CNCF Kubestronaut¶
Kubestronaut: all five CNCF Kubernetes certifications.
Issued by the Cloud Native Computing Foundation and The Linux Foundation.
What it is¶
The Kubestronaut program recognises people who have passed every CNCF Kubernetes certification. CNCF launched it in 2024 and reported more than 2,000 people worldwide had earned it by mid-2025.
The five certifications¶
| Certification | Format | What it demonstrates |
|---|---|---|
| CKA: Certified Kubernetes Administrator | Hands-on, live terminal | Installing, configuring, troubleshooting and maintaining clusters |
| CKAD: Certified Kubernetes Application Developer | Hands-on, live terminal | Designing, building and running applications on Kubernetes |
| CKS: Certified Kubernetes Security Specialist | Hands-on, live terminal | Hardening clusters, securing supply chains and runtime |
| KCNA: Kubernetes and Cloud Native Associate | Multiple choice | Cloud native fundamentals and the wider ecosystem |
| KCSA: Kubernetes and Cloud Native Security Associate | Multiple choice | Cloud native security concepts and threat models |
What this means for you¶
- Operational skill, proven under time pressure. Three of the exams are solved by actually fixing and building things in a terminal.
- Security from the start. The CKS and KCSA mean hardening is part of how I design, not an afterthought.
- Vendor-neutral expertise. The certifications cover upstream Kubernetes, so the advice fits EKS, GKE, AKS or on-prem.
- Independently verifiable. Every claim here can be checked in the official CNCF Kubestronaut directory.
Staying current¶
Certifications expire, and the Kubestronaut title depends on them staying active. I keep all five current, and the verification link above always shows the live status.