometimes post about the Kubestronaut. But what does that all mean?
In this post, I will break it down for you.
Kubernetes and Linux certification prices increase.
The Linux Foundation (mother foundation to the CNCF) announced in a blog post that the prices for the following certifications:
- Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA)
- Certified Kubernetes Application Developer (CKAD)
- Certified Kubernetes Security Specialist (CKS)
- Linux Foundation Certified System Administrator (LFCS)
Are going up by 10% next year! This means the price will go up from $395 today (without discounts) to $435, an increase of $40. The price increase is effective from January 2025.
Luckily, if you are reading this article, it means it’s Cyber Week, and the Linux Foundation and CNCF are running their annual Cyber discounts. Up to 60% off all certifications, training, and bundles (more on those below) are available from Dec 2 to 11, 2024.
Remember, when you purchase an exam voucher it stays valid for 1 year from the day of purchase until you schedule and take the exam. This means even if you plane to get certified next year you can still take advantage of the discounts now, get your vouchers and use them later.
Outside of these discounts, you can always use my discount code ABDEL30 to get 30% off everything. This code is valid all year long on the Linux Foundation training website.
New certifications and some changes
At KubeCon North America 2024, three new certifications were announced:
- Certified Backstage Associate (CBA)
- OpenTelemetry Certified Associate (OTCA)
- Kyverno Certified Associate (KCA)
CBA is available now, the other two are coming end of 2024.
The Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA) will be updated starting January 15, 2025. The exam domains (the main topics) will remain the same, but the competencies (aka what you need to know to pass it) inside each domain are changing. There will be more emphasis on dynamic volume provisioning, Gateway API, troubleshooting, CRDs….etc.
I found this X thread, which details what’s changing. Make sure to take a look.
Kubestronaut program
The Kubestronaut program is a CNCF program that recognizes people who hold all the Kubernetes certifications valid at the time of joining the program (CKA, CKAD, CKS, KCNA, KCSA). The program offers a lot of perks like:
- A sick ass jacket (picture above)
- Discounts on certification exams (50%)
- Ability to take Beta exams and even Join the development of new exams.
- Discount on event tickets like KubeCon.
- A community of like-minded people.
If you are serious about joining the program, there is a bundle available that contains all the certifications at a heavily discounted price.
