Final checklist and readiness

What to re-run two weeks and one week out, what to prepare the day before and the morning of, the five habits for during the exam, what happens after, and a self-assessment per domain.

Readiness is measurable. The readiness meter shows the weighted share of this course's tasks you have verified; the mocks show whether you can do that under a clock. Book the exam when Mock 2 is comfortably above the pass mark with time left over, not when you have finished reading. Everything in this checklist about the exam process is from the Linux Foundation handbook and the CKA instructions page; the first lesson has the full set of facts.

Two weeks out

• —Re-run the lightning lab cold. If any task takes longer than its weight in minutes, that lesson goes on the list below.
• —Run Mock 1 under exam conditions: two hours, one terminal, kubernetes.io only, no pausing. Reset the lab first (lab-reset.sh).
• —Open the readiness meter. Take the weakest domain by percentage and redo its tasks from scratch, not from your notes; troubleshooting at 30% and architecture at 25% repay the time fastest.
• —Do the kubeadm upgrade procedure once on real VMs if you have not (Upgrading clusters and draining nodes). You cannot practice it on kind and it is a regular task.
• —Read the cheat sheet top to bottom and try each block you cannot already type from memory.

One week out

• —Schedule, if you have not: My Portal shows the exam, Schedule sends you to the PSI dashboard, slots open up to 90 days ahead with a 24-hour lead. Changes are only possible more than 24 hours before the start.
• —Check the name on your ID against the name on your Linux Foundation account. It must match exactly, and the ID must be an original, unexpired, government-issued document with your photo and signature. Fix a mismatch with support now, not on the day.
• —Run PSI's system check and the Secure Browser test from the handbook on the computer you will use. One monitor only; no virtual machine; a webcam you can pick up and point around the room; a microphone; the most reliable network you have.
• —Walk the room requirements: a private room with walls and a door, a desk clear of papers and electronics, good light, no window or bright light behind you, nobody else present for two hours.
• —Run Mock 2 under exam conditions after a lab-reset.sh. Compare the score and the time left with Mock 1. If you are under the pass mark, move the booking rather than hoping; the course does not run out.
• —Decide on the question language (English, Simplified Chinese or Japanese). The terminal and proctor stay in English regardless.

The day before and the morning of

• —Day before: no new topics. Do the lightning lab one last time, read the trap list in Exam-day habits, and put the ID, a clear label-free bottle of water and the computer charger on the desk. Clear the desk of everything else. Sleep.
• —Day before: uninstall or disable anything the Secure Browser may flag: a second display, screen-sharing or remote-control tools, virtual cameras. Close every other application before launch.
• —Morning: eat first; eating and gum are not allowed during the exam. Restroom before check-in: the handbook does not describe breaks, you may not leave the camera view without the proctor's permission, and the timer never pauses.
• —Morning: phone, watch and notes out of the room. Click Take Exam up to 30 minutes before your slot; starting more than 30 minutes late makes you a no-show and forfeits the fee and the retake.
• —Check-in: ID photo, a selfie, the agreement, then a live scan of the room and workspace by a check-in specialist (the wait should not exceed 15 minutes). The proctor then releases the exam; the clock starts when you finish or hide the interface tour.

During the exam

• —Host and context first. Follow the infobox on every task; ssh in, switch context or namespace if named, exit when done.
• —Read twice, copy names. Note the namespace, names, images, counts and paths before typing; paste names from the question panel.
• —One minute per percent. Over budget means flag and move on; come back in the last 20 minutes, highest weight first.
• —Verify the end state. get -o wide, rollout status, cat the file, auth can-i, curl. The grader reads the object, not your intent.
• —Docs by phrase, not by browsing. Type the phrase from the cheat sheet's table into kubernetes.io search, copy the YAML, :set paste, adapt, apply. Never open an external search result.

After the exam

• —Click End Exam, then End Session. Exams are scored automatically; the score report is emailed within 24 hours barring exceptions, and shows in My Portal. The Linux Foundation does not report per-task performance.
• —On a pass, the formal certificate notice follows within three business days with your Certificate ID and the PDF, and a Credly digital badge is issued. Add it to LinkedIn; the certification is valid for two years from the pass date.
• —On a No Pass, the checklist shows a Claim Your Retake button if you are eligible. The retake must be taken inside your 12-month eligibility window. Do not book it the same week: redo the two weakest domains by the readiness meter, run both mocks again with a lab reset in between, and book when Mock 2 is clear of the pass mark. A rescore can be requested within two days for a fee; it is rarely worth it for a performance exam.
• —Either way, write down (outside the exam, after it ends) which task types cost you the most time. That list is the most useful study guide you will ever have, for this exam or for the CKS.

Self-assessment: three yes answers per domain